Marvel held a 90-minute long animation panel at SDCC 2022 today, focusing on the future of its animated franchises. The panel gave way to five major announcements for I Am Groot, X-Men '97, Spider-Man: Freshman Year, Marvel Zombies, and Marvel's What If… ?.

Here's all of the news from today's Marvel Studios Animation Panel.

I Am Groot Trailer Reveals the First Look at the Adorable Guardians of the Galaxy Spin-Off

Marvel revealed the first trailer for I Am Groot, which is slated to release on August 10. The Guardians of the Galaxy spinoff is comprised of five animated shorts that focus on none other than Groot, who is seen getting into some alien-related trouble in his adorable Baby Groot form in the trailer.

Spider-Man: Freshman Year Arrives on Disney+ in 2024, Will Feature Charlie Cox's Daredevil

While no trailer was shown at the panel, fans received more news about Spider-Man: Freshman Year, the show announced last year that focuses on Spider-Man's first year in high school. The series is now set to arrive on Disney+ in 2024, and it'll also feature Charlie Cox as Daredevil. It'll also receive a second season, fittingly called Spider-Man: Sophomore Year.

Just announced at #SDCC2022:

Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: Freshman Year, an Original series, streaming in 2024 on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/v7sqUUHoPa

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 22, 2022

Marvel's What If…? Season 2 Announced for Early 2023 Alongside Season 3 Confirmation

What If…?, the Marvel show that imagines alternate timelines for some of Marvel's most iconic characters, has at least two more seasons on the way. At today's panel, Marvel Studios announced that Season 2 will be out in early 2023 for Disney+ subscribers. The show is also confirmed to return for a third season.

Just announced at #SDCC2022:

Marvel Studios’ What If…? Season 2, an Original series, streaming early 2023 on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/zbqClqfrfJ

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 22, 2022

Marvel Zombies on Disney+ to Have the 'Gore and Splatter You Want From a Zombie Show'

While the series still doesn't have a release date, more details about Marvel Zombies were revealed today. It'll feature zombified versions of characters like Captain America and Scarlet Witch fighting against heroes like Kamala Khan and Yelena. As revealed during the panel, it'll be pretty gory for a Marvel series.

X-Men '97 to Premiere on Disney+ in Fall 2023

X-Men '97, a reboot of the fan favorite series, received a release window during the Marvel Animation Panel. The upcoming show, which revives the iconic '90s timeline of the X-Men, is now slated to premiere on Disney+ next fall.

Just announced at #SDCC2022:

Marvel Studios’ X-Men ’97, an Original series, streaming Fall 2023 on @DisneyPlus. #XMen97 pic.twitter.com/h78d17GYsq

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 22, 2022

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they've contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

Keep up with all of IGN's San Diego Comic-Con 2022 Coverage.

The Comic-Con news keeps rolling and with it exciting new reveals of our favorite shows. Today, Prime Video wowed the Hall H crowd with a brand new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power trailer, and we caught a couple glimpses of some very exciting new participants in the series. No new cast members were announced — their ensemble is already huge. No, instead, we got a look at a Balrog! And, if the framing of his introduction is to be believed and our timelines are correct, this bad boy is going to play a major role in the upcoming Rings of Power series.

Why is that notable? Well, outside of the fact that it’s a breed of giant fire monster that successfully “killed” Gandalf — who, again, we probably won’t be seeing in Rings of Power — the introduction of the creature is curious because there’s not any mention of the Balrog in Tolkien’s Second Age. Durin’s Bane (that’s the bad boy that took out Gandalf) doesn’t awake until the Third Age. So, is Prime Video playing fast and loose with their timelines, or are we about to meet a brand new member of the small but mighty Balrog family?

Join us as we speculate wildly!

The History of the Balrog

First, it seems worthwhile to break down a quickie history of these creatures. Before they became the Balrog, they were the Maiar. In the Valaquenta, Tolkien wrote that the Maiar were “spirits whose being also began before the world, of the same order as the Valar but of less degree."

