SDCC 2026: Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Reveals Film Program, Dual Theaters, More During Second Comic-Con Panel
The exciting announcement regarding Lucasfilm's long-abandoned Star Wars Detours animated comedy series finally finding a home at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art wasn't the only news to come out of the museum's panel this afternoon at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 in Southern California. We also learned quite a bit more about the new institution's film program, and the names of its two in-house movie theaters were revealed as well during the star-studded discussion in Hall H. Let's go through everything the panel covered during this informative hour below.
Last year at SDCC 2025, the museum's cofounder George Lucas himself appeared on the Hall H stage alongside fellow filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, Lucasfilm's current Executive Design Director Doug Chiang, and moderator Queen Latifah. This year the moderator was actress Keke Palmer (Nope) and the panelists included Lucas Museum of Narrative Art Senior Curator and Head of Film Programs Ryan Linkof, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios co-founders Matthew Senreich and Seth Green (Robot Chicken), and DC Comics President and Chief Creative Officer Jim Lee (Batman: Hush). But first, a very familiar astromech droid took the stage before the beginning of the presentation.
After being introduced by Palmer, the panelists started off by talking about what kinds of art guests can expect to find when they visit the museum. As Linkof reminded the audience, it will be what Lucas referred to as "the people's art" during his Comic-Con appearance last summer: a mixture of comic book art, paintings, cinematic concept art, illustrations, movie props, animation, photography, and murals... all of which will share the common trait of telling a story. In the clip embedded below, Linkof discusses more about what guests will experience when they walk into the newly built space in South Los Angeles. "This is work that most museums don't collect, they don't exhibit. So this is a space that will be very unique."
Senreich and Green began their part of the presentation by talking about the types of narrative art that they first fell in love with growing up. "My mom was an artist and an art teacher," noted Seth Green. "So I got exposed to all kinds of art at a very, very young age. But it was all equated as art, and that was one of the coolest lessons I learned young. She pointed me towards [Andy] Warhol, whose philosophy was that pop art is as powerful as fine art. It is the fine art of our day. I got into comics very, very young, and that always felt like real art to me."
Jim Lee then took part in the conversation by remarking how jealous he was of George Lucas's (and thus, the Lucas Museum's) collection of art. "It is such an incredible collection of art. I was just blown away. What's funny is, in the 90s I had the good fortune of going to Skywalker Ranch. They showed us the basement, and all of this art was just sitting on the floor in racks. I [was] like, 'Whoa, is this the proper place for art?' So I'm just happy that [it] has found this incredible home to be displayed." He also acknowledged that one of his own pieces will be featured among the museum's exhibits.
What I found interesting was that, based on their comments and discussion, all of the panelists present this afternoon had already spent some time exploring the museum, even though it doesn't open for another couple of months. Seth Green described it as "a great place to get lost in," which made me even more excited to visit (and hopefully become a regular there) in the fall.
Most of the actual new information we received today about the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art came in the form of details on its two movie theaters, both of which which will each play their own free-flowing and continually running film programs during the museum's operating hours. The first is named after famed documentarian Robert J. Flaherty (Nanook of the North) and will play a regular rotation of documentaries about narrative artists, such as 1988's Comic Book Confidential, which they showed a clip from during the panel. Other films shown in the Flaherty Theater will include Seeing Is Believing: The Story of Narrative Art (a new series commissioned for the museum), The Power of Film (2024), and documentaries about artists whose work is included in the museum, such as Norman Rockwell, Jim Lee, Charles Schulz, Maurice Sendak, Diego Rivera, J.C. Leyendecker, and Weegee.
The second theater is named after avant-garde filmmaker Slavko Vorkapich (Hanka) and will show a curated selection of short films, including Vorkapich's montage sequences from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939) and other shorts from filmmakers such as Georges Méliès, Émile Cohl, W.K.L. Dickson, Edwin S. Porter, Winsor McCay, Man Ray, László Moholy-Nagy, Norman McLaren, Mary Ellen Bute, Oskar Fischinger, Jordan Belson, Stan Brakhage, Kenneth Anger, and others. Animated shorts from Walt Disney Studios, Fleischer Studios, and Looney Tunes will also be featured, in addition to an episode of Lucasfilm's recent anthology series Star Wars: Visions. Even George Lucas's own shorts and student films from the mid-to-late 1960s will be part of the rotation. A two-minute trailer was played on Hall H's screens introducing the museum's film programs, and you can watch it in the embedded video below.
Watch Introducing the Lucas Museum Inaugural Film Program:
In a statement released after the panel, the Lucas Museum's CEO Tracey Bates said, "We are excited to share details of our inaugural Film Program. George Lucas named the theaters to honor two innovators of cinema: Robert Flaherty and Slavko Vorkapich. The theaters will be spaces to connect with moving images as one of the most transformative modes of visual storytelling, making the Film Program an essential component of a visit to the Lucas Museum." Linkof added in the same statement, "We wanted to offer an alternative to the traditional museum film program and create a dynamic, open-door experience designed for discovery, allowing audiences to encounter cinema as a living, breathing art form at their own pace. Our inaugural programming will shed light on the evolution of film form and the creative process more broadly, tracing a direct line from early innovators to the modern masterworks of visual storytelling that shape our culture today."
I made note of an interesting and admirable moment on stage when Jim Lee mentioned that he is opposed to AI-generated content because it removes the prism of humanity from art. That reminded me a lot of when Guillermo del Toro took a hard-line stance against AI "art" during last year's Lucas Museum panel, and both of their statements stand in stark contrast to what Lucas himself (rather disappointingly, I might add) said recently in an interview about AI making filmmaking easier and that its use in the arts was an inevitability. Even though I'm a lifelong fan of his work, I've also disagreed with George Lucas numerous times in the past, and I suppose I will continue to do so as this latter part of his life and career continues. Ultimately I can't let that viewpoint affect my enjoyment of the museum, although-- at the risk of further editorializing-- I will probably find it troubling if the Lucas Museum itself ends up making use of generative AI in any of its exhibits, as to me that is the antithesis of what art represents. And from what he said today, it seems as though Jim Lee would agree.
The remainder of the panel was spent talking about the participants' working relationships with George Lucas, announcing the aforementioned Star Wars Detours exhibition, and then listing off final thoughts on why San Diego Comic-Con attendees (or anyone who is even remotely interested in the material that will be on display) should pay a visit to the Lucas Museum of Narrative art after its official opening on Tuesday, September 22. I, for one, know that I am even more excited about visiting than I was before today's presentation, and that's saying a lot!
More from the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art:
- Read our news post from this afternoon about Seth Green's Star Wars Detours announcement.
- The museum is offering free admission to residents of its immediate surrounding neighborhood in South Los Angeles.
- Back on May the 4th, the Lucas Museum announced "Star Wars in Motion" as one of its inaugural exhibits, along with a founding membership.