After making a big splash at Comic-Con in 2022, Marvel Studios will skip Hall H this year, TheWrap has exclusively learned.
Marvel will however have a presence on the convention floor.
The studio, which has always given convention-goers flashy first looks at upcoming movies and shows, currently has multiple productions on pause due to the ongoing writer’s strike. The productions currently on pause include “Blade,” “Thunderbolts,” “Daredevil” and “Wonder Man.”
The writer’s strike, along with a potential strike by SAG-AFTRA, is making it tough for studios to show up to the annual convention without product and performers to promote their projects. If SAG-AFTRA is unable to reach a deal on a new labor contract and orders a strike, actors would not be able to do any promotional work for their films and TV shows as part of the labor stoppage.
SAG-AFTRA could order a strike anytime after their current contract with Hollywood studios expires on June 30 if a deal is not reached. San Diego Comic-Con is set to take place on the weekend of July 21.
Marvel Studios isn’t the only one skipping the annual geekfest as TheWrap is also hearing that Universal and HBO are possibly sitting out Comic-Con as well.
Last year, Marvel Studios threw a much-needed Hail Mary at Comic-Con with a triumphant return to the Hall H stage, where the company announced not one but three phases of the MCU. Kevin Feige ran a tight ship in his usual role as rockstar showman while the creatives and casts from various projects trotted out one-by-one with announcements that, for now at least, seem to have settled the question of whether Marvel is losing focus fairly definitively. The stand outs of course were the emotional trailer for “Wakanda Forever” — we cried for Chadwick Boseman and cheered for Tenoch Huerta’s Namor — and the announcement of “Avengers” 4 and 5. But the whole thing was the end-of-day thrill ride fans have come to expect.
Fret not true believers, as they say, there is always next year.
Jeremy Fuster contributed to this report.