The Highs and Lows of 2016 San Diego Comic-Con

The 2016 edition of San Diego Comic-Con came to a close on Sunday, ending four days of pop-culture overload. But before we stash our costumes and kick up our feet, we thought we’d take stock of everything that happened at the bayside bonanza. Without further ado, here are the highs—and lows—of the confab.

High: DC SuperheroesAfter the deadly serious, terribly convoluted Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice underwhelmed, DC and Warner Bros. recalibrated their cinematic universe, and Comic-Con became a proving ground for the future viability of Batman, Superman (spoiler: he’s alive!), Wonder Woman and the rest of their super friends. Judging by the reaction in the room on Saturday, when the DC brain trust trotted out stars and trailers for Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, and Justice League, the DCU is back on track. The trio of films mixed scintillating action and a surprising newfound sense of humor that began to wipe away the bad taste of BvS. Following the triumphant live-action showcase, Warner Bros. unleashed Will Arnett for The Lego Batman Movie, a spinoff of The Lego Movie that might have been the single funniest film presentation of the Con.

Low: Arthur: Legend of the Sword

After kicking off in high gear, the Warner Bros. panel ground to a halt with the presentation for Arthur. There was tepid reaction in Hall H for the trailer to Guy Ritchie’s bro-tastic, manic take on the classic legend, shifting tonally from amped-up action, to bawdy humor, to battle scenes that could have been outtakes from Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings. The bright spot was a very game Charlie Hunnam, the film’s titular hero and the only member of the team to appear at the presentation.

High/Low: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

A Harry Potter prequel of sorts, Beasts got off to a whizzbang start with star Eddie Redmayne (who plays monster-chasing wizard Newt Scamander) channeling his inner Oprah Winfrey and handing out magic wands to everyone in the auditorium (Hall H holds almost 7,000 people) with an assist from some Warner Bros.-employed Muggles. However, the goodwill didn’t extend to the latest trailer, whose forced whimsy failed to charm those in the room, eliciting polite if not enthusiastic applause.

High: Marvel Cinematic Universe

With DC setting a high bar early on Saturday, its rival pulled out all the stops during an evening presentation. Beginning with the introduction of the impressive Black Panther team — Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, new addition Danai Gurira from The Walking Dead, and director Ryan Coogler — Marvel then teased Thor: Ragnarok with a gut-busting Office-style docu short chronicling Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his downtime in Australia while waiting for a call from Tony Stark or Steve Rogers about joining them for Captain America: Civil War. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) also turns up. The studio also showed off some promising early footage from Spider-Man: Homecoming and a trippy new Doctor Strange trailer, before Comic-Con favorite James Gunn took things next-level for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, showing off a scene from the film and then a trailer—both dominated by an adorable Baby Groot. The jaw-dropping panel ended with all the casts coming out for a massive selfie, joined by Brie Larson, making her first official appearance at Captain Marvel.

Low: Batman: The Killing Joke Premiere Controversy

The long-awaited adaptation of the seminal, though controversial graphic novel arrived at Comic-Con for a late-night world premiere on Friday. While the filmmakers were true to the source material, they admittedly needed to extend the story to make it long enough to fill a feature-length film. They also wanted to give the character of Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) a story arc, something she didn’t have in the book, in the form of a prologue exploring her early crimefighting experiences with Batman. However, that new material seemed to polarize fans, with some reacting negatively to a sex scene between Batgirl and Batman as well as what a vocal minority believed was a sexist depiction of Gordon, prompting a testy, awkward exchange with filmmakers during the post-screening Q&A.

High: The history-making premiere of Star Trek Beyond
Normally it’d be a pain when a movie begins an hour past its scheduled start time. That wasn’t the case with Paramount’s seaside premiere of Star Trek Beyond, a memorable spectacle that not only marked the first-ever outdoor IMAX screening, but included a hilarious pre-screening Q&A hosted by Conan O'Brien, a light show, fireworks, live accompaniment from the San Diego Symphony, and touching tributes to late costars Leonard Nimoy and Anton Yelchin.

Related: Comic-Con 2016 on the Red Carpet: The ‘Star Trek’ Beyond Cast Celebrates the New Mission

High: A big Blair Witch reveal

There are few genuine surprises at Comic-Con these days, but Lionsgate pulled off a whopper Friday night. The studio invited some lucky fans and select press to a screening of a little-known horror movie called The Woods, only to reveal just as it was about to begin that the film was really called Blair Witch. A sequel to the 1999 indie sensation and its ill-conceived 2000 follow-up Book of Shadows, the film — directed by You’re Next’s Adam Wingard — earned a generally strong reaction and has horror fans suddenly excited for its September release.

High: Snowden shines

Comic-Con isn’t typically a venue where Oscar buzz is born. But it could be the start of something for the thrilling Oliver Stone-directed biopic Snowden, particularly for its lead Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who talked to us about going all-in on the NSA whistleblower’s voice. Edward Snowden himself Skyped in to a post-screening Q&A and approved of Gordon-Levitt’s portrayal.

High: Valerian has very big potential

Luc Besson landed in San Diego with Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, his first sci-fi effort since 1997’s beloved The Fifth Element. And while it’s tough to cut through the space fray in a genre dominated by Star Wars and Star Treks, footage from Besson’s film starring Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne drew major props for its eye-popping effects, hot young stars, and A-grade gadgetry and costumes.

Related: Comic-Con: Luc Besson’s 'Valerian’ Pops in Hall H

Low: So little Star Wars

Speaking of Star Wars, beyond the usual barrage of Force-strong cosplay, there wasn’t much to be seen or heard from the world’s most popular cinematic empire. It makes sense, since Disney/Lucasfilm just held their own three-day Celebration in London last week. At Comic-Con however, if you are desperate for the slightest whiff of Star Wars news, there was a new character revealed for Rogue One called Two Tubes — though something tells us he’s a minor one.

Low: A light year for movies

We’ve been hearing whispers for years that the major studios are beginning to peel away from Comic-Con, which in the past felt like an industry requisite. Well, 2016 might be the year it finally showed signs of slowing down. Fox announced they weren’t bringing anything X-Men-related (and only attended with DreamWorks Animation’s Trolls); Paramount only showed up for the Star Trek premiere; Sony had just a low-profile Sausage Party panel and screening; and Universal didn’t have any presence at all.