Fans to descend on San Diego for the 50th Comic-Con

Dust off your Captain Marvel cosplay, San Diego Comic-Con is here.

The four-and-a-half day convention kicks off Wednesday when the show room floor opens to thousands vying for exclusive merchandise, from art to toys. Later, Warner Bros. will get things going with a ScareDiego event to preview upcoming horror releases and promises some hair-raising new footage from It: Chapter Two.

"We have some exciting footage but I can't go into details," said It director Andy Muschietti. "But I think it's going to be worth it for the fans to go and watch."

New details for Marvel Cinematic Universe

Movie fans will also get a look at Paramount's Terminator: Dark Fate at a Hall H presentation Thursday, and on Saturday be treated to a Marvel Studios presentation with its president, Kevin Feige. Details for the Marvel show are being kept under wraps, but many expect Feige and his "special guests" will outline the plans for Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which could include announcements about Black Widow, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Shang-Chi and The Eternals.

The movie fare is lighter than usual, however. A few of the studios have chosen to sit this year out, like Sony, which is already cleaning up at the box office with Spider-Man: Far From Home, and Universal Pictures, which doesn't have any superheroes on its slate at all.

Although Warner Bros. is coming with It: Chapter Two, it does not have a big Hall H presentation planned for any of its DC properties like Joker and the Harley Quinn spinoff Birds of Prey. And there will be no Star Wars news either.

"If anything, the exiting of some movie studios has made more room for TV and TV is just the best of the best right now," said Perri Nemiroff, a senior producer for Collider.com and host of the YouTube series Movie Talk.

Television enthusiasts will have their pick, whether they want one last go-around the cast of a show that's ended (like Game of Thrones and Supernatural), to check in with some old favourites (The Walking Dead, The Good Place, Westworld, Arrow, Rick and Morty and Riverdale), or get first look at a new property (such as Snowpiercer, Star Trek: Picard and The Witcher).

Occasionally this means throwing a Comic-Con newbie into the mix. HBO is bringing Lin-Manuel Miranda out for his first ever convention to promote the new show His Dark Materials.

Last month Miranda tweeted a modest request for fans: "Be gentle, it's my first Comic-Con."

Batman enters hall of fame

Comic-Con Museum's Character Hall Of Fame will also be getting a special inaugural inductee.

DC Comics' caped crusader Batman will be the first inductee, marking 80 years to the day since the superhero started fighting crime in comic books.

A fundraising event will be held by Comic-Con Museum on Wednesday in celebration of Batman's anniversary.

The event will have displays of props and memorabilia and special appearances by artists, actors and other creative talents who had a hand in making Batman a global icon of popular culture.