All the best Comic-Con highlights, from Robert Downey Jr.'s Marvel return to 'The Boys'

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Another Comic-Con is in the books.

This one was my 13th since first coming in 2008, when I attended a panel for some new upcoming movie I'd kinda-sorta heard of called "Twilight" and learned that, hoo boy, Edward and Bella already had some serious fans. When Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart hit the stage, you would have thought it was the second coming of Beatlemania.

The event has just grown bigger and better ever since, with more and more movies, TV shows and A-listers showing up and touting the best stuff coming pop culture's way. (Sure, everything is a line and you can barely move at times, but hey, you eventually get to the right place at some point.)

Here are my favorite things from this year's Con:

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Marvel hits another home run with Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom

After nearly 50 years on this planet, I don’t really get that surprised by much anymore. But I was pleasantly shocked Saturday when during the big Marvel Studios presentation, Robert Downey Jr. came out in a Doctor Doom mask. What a heel turn!

Downey announced as Victor Von Doom in a couple of “Avengers” movies was a highlight. (Check out our primer for that classic supervillain if you're unfamiliar.) So was seeing Harrison Ford turn into a Red Hulk in a “Captain America: Brave New World” trailer, bad guys taking on worse guys for the government with “Thunderbolts” and getting a tasty little glimpse of Galactus in retrofuturistic “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” (Oh, and it was pretty cool seeing a drone show with Deadpool and Wolverine on Thursday night, too.)

Jensen Ackles returns for a double dose of 'The Boys' fun

We at Watch Party Central have been fans of Jensen Ackles since the days of “Supernatural.” (Dean Winchester is still one of my fave screen heroes ever, period.) He had a meaty guest-starring turn as Soldier Boy in Season 3 of the subversive superhero show “The Boys,” and Ackles is coming back to be a series regular in the fifth and final season, plus starring in the 1950s-set spinoff “Vought Rising.” More Ackles on TV is a good thing.

'Doctor Who' is in such a good place with Ncuti Gatwa piloting the TARDIS

I was a late comer to the fandom of “Doctor Who," with Christopher Eccleston as my first Doctor in 2005. David Tennant came after that, my personal fave, though I haven’t really dug a Doctor since. But the new guy, "Sex Education" breakout Ncuti Gatwa, has me back in the Who-niverse in a major way. The upcoming Christmas special looks nifty, and it was cool hearing him talk about being a Doctor who cries a lot. 

Chris Hemsworth is our new Optimus Prime in the animated 'Transformers One'

Peter Cullen will always be Optimus Prime – his voice was a huge part of my childhood. So Chris Hemsworth paying homage to Cullen while taking on the heroic Autobot leader as a youngster in the upcoming animated origin story “Transformers One” means a lot. The movie looks really good, too: The only awesome “Transformers” movie has been the 1986 cartoon jam, and this looks to be similarly inspired.

Even more Comic-Con goodness to check out!

• Colin Farrell previewed "The Penguin," an HBO drama featuring his "tasty" gangster revamp of the Batman villain, and announced he's coming back for "The Batman: Part II."
• Facehuggers are a bloody menace in "Alien: Romulus," and some crashed a panel with director Fede Alvarez.
• "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" cast a cyclops and teased what's to come in Season 2.
• The CBS supernatural comedy "Ghosts" has special Halloween and Christmas episodes coming in the fourth season, plus Mary Holland and Dean Norris as new guest stars.
• "What We Do in the Shadows" says fangs for the memories heading into its final season.

Got thoughts, questions, ideas, concerns, compliments or maybe even some recs for me? Email btruitt@usatoday.com and follow me on the socials: I'm @briantruitt on Twitter (not calling it X!), Instagram and Threads.

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