SAN DIEGO — Avast! While the international pop-culture celebration known as Comic-Con has long been the domain of superheros, the biggest showdown at this year's convention might not even involve spandex.
Several pirate-themed properties are sailing to San Diego this week in hopes of reclaiming the pop-culture crown from the undead likes of "The Walking Dead," "World War Z" and "Dead Rising." That's right. It's pirates vs. zombies.
"I think everyone is going to remember this as the year that pirates commandeered Comic-Con," said actor Mark Ryan, who portrays gruff quartermaster Gates in Starz's upcoming mature pirate drama "Black Sails."
The series centering on Toby Stephens as pirate Captain Flint isn't set to debut until next year. However, the network is screening the first installment for a select group of fans at a movie theater Thursday night.
"As crowded as the marketplace is right now, there's weird missing spots," said "Black Sails" co-creator Jonathan Steinberg. "It's a genre you think you've seen a million times, but in reality, there just aren't that many iterations of it. Certainly, there's none that I've seen that have taken this approach."
The pirate invasion is certainly apparent on the convention's show floor where both Starz and ABC have erected mock pirate ships towering over costumed Comic-Con attendees.
ABC recreated the Jolly Roger from the popular fantasy series "Once Upon a Time," which introduced the character of Captain Hook at last year's Comic-Con and is heading to Neverland next season. The show's cast and crew are expected to detail the pirate-filled trek during a Saturday panel.
Behind the seaside convention center, Ubisoft Entertainment docked an actual iron-hulled windjammer built in 1863 to serve as the fictional Jackdaw pirate ship from the upcoming game "Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag," which casts players as an 18th century privateer.
