San Diego Comic-Con: How Hollywood Decides Whether To Dress Up Or Skip

Whenever Marvel Studios doesn’t show up at San Diego Comic-Con, it’s like pulling the brain out of the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.

Or, to put it in fanboy speak, it’s like pulling the brain out of Twiki the robot from NBC’s 1980s series Buck Rogers.

For the most part, whenever a big Hollywood studio or two sit out — or when a buzzy project like 20th Century Studios’ Avatar: Fire & Ash, Lucasfilm’s Mandalorian & Grogu, Amazon MGM Studios’ mega-big Masters of the Universe or Netflix’s massively popular series Wednesday doesn’t show at the 135,000-attended confab — the media gets cynical. Does San Diego Comic Con still have any relevance for Hollywood?

The answer to that is studios, streamers and networks are extremely aware of the Hall H megaphone and the power it wields in an instantaneous social media environment. But, as Uncle Ben would tell Peter Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility.” 

“Going to Comic-Con is like going to prom, you never go in your sweats,” one major studio marketing czar exclaimed to us. “You never want to make a bad impression.”

Let’s face it, when it comes to stunting, San Diego Comic-Con‘s own legacy casts a long shadow: It’s where the Avengers of Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, etc first assembled. It’s where the Guardians of the Galaxy first made their appearance, and it’s where Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman made her global debut.

While Marvel pumps a lot of blood through SDCC‘s aorta, their absence actually provides an atmosphere for rivals (who otherwise could likely not even compete) to prevail.

And for all the ‘Well, Comic-Con doesn’t mean anything to Disney anymore because they have their own D23’ contrarians, well, that’s an old wives tale which doesn’t carry any water. What’s the advantage to making a big splash at SDCC for Disney? The ability to reach fans who aren’t self-proclaimed Mouse House loyalists.

Anyone questioning the wattage of Comic-Con shall look no further than last year when Marvel hit two publicity grand slams. There was the Thursday night screening of Deadpool & Wolverine timed to its $210M-plus R-rated record opening weekend with a Hall H appearance by the movie’s cameos including Channing Tatum, Dafne Keen, Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes and Chris Evans. And who can forget the unveiling of Iron Man‘s Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. Doom in the Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Doomsday during the MCU’s Saturday night 2024 preview?

“That was a mic drop moment for Marvel,” comments the same marketing source. “It represented a course correction for Marvel in the new Bob Iger era and in the face of any superhero fatigue to declare that they’re back.”

There’s no denying that SDCC stunt for Marvel worked.

So why aren’t they stunting Fantastic Four: First Steps (which is destined for a $200M+ global opening) this year since the pic’s release is also timed to Comic-Con? Peg it to a major studio’s marketing wisdom that no campaign should ever repeat a trick, rather provide an element of surprise. Instead, Marvel showed off their dazzle on Monday night with the Hollywood World Premiere of the Matt Shakman directed movie at the Dorothy Chandler pavilion with myriad fan photo-op experiences during the pre-party, the pic’s composer Michael Giacchino conducting a full orchestra, and a massive post movie drone show.

However, the studio does have a small presence in this year’s marketing wars within the Gaslamp District, promoting both Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts* via wrapped hotels and train cars.

The other big reason, of course, why Marvel is skipping is because they remain deep in production on the Russo Brothers’ next two Avengers movies in London, plus Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day is prepping to shoot next month.

And though there’s no Marvel this year at SDCC, there’s definitely Disney. The Mouse House is taking over the 6,500 capacity, 360-degree screen potential of Hall H with titles like Tron: Ares (Oct. 10) and Predator: Badlands (Nov. 7). Last year’s attendance by Disney/20th Century Studios at SDCC with Alien: Romulus featured a massive face hugger stunt. It was the flame that lit the wick to that movie’s four-week campaign leading to its Aug. 16 opening which resulted in the second highest opening for a movie in the Ridley Scott produced R-rated sci-fi franchise ($42M).

“Comic-Con, unlike some film festivals or other events, is a real business to consumer-ship,” says David Glanzer, SDCC Chief Communications and Strategy Officer. “Filmmakers, actors, and writers and the studio get to talk the people who’ll be buying a ticket or tuning into the program.”

Those projects this year fearless about speaking truth to fans include Disney+’s Percy Jackson & The Olympians, South Park‘s Matt Stone and Trey Parker fresh off their $1.5 billion fierce deal re-up with Paramount+, Lionsgate’s doing double duty with The Strangers: Chapter 2 and Francis Lawrence’s feature take of Stephen King’s The Long Walk, Amazon MGM Studios’ Ryan Gosling astronaut movie Project Hail Mary, and HBO’s It prequel series Welcome to Derry (which will be showing off an episode) and Peacemaker Season 2’s Peacefest with a musical performance by Foxy Shazam and Steel Panther.

Honestly, there’s a deceptively strong lineup in a year where it might seem at first glance, without the major presence of DC or Marvel, that it’ll be a sleepy SDCC.

Speaking of DC, we’re told that DC Studios co-Boss James Gunn isn’t expected to tease any future projects, i.e. next summer’s Supergirl or next fall’s Clayface, but ya never know. Comic-Con is all about shock and awe, and Gunn post the $400M-plus success of Superman, will be center stage before the fans he has a strong connection with on social. Gunn loves guerrilla theater and hopefully we get some at Peacemaker. Last time he was here with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Chukwudi Iwuji’s evil High Evolutionary interrupted the presentation in character, hysterically demeaning the audience.

