SPACEBALLS: THE NEW ONE Takes Over Comic-Con With a Hilarious Hall H Presentation That Roasted Marvel’s MCU Playbook

If there was any doubt that Spaceballs: The New One was going to embrace the spirit of the original, Amazon MGM Studios erased it the second its Hall H presentation began at San Diego Comic-Con.

The entire event was one giant parody of blockbuster franchise culture, poking fun at everything from Marvel’s famous Hall H presentations to cinematic universes, legacy sequels, and endless reboots.

The movie doesn’t hit theaters until April 23, 2027, so it isn’t arriving at Ludicrous Speed just yet. Even so, the cast and filmmakers made it clear they’re more than ready to start building excitement, and after watching this panel, it’s hard not to get caught up in it.

The whole thing felt like a perfectly crafted Spaceballs joke stretched across an entire Hall H presentation.

Just like the original film opened with that famously endless spaceship shot spoofing Star Wars, Amazon MGM kicked things off by taking over Hall H’s massive 180-degree wraparound screens for an elaborate opening that hilariously recreated Marvel Studios’ famous Phase timeline presentations from Comic-Cons past.

It was the perfect way to announce that Spaceballs is back and ready to roast modern Hollywood.

Things only got funnier when Mel Brooks appeared in a pre-recorded message.

“Sorry I can’t be with you. I’m on the convention floor trying to buy a rare Charizard card.

“When I was your age, on a Friday, I would go to something called work,” he joked. “From the bottom of my heart I wanna say, thank you, nerds.”

Brooks, who returns as Yogurt, reminded everyone why he’s still one of comedy’s greatest legends. Even at 100 years old, he’s still delivering jokes that land perfectly.

Then came one of the funniest moments of the panel.

The cast took the stage… except Rick Moranis was nowhere to be found.

Naturally, the search turned into its own Spaceballs gag as actors carrying oversized combs walked through the Hall H audience, literally “combing the desert” in search of Dark Helmet.

Eventually they found Moranis sitting among fans wearing Dark Helmet helmets before he stood up to a thunderous standing ovation and chants of “Rick! Rick! Rick!” It marked Moranis’ very first Comic-Con appearance, making the moment even sweeter.

“Rick is underselling it,” Gad joked. “They’re announcing him as part of the X-Men cast tomorrow.”

Bill Pullman couldn’t attend because he’s currently filming overseas, though he jokingly claimed he was also searching for a rare Charizard card in the UK. His son, Lewis Pullman, who plays Lone Starr’s son Prince Starburst, filled in for him.

Lewis shared a hilarious childhood memory about watching the original film.

“When Barf knocks my dad’s cowboy hat off. I remember being too young to understand that the hat didn’t just fall into the abyss of space. This whole movie’s about him trying to get his damn hat back.”

He followed it up by admitting: “For a while I had real beef with Barf.”

Later, Lewis became emotional while talking about finally getting to work alongside his father before reading a letter Bill had sent… which never actually mentioned Lewis once. It became another running joke that had Hall H laughing.

Moderator Kevin Smith asked producer, co-writer, and star Josh Gad how the sequel finally happened after decades of rumors.

According to Gad, he cold-called Brooks and spent roughly 40 minutes pitching the sequel. Brooks apparently didn’t understand most of it, but he loved the idea anyway. Gad’s main argument was simple.

Science fiction and blockbuster filmmaking have changed dramatically over the last four decades, making Spaceballs the perfect franchise to lampoon everything audiences have lived through since 1987.

For Moranis, the timing finally felt right. He explained he’d been asked about making another Spaceballs for years, but this script was the first one that convinced him to return, calling it one of the best decisions he’s ever made.

The panel also showed emotional behind-the-scenes footage of Brooks reuniting with Moranis, Pullman, and Daphne Zuniga for the first time in decades.

They had stayed in touch over the years but hadn’t actually seen one another in person for a very long time, making the reunion surprisingly heartfelt amid all the comedy.

Naturally, someone asked whether Brooks’ famously fearless comedy would still work in today’s climate.