Most Maiar were unnamed, aside from the Chiefs. However, it was those of the lesser Maiar that were to be corrupted by Melkor and turned into the Balrogs. They would help their master until Melkor was captured by the Valar. They then remained in hiding until Melkor returned to Middle-earth under the new moniker of Morgoth. If that name sounds more familiar, it’s because he was the first Dark Lord of Middle-earth, and the same dude who created the Orcs. This guy just really likes corrupting things.

There have been a couple different versions of the Balrog in Tolkien’s works. In early writing, the creatures could be defeated by the likes of Elves and men. However, by the time The Lord of the Rings trilogy came around, only the likes of Gandalf or Saruman could destroy the creatures. Fly, you fools, indeed!

But, the story of the Balrog extends much further than their battles with Wizards. Let’s talk about the two key Balrogs named in Tolkien’s works.

Gothmog

Gothmog, the Lord of the Balrogs, was not the first of his kind but was one of the first to get a proper name. It's the one responsible for mortally wounding Fëanor, creator of the three Simarils. It's also the murderer of Fingon, High King of the Noldor. Gothmog left quite a trail of bodies in his service to Morgoth, but its rein of terror ended when he fought Ecthelion of the Fountain. The two would kill each other in combat.

Durin’s Bane

Perhaps the most famous of the Balrog to most fans, Durin’s Bane is that big guy we meet in the Mines of Moria before Gandalf the Grey falls and becomes Gandalf the White. But it had a whole life before The Fellowship crossed paths with it.

The War of Wrath took place at the end of the First Age. Many of Morgoth’s Balrogs and Orcs were lost in the war, with the latter thought to be extinct by the rest of Middle-earth. Durin’s Bane, as one of the battle’s few survivors, fled underneath the Misty Mountains to hide. The creature would remain sleeping until the Third Age when the Dwarves would become too greedy in their quest for Mithril and dig too deep in the Mountains of Moria. Their greed would result in the death of their king, Durin VI, which is how the nasty bugger earned his name.

What Does the Introduction of the Balrog Mean for Rings of Power?

Tricky question, that! Could Durin’s Bane have awoken sometime during the Second Age and there was simply no record of its ascension? And, perhaps most importantly, who does the hand dropping the leaf to rouse the Balrog belong to? As far as we know, Morgoth was defeated in the War of Wrath, closing out the First Age. So, in theory, we won’t be seeing the Balrogs’ creator awakening them from their sleep. We’re going to assume that ol’ blue eyes wasn’t Sauron (though we’ve technically never seen him armorless) so it seems unlikely that it was him, and Sarumon has certainly never been any younger than hundreds of years old (and isn't even on the planet yet)!

What other evils await in Middle-earth? Guess we’ll have to tune in on September 2nd when The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres to see!

Today at San Diego Comic Con we got our first proper, full-length trailer for Tales of the Walking Dead, a new Walking Dead anthology series premiering next month.

Experience #TWDUniverse like never before. #TalesOfTWD premieres August 14th on AMC and AMC+. pic.twitter.com/EDhiEenJPW

— The Walking Dead on AMC (@WalkingDead_AMC) July 22, 2022

The trailer gives a look at all six protagonists, and includes narration by Alpha – a known Walking Dead character who is the leader of a group of survivors called the Whisperers in the comic and television series. Tales of the Walking Dead will show her prior to her story as we know it, when she used to be called Dee. She is still played by Samantha Morton.

"I was so gutted when Alpha died," Morton said on the SDCC panel. "It was the role of a lifetime. All things must pass and I was like ‘Okay,’ but when I got the call that this was going to happen, potentially, I was over the moon. I’m 45 years old so as an actress the roles change, and you’re either making tea, or you’re the wife, and they can be kind of rubbish.

