Key franchises, such as Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, are reportedly not attending this year’s San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC). This means fans won’t receive announcements or updates related to any of these studios’ upcoming movie releases. Over the years, SDCC has been a major platform for big studios to market and build hype for their future projects. However, the absence of these studios from Hall H this year has sparked several questions about whether the SDCC event is still worth their time and investment.
Here are all the details.
Why aren’t DC, Marvel and Star Wars hosting panels at SDCC Hall H?
According to Insiders, money and timing seem to be the factors that have made DC, Marvel, and Star Wars sit out this year’s SDCC.
A top executive told The Wrap about their thoughts on SDCC’s effectiveness as a marketing tool for major studios. Moreover, they also addressed the challenges of the amount of money and time the studios invested in attending this event. “I think it’s expensive to go and hard for movies to really pop there now and move the needle. It used to feel like a must,” the top executive said.
Additionally, this year, for major studios like Marvel and DC, it has been mostly a bad time. A marketing executive revealed that studios usually book a slot six months in advance. Accordingly, they evaluate the content at hand and then decide what to show to the audience. That said, Marvel and DC are set to release Fantastic Four: The First Steps and Superman, respectively, the same month as SDCC.
Given that their releases are closer to SDCC, the executive explained that it’s not the right time to market these movies, as most of the promotional material is already available. The executive elaborated, “You don’t really want to do something with a movie opening a week or two in Hall H, because it’s like, I’ve seen so much of the campaign already. There’s no surprise left.”
Despite studios sitting out film panels, fans can look forward to DC Studios doing a Peacemaker Season 2 panel, with co-chief James Gunn and star John Cena in attendance.
