SDCC 2025 Friday Panels Worth Keeping An Eye On: ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Spider-Man Previews, ‘Marvel Rivals’ Teases, And ‘King Of The Hill’s Return
With highs like Beta Ray Bill’s addition to MARVEL Cosmic Invasion to the ‘nothing burger’ low that was Marvel’s X-Men: Age of Revelation solicits, the first day of San Diego Comic-Con 2025 is officially in the books – which means it’s time to look forward to Friday with the next installment of BIC’s Panels Worth Keeping An Eye On!
A new feature wherein one of our teammates will provide daily panel recommendations for a given fan convention, this year’s guide to America’s Finest City will be none other than me, your friendly neighborhood BIC EiC.
To that end, it’s time to take a look at the Top SDCC 2025 Panels Worth Keeping An Eye On for Friday, July 25th:
Marvel Rivals: Hero Creation from Concept to Showcase – 10:15 AM – 11:15 AM, Room 6BCF
Official Description: Get an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the hero creation process, guiding you from concept to showcase. Hear from the talented NetEase Games creative team, including Dino Ma (art director), Peilin Zhong (lead character concept artist), Weitai Luo (principal environment artist), and Zhen Li (principal 3D character artist), alongside the Marvel Games creative team Danny Koo (executive producer), Dakota Maysonet (creative development manager), and Dan LaDuca (senior art director). They will explore the concepts of Marvel Rivals heroes design and delve into the exciting new content from season 3 and more.
Our Take: Marvel Rivals‘ art direction has not only taken the internet by storm, but is also one of the main reasons behind the game’s popularity, meaning any artists looking to make their works ‘pop’ will likely find this panel insanely insightful. Plus, there’s always the distinct possibility of new skin or character reveals!
Legends in the Making: DC’s Teen Heroes and Beyond – 10:30 AM – 11:30 AM, Room 10
Official Description: Explore the legacy and evolution of the beloved sidekicks and teen heroes of the DC Universe with an expert panel featuring Mark Waid (writer, World’s Finest: Teen Titans), Phil Jimenez (artist, JLA/Titans), Todd Nauck (artist, Young Justice), Joe Illidge (editor, Batgirl), Tim Sheridan (writer, Teen Titans Academy), and Barbara Kesel (editor, New Titans). Moderated by TJ Shevlin (publishing content specialist, Upper Deck).
Our Take: With the popularity of My Hero Academia and the refusal by either Marvel or DC to really allow their universes to make any forward movement in time, there’s a massive demand for teenage superheroes that just isn’t getting filled. Whether you’ve already mulled the idea of your own coming of age tale or never gave the idea any thought in your creative life, aspiring youth-oriented creators could do worse than learning from the guy who created Impulse.
Magic: The Gathering x Marvel’s Spider-Man: First Look – 12:30 PM – 1:30 PM, Room 5AB
Official Description: In a celebration of the team-up between two iconic franchises, get a first look at Magic: The Gathering x Marvel’s Spider-Man. Previewing new cards and artwork, Mark Rosewater, C. B. Cebulski, Aaron Forsythe, and Sarah Wassell will fill you in on how this amazing set came to life. Hosted by Tiffany Smith.
Our Take: Let’s be clear: Wizards of the Coast has not been the most player-friendly in recent years, with such debacles as their mismanagement of their Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair system and their ongoing slop-ification of Dungeons & Dragons showing a growing deference to making a cheap buck over delivering a quality experience.
However, in terms of Magic‘s post-Lord of the Rings Universes Beyond releases, the company has been locked-in on making sure a given IP is as mechanically translated as close to its original source material as possible, and thus their Spider-Man previews should hold more than a few surprises for the wall-crawler’s fans (like maybe hopefully the reveal of a non-Chasm Ben Reilly card…)
Heroes vs. Villains – 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM, Room 25ABC
Official Description: Who are you rooting for? The hero or the villain? Do you ship the good guy or the baddie who is just misunderstood? Comic-Con special guests ChrisCross, Nick Dragotta, Jonathan Hickman, Dan Jurgens, Erica Schultz, and Steven T. Seagle talk about all things good and evil with moderator Meghmik Mardian.
Our Take: Despite its Reddit-styled description, hearing an open discussion on the topic of comic book morality from the shepherds of such characters as Absolute Batman, the latest Ultimate Mysterio, and Black Widow’s Sliver symbiote is practically guaranteed to have the noggin’ joggin’.
Marvel Comics: Next Big Thing – 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM, Room 6A
Official Description: Marvel editor-in-chief C. B. Cebulski, VP and executive editor Tom Brevoort, ultimate editor Wil Moss, and a lineup of superstar creators give fans a glimpse into the future of the Marvel Universe—including announcements for upcoming series and storylines that will have the whole industry talking. Plus, you’ll want to hang around for the special giveaway comic at the end of the show!
Our Take: For better or worse, anyone who follows mainstream cape comics will want to hear what Marvel has planned after One World Under Doom, as it’s going to be a major topic of future discussion. And hey, at least that giveaway variant comic cover should be something either cool to look at or worth a pretty penny on the secondhand market.
King of the Hill – 4:00 PM – 4:45 PM, Indigio Ballroom @ Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Official Description: The iconic animated series King of the Hill returns to Comic-Con for the world premiere of season 14. It’s been 15 years since the last original episode of King of the Hill aired, and the Hill family and longtime friends are finally back: Arlen has changed, Hank and Peggy are now retired, and Bobby is all grown up! Hear all about this classic series when co-creators and executive producers Mike Judge (Hank Hill, Boomhauer) and Greg Daniels, showrunner and executive producer Saladin Patterson, and cast members Pamela Adlon (Bobby Hill), Kathy Najimy (Peggy Hill), Lauren Tom (Connie and Minh Souphanousinphone), and Toby Huss (Dale Gribble), come together for the world premiere of the King of the Hill revival, ahead of its season premiere on Hulu on Monday, August 4.
Our Take: Against all odds, the King of the Hill revival is shaping up to actually deliver on all the elements that made fans fall in love with Hank Hill and his fellow Arlenites all those years ago. Between an open cast discussion and a full-screening of the series’ first return episode, there’s probably no better place to hang out on a Friday afternoon. Mmhmm.
And that’s it for Friday! Up next is Saturday, the biggest day for not just its panel line-up, but SDCC in general! Stay tuned!