"This is interesting because this is Dee’s perspective. Dee is who she was before she was Alpha. She’s always been Alpha though, it’s always been there. It’s under the skin. There are a lot of things about gender and identity and who they are so it’s interesting to play someone surprising who they are and then blossom.

Tales of the Walking Dead is an anthology spin-off series of the original The Walking Dead set to premiere on August 14 on AMC+. Instead of telling a single, linear story, Tales of the Walking Dead consists of six, one-hour-long standalone episodes, each containing a mixture of new and established characters from the universe. Its cast is set to include Olivia Munn, Samantha Morton, Terry Crews, Parker Posey, Anthony Edwards, Poppy Liu, Jillian Bell, Loan Chabanol, Embeth Davidtz, Jessie T. Usher, Daniella Pineda, and Danny Ramierez.

There's tons of news for all your favorite shows, films, games, and more coming out of San Diego Comic-Con 2022, and we've got the full schedule to guide you through the weekend of panels, announcements, trailers, and surprises.

Marvel Zombies on Disney+ will not only feature undead versions of Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Ghost, Abomination, Captain Marvel, and Okoye, but it will also have all the "gore and splatter you want from a Zombie show."

Revealed during Marvel's animation panel at San Diego Comic-Con, the team wanted to see "what happens next" after that cliffhanger of an ending in the What If… ? zombies episode.

Alongside zombified versions of our favorite characters, we will also have heroes who have yet to turn that are trying to save what is left of their world. These heroes include Yelena, Kate Bishop, Red Guardian, Jimmy Woo, Death Dealer, Shang-Chi, Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel.

Eternals' Ikaris also appears to be half-zombie/half-human. Being an Eternal, he may not be able to become full zombie, but something is definitely off about him.

There also appears to be a team of Widows and a biker gang of Skrulls that look to be living in this zombie apocalypse with attire to match.

Marvel Zombies was announced during the Disney+ Day 2021, and its showing today was accompanied by the official announcement of Season 2 and Season 3 of Marvel's What If… ?, the news that Spider-Man: Freshman Year will arrive in 2024 with Charlie Cox's Daredevil, and the first trailer for I Am Groot.

You can also check out everything announced so far for San Diego Comic-Con 2022!

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The highly-anticipated X-Men '97 revival finally has a release window. As part of Marvel's San Diego Comic-Con panel on the studio's animated projects, Marvel confirmed the revival will hit Disney+ in Fall 2023. It will mark the first official X-Men project at Marvel Studios since Disney acquired 21st Century Fox's film and TV assets.

Just announced at #SDCC2022:

Marvel Studios’ X-Men ’97, an Original series, streaming Fall 2023 on @DisneyPlus. #XMen97 pic.twitter.com/h78d17GYsq

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) July 22, 2022

Plenty of classic characters are returning to the show, including Rogue, Beast, Gambit, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, Jubilee, and Cyclops. The designs are sticking true to the original looks from the 90s, but they'll be a bit sharper.

In a clip shown at the panel, Magneto appeared and said "You’re looking at he new leader of the X-Men." Other returning characters include Cable, Bishop, Forge, Morph, NIghtcrawler, and Sunspot. We also learned that one of the show's major themes will be, "Why do we still need the X-Men?"

As for villains, the panel showed off various Sentinels surrounding the X-Men, as well as Mr. Sinister. White Queen and Sebastian Shaw of the Hellfire Club were also confirmed to appear.

The revival of X-Men '97 was first announced last year. The original series' showrunners, Eric and Julia Lewald, are consulting on the new series. They previously confirmed that this show will pick up right where the original X-Men series wrapped up. The original series ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger, as Charles Xavier was gravely injured and had to be rescued by Empress Lilandra.

There was plenty announced at today's Marvel animation panel. For more, check out the reveals of Marvel Zombies, Spider-Man: Freshman Year, Marvel's What If…? Season 2, and I Am Groot. And, for everything else, check out our list of everything announced at SDCC 2022.