The first teaser and posters for Star Trek: Picard's third and final season have been revealed and they feature many of the returning crew members from Star Trek: The Next Generation, including Geordi La Forge, Worf, Dr. Beverly Crusher, Deanna Troi, and Commander William Riker.

The teaser and poster were shown during the Star Trek Universe panel at San Diego Comic-Con and Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine and Michelle Hurd's Raffi Musiker also received the character portrait treatment. The one notable crew member missing from these portraits is Brent Spiner's Data despite the confirmation that he will be returning.

As long as you remain steadfast, you are never without hope. #StarTrekPicard concludes with Season 3 in 2023, exclusively on @ParamountPlus. pic.twitter.com/MD2TTRi0gY

— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) July 23, 2022

The return of Star Trek: The Next Generation's crew was first announced during this year's First Contact Day celebrations, and Picard showrunner Terry Matalas shared a few words as to why Jean-Luc having his friends by his side for this final mission was the only way to go.

"I remember watching the premiere of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ almost 34 years ago with my father like it was yesterday. It was the spark that ignited my love for science fiction,” said Picard Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas. "So, it’s most fitting that the story of Jean-Luc Picard ends honoring the beginning, with his dearest and most loyal friends from the U.S.S. Enterprise. It would be an understatement to say that giving these characters a proper send-off is an honor. The entire STAR TREK: PICARD team and I can’t wait for fans to experience this final, high-stakes, starship-bound adventure in season three!”

Star Trek: Picard will premiere on Paramount+ in 2023, and while these characters have made brief appearances throughout the series in one form or another, this final season will bring them all together for one last mission.

In our review of the second season of Star Trek: Picard, we said that it is a "disappointing entry in the legendary captain’s journey, and possibly the worst season of Star Trek ever."

The Picard news was accompanied by a teaser and posters for the announcement of a live-action and animated crossover of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Lower Decks and a trailer for Lower Decks' third season that teases a visit to Deep Space 9.

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

During a San Diego Comic Con panel, we got a (sort of) update on George R.R. Martin's Winds of Winter, with the author confirming that he's still working on the book and doesn't intend to cameo in any Game of Thrones shows or series until it's done.

When a fan asked if he'd consider a cameo, Martin replied:

"I don’t know. For the last couple years since COVID hit I’ve barely left my house. Also, you may not know this but there’s this book I’m writing and it’s a little late. So I won’t be doing any acting until I finish and deliver that book and if the show is still running then then maybe."

However, Martin added that he did actually do a cameo in the original Game of Thrones…that we unfortunately never got to see.

"I did do a cameo in the original pilot of Game of Thrones but they reshot most of that so I wound up on the cutting room floor," he said. "I was also supposed to be a severed head. In the scene where Joffrey shows Sansa the heads one was supposed to be mine. Then they found out how expensive it was to make a severed head so they just bought a box of severed heads. One of them turned out to be George W. Bush, and they got in a lot of trouble. Who knows? Maybe I can yet become a severed head."

House of the Dragon has had plenty to share lately, including a brand new trailer a few days ago and an extended edition planned to drop on Discovery tomorrow. We learned the series will incorporate multiple time skips, that it may serve as a foundation for other Westeros stories, and that its redesigned Iron Throne includes 2,500 swords. We also learned about some of the other unused Game of Thrones prequel ideas, and spotted a handful of new stills from the show.

And there's tons more coming from all your favorite shows, films, games, and more 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.

Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin has shared some of the historical influences behind the upcoming HBO show House of the Dragon, which is based on his novel Fire and Blood. As part of the SDCC panel on the show, Martin said he gets inspiration from history and turns it up to 11.

"Game of Thrones, as I’ve said, was based on the Wars of the Roses," Martin said. "[House of the Dragon] was based on an earlier period in history called the Anarchy. I pilfered freely from history. When Henry I, when his only legitimate son drowned, he was left with his own legitimate child Matilda, he made her heir and then made his lords swear their fealty to her. Then when he died, her cousin came in and there was this big war that she wound up fighting for decades."

“I get inspiration from history and I turn it up to 11.” – George R. R. Martin #HOTDSDCC #HouseoftheDragon

— House of the Dragon (@HouseofDragon) July 23, 2022

The real-life war between Empress Matilda and Henry I's nephew Stephen of Blois seems to mirror the events that will unfold in House of the Dragon, which similarly takes place hundreds of years before Game of Thrones.

In this story, there's a power struggle between King Viserys Targaryen's brother and daughter that leads to the civil war known as the Dance of Dragons. In House of Dragons, that conflict will play out between Emma D'Arcy's Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Matt Smith's Prince Daemon Targaryen. When asked why Westeros has such a problem with queens, Martin said the answer lies in history.

"That was the inspiration there," Martin said. "I don’t think Westeros is any more anti-woman than real life. What we call actual history."

It's been a busy week for House of the Dragon already. We got a brand new trailer a few days ago that honed in on the queenly conflict at the heart of the prequel. We learned the series will incorporate multiple time skips, that it may serve as a foundation for other Westeros stories, and that its redesigned Iron Throne includes 2,500 swords. We also learned about some of the other unused Game of Thrones prequel ideas, and spotted a handful of new stills from the show.

After a week of new interviews, images, and trailers, today's SDCC panel on Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon gave us a look into what it's like to ride a dragon in the show, and the answer is apparently pretty weird.

Milly Alcock, who plays the young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen described dragon riding to the audience. She said they worked on a stage that was "basically the size of this whole hall" (that would be San Diego Comic Con's Hall H), and:

"You’re propped up on what looks like a mechanical bull that you might ride in a bar or pub and it lifts up six feet in the air and there are four guys with leaf blowers," she said. "It's strange."

Additionally, Paddy Considine, who plays King Viserys Targaryen, confirmed he does not ride a dragon in the show. “The only dragon I’ve ever ridden is the one from Neverending Story," he said, referring to a fairground ride he had experienced.

It's been a busy week for House of the Dragon news. We got a brand new trailer a few days ago that honed in on the queenly conflict at the heart of the prequel. We learned the series will incorporate multiple time skips, that it may serve as a foundation for other Westeros stories, and that its redesigned Iron Throne includes 2,500 swords. We also learned about some of the other unused Game of Thrones prequel ideas, and spotted a handful of new stills from the show.

And there's tons more coming from all your favorite shows, films, games, and more 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.

Queen Studios has quickly made a name for itself on the collectibles scene thanks to a series of MCU statues and busts that are so lifelike it's scary. And thanks to Comic-Con, IGN had the chance to see several of these pieces up close.

Check out the slideshow gallery to see these incredibly realistic busts of Chris Evans' Captain America, Tom Holland's Spider-Man, Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange and more:

For those who have never beheld a Queen Studios product in person, the company is renowned for using a combination of medical-grade silicone, glass eyeballs and hand-punched hair to create stunningly lifelike (albeit extremely expensive) pieces. Their new Captain America bust may just be their most impressive yet, though the bust is certainly rivaled by the 1:2 scale statue also on display in the Queen booth.

That's not to say Queen only focuses on MCU characters. This year's Comic-Con booth also features upcoming pieces inspired by Egyptian mythology, science fiction and horror. There's even a Jurassic Park-inspired T-Rex statue from Queen's partner Elite Creature Collectibles.

Sideshow Collectibles also has quite an impressive spread at Comic-Con this year, including some gorgeous Star Wars, Marvel and DC statues and a whole lot of Hot Toys figures. IGN also got an early look at the next wave of Mandalorian figures in the works at Hasbro.

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.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.