ANAHEIM, Calif. — San Diego Comic-Con returns Thursday to celebrate popular culture in every shape and form for four days in downtown San Diego, July 25-28.

Comic books, sure, and cosplayers, too. But Hollywood is back again this year after industry strikes sidelined most movie and TV presentations at the annual convention in 2023.

We did a deep dive into the Comic-Con schedule to pick a lucky 13 offerings that appealed to us over the long weekend in and around the San Diego Convention Center. Your choices will certainly be somewhat different so be sure to check out the full program at comic-con.org/cc/things-to-do/programming-schedule.

Thursday, July 25

82 Years of Superhero Cereal Boxes: The experts on this panel include the founder of Funko and a dude who has a collection of 10,000 cereal boxes. (Grand 10 & 11, Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina, 10 a.m.)

Minor Threats: A Roundtable with Patton Oswalt and Friends: Oswalt and his fellow creators talk about their comic book series that focuses on “the C-list villains and hench-people” and will soon be a Netflix series. (Room 6DE, 11:30 a.m.)

Celebrating 25 Years of "SpongeBob SquarePants": Who-o-o-o lives in Hall H with the cast of this show? SpongeBob SquarePants! Nickelodeon goes big to celebrate the iconic animated show’s silver anniversary. (Hall H, 1 p.m.)

The Groundlings Celebrate 50 Years of Laughs: Past and present members of the Los Angeles improv comedy troupe that launched the careers of numerous TV and film actors, will talk about its history, favorite sketches, and more. (Indigo Ballroom, Hilton San Diego Bayfront, 3 p.m.)

The Her Universe Fashion Show: Founder Ashley Eckstein and Broadway star Michael James Scott host the 2024 Her Universe Fashion Show for which 25 designers send their fandom-inspired designs down the runway. (Harbor Ballroom, Hyatt, 6 p.m.)

Friday, July 26

Hollywood Location Scouts: Tatooine is in Tunisia, Middle-earth in New Zealand, and Kings Landing in Croatia. Six location scouts and managers talk about the cool job of scouting out real places to serve as settings for fantastical worlds. (Room 9, 1 p.m.)

"The Walking Dead: Dead City," Season 2: Cast and creators of the “Walking Dead” spinoff series talk about the next season. An hour later, “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol,” does the same for that spinoff. (1:45 p.m., Hall H)

You’re Wrong, Leonard Maltin: Film critic Leonard Maltin sits on stage and lets the audience argue with him over whether he or they are right about the merits or demerits of movies old and new. (Room 23ABC, 4 p.m.

EC Comics Lives Again at Oni Press: EC Comics was notorious for its horror and sci-fi comics – and Mad magazine! – in the ’40s and ’50s. Oni Press announced it was reviving it earlier this year. (Room 23ABC, 5 p.m.)

Saturday, July 27

20 Years of Scott Pilgrim with Bryan Lee O’Malley: Both O’Malley’s original books and director Edgar Wright’s film adaptation continue to find new fans over the years. O’Malley talks about its past, present and future. (Room 7AB, 11 a.m.)

BRZRKR: The Immortal Saga Unleashed: Actor Keanu Reeves comes to Comic-Con to talk about the BRZRKR comics as well as his new novel and an upcoming live-action film for Netflix. (Hall H, 12:30 p.m.)

Marvel Studios: On Thursday, Marvel is hosting The Ultimate Wolverine & Deadpool Celebration, with stars of the new movie Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds in Hall H. Good luck getting into that, though. This is the annual update on all things Marvel from studio president Kevin Feige. (Hall H, 6 p.m.)

Sunday, July 28

The Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel: Kirby created or co-created comics characters such as Captain America, Black Panther, Iron Man, and the X-Men, and each year Comic-Con celebrates one of the all-time greats. Stick around after the panel for Who Was Steve Ditko? which follows it and explores the legacy of another of the great ones. (Room 5AB, 10 a.m.)

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