Marvel & DC Aren’t Showing Up To A Major Event This Year

Neither Marvel nor DC are showing up for a major event this year. Both studios are so big they can sit these things out from now on.

By Doug Norrie | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

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San Diego’s Comic-Con used to be one of the premier places to debut upcoming films and teasers in the genre from all of the major movie studios. But that isn’t necessarily the case anymore with two of the major players, Marvel and DC, opting out of the conference his year. Deadline is reporting that the two comic book giants will be skipping the event, choosing to debut films and sneak peeks in their own events and showcases. Though the conference will still feature plenty of huge names, Marvel and DC are sitting it out. 

This news about Marvel and DC opting out of Comic-Con isn’t a huge surprise considering how things have been going over the last few years. According to the Deadline reporting, this will be the third-straight year that Warner Bros. kept DC properties off of the conference stage. Part of that was simply timing with the studio not putting out movies with the same pace as their comic book rival. But the pandemic and a slowdown in productions in the short-term also affected them bringing movies to the stage. 

Meanwhile, Marvel isn’t bringing any of its upcoming, and much-anticipated films or shows to Comic-Con’s virtual event either. They’d opted to use the Disney Investor Days to preview and showcase upcoming films and stories, a more one-on-one experience with the core fans of the franchise. Marvel has so much coming down the pike on the big and small screen, they could host entire events just on their own it would seem. 

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Though Marvel and DC aren’t taking part in this year’s Comic-Con, some other exciting new movies will be featured when the event starts on Wednesday, July 21st. There will be an inside look at Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins happening on the first day. Dragon Ball Z will also get some feature time with discussions about that franchise’s upcoming shows and movies. Netflix will give a sneak peek at Masters of the Universe: Revelation. Plus the folks from Paramount+ will also be there discussing and featuring a number of different Star Trek exclusives. 

As for Marvel and DC, it’s not for lack of upcoming projects that have them sitting out Comic-Con. Far from it. Marvel is in massive production mode right now. Their Phase Four of production, following the completion of the Avengers timeline, will feature a ton of movies coming out over the next year plus. Black Widow just hit theaters last week and later this year we will get Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, and Spider-Man: No Way Home. Then next year it’s an even bigger slate with Thor: Love and Thunder, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The Marvels. 

Not to be outdone by Marvel (though they already have been), DC has plans for James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, Ezra Miller’s The Flash solo films, and of course Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam. It’s going to be an exciting couple of years for these comic-book studios, but the folks at Comic-Con won’t be seeing them this year.