George Lucas Broke a Comic-Con Record Promoting His “Temple to the People”
San Diego Comic Con wrapped up its final day with a historic panel celebrating an equally historic guest – George Lucas. Lucas finally made his way to San Diego Comic-Con this year to promote the new 300,000 square-foot Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, which opens in Los Angeles next year.
After we were prepared for Lucas’ arrival earlier this month, fans were able to pack the convention’s largest stage, Hall H, with over 6,000 attendees. A total that The Hollywood Reporter states makes this panel Comic-Con’s largest Sunday showing in history.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: (L-R) Guillermo del Toro, George Lucas, Queen Latifah
and Doug Chiang seen at the 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)
Lucas was joined on stage by famed director and Lucas Museum board member Guillermo del Toro, and Lucas’ former employee Doug Chiang, who is currently Lucasfilm’s Senior Vice President and Executive Design Director. The panel was moderated by artist and producer Queen Latifah, who opened the panel by outlining what kinds of art guests can expect to see at the Lucas Museum.
The art collected by George Lucas over the past 50 years started with comic books he collected during his time in college, but has grown to include 40,000 pieces, ranging from cave paintings to more modern masterpieces by Norman Rockwell and Frieda Kahlo. To Lucas, good art is connected by story and the connections it inspires.
> “Art is more about an emotional connection. Not how much it cost, or what celebrity made it. If you have an emotional connection, then it’s art. I’ve worked with hundreds of illustrators in my life, and they’re all brilliant, but they don’t get recognized for anything. This museum is a temple to the people.”
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: (L-R) Queen Latifah, George Lucas, Guillermo del Toro
and Doug Chiang seen at the 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)
Director Guillermo del Toro echoed Lucas’ words and highlighted the importance of narrative art as a “people’s art” form when compared to more traditional museum offerings.
> “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… And this is memorializing a popular, vociferous and eloquent moment in our visual past that belongs to all of us. And the museum celebrates this.”
Concept artist Doug Chiang celebrated the art being brought to the museum, including pieces that have been deeply important to our society but never elevated to the honored place we hold classical art in. Chiang recounts how he was told he’d “outgrow” his love of comic book art, and is incredibly glad he didn’t.
> “Comic art and magazine illustration were kind of looked down upon… but it was a way for me to enjoy art, and it invited me to learn more about art. And what I love about what George and Mellody are doing with this museum is they are acknowledging and giving respect to artists who really haven’t been highlighted before.”
Ralph McQuarrie, production painting for Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Artoo and Threepio leave the pod in the desert), January 31, 1975, Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, Los Angeles, © and ™ Lucasfilm Ltd. 2020 All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
As fans hoped, some of the art going on display next year is from a galaxy far, far away.
According to IGN, in an video promo played during the panel, guests saw life-size models of Luke’s Landspeeder _,_ General Grievous and his Wheel Bike, Anakin’s N-1 Starfighter and Scout Trooper Speeder Bikes. Those massive models were accompanied by original concept art and storyboards from Ralph McQuarrie and Jim Steranko for _Star Wars_ and _Indiana Jones._
Guests were also treated to displays which included vintage comic covers, including the first ever _Flash Gordon_ comic strip, (an early inspiration for _Star Wars_), and many other comics from the beginning of the industry to today.
George Lucas famously loves mythologist Joseph Campbell. Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” is very present in _Star Wars._ Lucas referenced Campbell during the panel, and touched on the importance of science fiction to create newer myths for a changing global society.
> “Society cannot exist without a common belief system. And that’s where illustration is vital to show you what that means in everyday life.
>
> “Science fiction is a myth, but we have made it real. Humans made it real because of science fiction books and art that makes people say, ‘Oh, we could go to the moon,’ and once that idea is implemented, then we believe we could do it… (In science fiction) you can’t depend on what we know, but you can be inspired by what we think we know.”
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, under construction in Los Angeles’ Exposition Park, is set to open next year. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)
This museum is a clear expression of Lucas’ continuing belief in the enduring power of myth. He wants to celebrate the stories that shape our societies – highlighting their differences and their similarities. Campbell wrote that myths are universal and based around a shared human experience, a belief which Lucas expressed at the closing of the panel:
> “When you’re born, the baseline is fear. And as you go through life you’re curious about things, but you’re especially curious about things you don’t understand, and therefore, that’s a threat to you. And as a result, you make up stories to make you feel better… It’s stories that make you feel connected to other people but also gets rid of some of the problems that you have about the fact that you have to know everything… We have no knowledge whatsoever, we just think we do. And that’s one thing that this kind of art will celebrate in a way.”
Lucas and Campbell believed that we tell stories to reckon with a world we cannot fully understand, but we feel intensely. Myth is something like the Force – it ties us all together. The panel closed with a standing ovation, and fans joyously expressing the truth that Lucas expressed: _These stories are universal, they are important, and they shape the way we view society and ourselves._
The Lucas Museum is set to open its doors to guests in 2026, promising expansive galleries, two state-of-the-art theaters, over 150,000 objects and much more for us to experience.
##### Colin Scharff
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Colin is a lifelong Star Wars fan and researcher who enjoys diving deep into every corner of this weird and wonderful galaxy far, far away.
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