The gods of geekdom descended on Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, and the result was a standing-ovation frenzy for a museum that’s all about art. Not corporate IP. Not studio cash grabs. But real, raw, emotionally-driven storytelling—on paper, in panels, and in paint. George Lucas, Guillermo del Toro, Doug Chiang, and Queen Latifah—yes, Queen Latifah—brought the house down while giving fans a sneak peek at the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, opening in 2026 in Los Angeles.
While most SDCC panels exist to tease some soulless Disney+ spin-off, this one was about preserving the stuff that made us fall in love with stories in the first place. George Lucas—forever the indie rebel before he sold to the dark side—called the museum a “temple to the people’s art,” and honestly, that hits harder than any Skywalker cameo. He’s been collecting narrative art for 50 years, and now he’s finally giving it a permanent home.
Guillermo del Toro, patron saint of monster kids and midnight horror obsessives, nailed it when he compared narrative art to rock-n-roll. “Imagine if we only had classical music, and rock-n-roll was never created? This is rock-n-roll, and rock-n-roll needs to be enshrined.” Cue the applause.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: (L-R) Queen Latifah, George Lucas, Guillermo del Toro and Doug Chiang seen at Lucas Museum of Narrative Art panel at Comic-Con International 2025 at San Diego Convention Center on July 27, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Lucas Museum Of Narrative Art via Getty Images)
Doug Chiang, Lucasfilm’s design wizard, got personal. He shared how lowbrow illustration gave him a gateway into the art world—comics and pulp covers that the snooty elites turned their noses up at. The museum, he said, will give overdue respect to the artists who shaped our imaginations but rarely got the spotlight.
And Queen Latifah? She crushed it as moderator. With her love of visual storytelling and deep cuts into comic history, she reminded the crowd that narrative art isn’t just pretty pictures, it’s emotional, cultural, and deeply human. Speaking of the museum, she even name-dropped the first-ever Flash Gordon strip, Black Panther splash pages from 1968, and vintage Peanuts panels from the ’50s. This collection is no joke.
The Lucas Museum is being built in LA’s Exposition Park and will sprawl across 300,000 square feet of illustrated storytelling goodness—complete with galleries, theaters, a library, and (hell yes) a café. Expect works from titans like Norman Rockwell, Beatrix Potter, R. Crumb, Jack Kirby, Frank Frazetta, and Alison Bechdel. Plus, Lucas is throwing in his own film archive—props, models, concept art, and enough Star Wars ephemera to send fans into hyperspace.
This isn’t just a museum. It’s a rebellion. Wanna be the first to storm the gates when it opens? Join the resistance at lucasmuseum.org/join-us.