Director Josh Greenbaum kept the answer simple. “It’s all about the laughs, Mel always said.”

Moranis added: “There’s room in a Mel Brooks movie for the smartest joke you’ve ever thought of and the dumbest one.”

That pretty much sums up why Brooks’ comedies have endured for generations.

Gad also took a moment to honor one of the original film’s biggest stars, John Candy, whose legacy hangs over the sequel.

“one of the four men on my comedy Mount Rushmore. Another one of them is John Candy. This movie is really a love letter to him.

“I am not playing Barf in this movie. I am playing a new mog in our movie. John is at the beating heart of this film and the reason why this movie has so much heart. I hope when you see it you will agree.”

That heartfelt tribute was easily one of the panel’s nicest surprises.

The laughs kept coming as the filmmakers revealed Brooks couldn’t physically perform on set because of his age. Instead, they filmed his scenes in a studio using facial motion capture.

Apparently they originally covered his face with motion capture dots, but Brooks found them annoying, so they simply removed them.

Then Spaceballs went completely off the rails in the best possible way.

The team announced that this movie wouldn’t simply launch a franchise.

It would launch The Almighty Schwartz Saga, otherwise known as… the ASS.

Hall H erupted as gigantic screens revealed an absurd roadmap featuring 11 phases of fake Spaceballs projects that flew by so quickly it was almost impossible to read everything.

It was an obvious and hysterical spoof of Marvel Studios’ famous Hall H roadmap presentations, complete with fake sequels, musicals, spin-offs, and every other ridiculous franchise idea imaginable.

Asked whether Spaceballs would ever tackle Marvel’s vampire hunter, Gad joked:

“We’d make a really weird Blade. But maybe it would finally get made.”

The panel wrapped up with an extended teaser that expanded on the footage previously shown at CinemaCon.

It included Yogurt frozen in carbonite and nicknamed “Frozen Yogurt,” Dark Helmet battling Yogurt with claw-shaped lightsabers, Spaceballs: The Exercise Ball, Destiny wielding the Flamethrower, elderly characters making out in a hilarious Game of Thrones-style parody, child versions of the cast falling from the sky, Dark Helmet pressing a giant “Reboot” button, a surreal recreation of the original movie’s VHS gag, and the returning Avatar bathroom joke.

The trailer hasn’t been released publicly yet, but if the footage is any indication, this sequel looks determined to spoof just about every major franchise Hollywood has produced over the last 40 years.

The film stars Rick Moranis, Josh Gad, Keke Palmer, Lewis Pullman, Anthony Carrigan, George Wyner, Daphne Zuniga, Bill Pullman, and Mel Brooks.

The official synopsis reads: Somehow, Dark Helmet has returned! Forty years after the events of the first Spaceballs, fifty years after the events of Star Wars: A New Hope, and one year after the events of The Devil Wears Prada 2, the galaxy is once again under threat.

A threat so evil, so unstoppable, so completely lacking in any original ideas, that it has vowed to bring back the past… every last bit of it.

With Lone Starr in hiding, Queen Vespa on the throne, and the Schwartz stretched thinner than a franchise releasing TV episodes theatrically, the only hope for the galaxy is Vespa’s undisciplined son, Prince Starburst, and a mysterious Palace advisor named Destiny.

Together, they must find Lone Starr, Yogurt, and any other iconic legacy characters fans are demanding before they discover the hard way that, while some threats you can fight, the reboot is not one of them.

Honestly, this entire Hall H presentation felt like one giant Spaceballs sketch, and that’s exactly what made it so much fun. Rather than simply promoting the movie, everyone involved leaned completely into the joke, turning Comic-Con itself into the punchline.

Between the Marvel parody, Moranis’ surprise entrance, Brooks’ opening message, and the ridiculous “Almighty Schwartz Saga” reveal, it was one of the funniest presentations Hall H has seen in years.

If the movie captures even half of the energy and comedic timing this panel delivered, Spaceballs: The New One could end up being one of the most entertaining legacy sequels we’ve gotten in a long time.

Fans will find out when it blasts into theaters on April 23, 2027.