But, the crater seemingly left by the lack of superhero presence at SDCC does create an interesting opportunity for some of the smaller franchises that are typically overshadowed by the end of the weekend, thanks to the insane news these studios love to drop as the con comes to a close — like Downey Jr. returning to the Avengers films as Dr. Doom.

With that weight lifted off their shoulders, it seems the franchises that did opt for a presence at the con are looking forward to a year where they can confidently release news, debut footage and generate buzz around their properties without fear that it’ll be squandered by more pressing nerd news before Sunday. The more equitable promotional distribution can even be seen on the streets of the Gaslamp District, where the typical ad spaces are occupied by more than nine brands across several media conglomerates hoping to catch attendees’ eyes.

AMC is heavily promoting the Anne Rice and Walking Dead Universes, and even Disney has leaned more into its television properties like ABC’s Abbott Elementary and The Rookie. Con-goers can’t miss the gigantic Alien: Earth poster on the side of the Hilton Bayfront, either.

In fact Alien: Earth is one of the biggest franchises Disney is flaunting at the con, along with Percy Jackson, which is a true indicator that even one of Hollywood’s most powerful studios is giving its smaller properties a moment in the spotlight. We expect the Disney Entertainment Television team to tease some exciting news for Season 2 of Percy Jackson at its Hall H panel to kick things off Thursday, given the latest installment is slated for a December premiere date. Besides castings, not much has been revealed regarding the adaptation of Rick Riordan’s Sea of Monsters thus far. Same goes for Noah Hawley’s Alien outing. Expect some chatter about that one by the end of the con as well, since Disney is treating attendees to the entire first episode before a cast Q&A.

Time will tell before the weekend’s end what prevails in the never-ending media circus of the next four days. And still, even as it appears it may be a more interesting and surprising SDCC than we’ve gotten in years thanks to a more diverse showing, there are obvious questions.

Studios have given their umbilical cord to movie theaters, and largely make a priority to show up at CinemaCon with their year’s slate of movie trailers and talent. But why would a studio even think about skipping Comic-Con? Some of it is cost-related and the price for traveling/housing talent in addition to prepping footage can range anywhere from the hundreds of thousands to very low single digit millions.

“It’s not an easy event to produce,” says Glanzer about the A-game which entertainment congloms bring. It’s important to note that SDCC doesn’t charge studios or networks for the use of the San Diego Convention Hall rooms or Hall H. It’s literally a curated confab. SDCC’s means of generating money remain ticket sales, exhibition hall rental, and some experiences in the Gaslamp. SDCC also gets a share of some of the outdoor ad income generated by partner hotels.

Assume whatever you’re showing on screen will leak at SDCC. Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox learned that the hard way in July 2015 when they dropped respective first looks of Suicide Squad and Deadpool a year in advance. Warners caved and dropped a three-minute trailer on YouTube for the David Ayer DC movie a year in advance to counter the fan footage that was leaking online. Hence, another question that Hollywood marketers wrangle with is whether to drop a trailer timed to Comic-Con or not. Does that make sense in regards to the timing of a project’s campaign?

“We tell the studios if there’s something you can’t afford to have leaked, don’t bring it,” says Glanzer, “We’d rather the studios have a good experience then if something that they didn’t want out there gets leaked.”

Another reason for skipping SDCC stems from materials simply not being ready, i.e. Supergirl (June 26, 2026) is a heavy VFX movie, and Masters of the Universe (June 5) recently finished shooting. Rather then showing up at SDCC this weekend, Avatar: Fire & Ash is dropping its first trailer in theaters before Fantastic Four, not to mention James Cameron is still busy finishing the movie for its Dec. 19 release.

Screening movies has become a bit of a dilemma at SDCC. Gone are the days when New Line held their Scare Diego at a Gaslamp multiplex which previewed their upcoming genre movies, or Universal showed off early screenings of M. Night Shyamalan’s The Visit in 2015. Any studio looking to screen a movie requires putting fans/press on a bus to a multiplex that’s anywhere from 5 to 8 miles away. Why isn’t New Line’s hotly buzzed Weapons showing at SDCC before its Aug. 8 release? There are big elements of that campaign which are a mystery box and to screen the movie two weeks in advance would spoil the movie greatly.

So, what does Comic-Con look like when the majors in Hollywood basically completely sit on the sidelines?

The summer of the 2023 strikes proved that SDCC business-wise was solid as a rock. Attendance didn’t falter with few ticket cancellations and that’s when the most popular face here wasn’t Marvel Boss Kevin Feige, rather SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator and national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, who was waving the flag for voiceover actors and educating attendees on the dangers of A.I. SDCC brings $160M to local San Diego businesses and another reported $32M in tax income. Exhibit hall vendor space is completely maximized with turnover being light, per Glanzer. SDCC’s contract with San Diego runs until 2027. “We don’t want to ever leave,” says Glanzer.

However, rising hotel costs for attendees and studios continually remain top of mind.

Again, for an entertainment conglom to attend or skip Comic-Con boils down to the question of whether the juice is worth the squeeze in their campaign dollar spend, especially at a time when it’s feasible to excite fans via relatively cheaper methods in a TikTok obsessed social media-verse (and, even better, they don’t have to worry about sharing the spotlight with competitors).

So, when do you pull out all the stops in a campaign? Is it too soon? In the end, you never want to be that studio or network who didn’t knock it out of the park at Comic-Con.

Says Glanzer, “Sometimes sitting out a year is the best strategy. Studios are savvy enough to know it’s about sharing a project, not just selling it. If (the studios) are enthusiastic about their content, the fans will be too. And if this year’s content may not align perfectly with the Comic-Con crowd, then maybe taking a break for one year is the smart move.”