Franchise fatigue gives original stories a boost at Comic-Con
This year’s blockbuster hits include video game adaptation “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the fifth installment of the 30-year-old animated “Toy Story” franchise. But according to one studio source who is bringing a project to Comic-Con this year, the real transformation is among the fans. “The fandom is shifting from franchises to creators,” said the source, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record.
- ▪This year’s blockbuster hits include video game adaptation “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” and the fifth installment of the 30-year-old animated “Toy Story” franchise.
- ▪But according to one studio source who is bringing a project to Comic-Con this year, the real transformation is among the fans.
- ▪“The fandom is shifting from franchises to creators,” said the source, who requested anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record.
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| Original publisher | NBC News — Top |
| Canonical URL | https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/comic-con-2026-franchise-fatigue-gives-original-stories-boost-rcna588948 |
| Publication time | Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:00:00 GMT |
| Retrieval time | 2026-07-24T19:14:21.580Z |
| Last seen | 2026-07-24T19:14:21.580Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
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| Cluster | cpzwQqKgJktk |
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| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
| Substitutes article? | No — link-out required for full text |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
On The LotFranchise fatigue gives original stories a boost at Comic-ConFans still love superheroes, but some of this year’s hottest Hall H panels belong to creators with bold new worlds instead of decades-old intellectual property.Listen to this article with a free profile00:0000:00Outside of San Diego Comic Con on Wednesday.Tony Forte / MediaPunch / IPxShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJuly 24, 2026, 3:00 PM EDTBy Rebecca KeeganComic-Con kicked off in San Diego on Thursday, and in a sign Hollywood may be moving beyond Peak IP, some of this year’s buzziest panels aren’t for superheroes or cute droids, but for visionary creators.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.Apple TV’s “Widow’s Bay,” the Katie Dippold horror-comedy that just…
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