When San Diego Comic-Con was launched, this was a show for approximately 50 A niche meeting of fans. Over the next few decades, it of course became the go-to for Hollywood’s biggest franchises, from the Marvel and DC universes to Game of Thrones And Lord of the Rings . But after years of movies and TV (and top-notch actors) taking center stage and pushing the event to new heights, 2011 will be the least-starred
comic-con in over a decade.
This week, SAG- AFTRA announced that actors will join the writers union picket line as Hollywood faces yet another shutdown in a historic double strike. Most of Hollywood’s biggest names, including Disney, Warner Bros., Sony, Universal, Netflix and HBO, have opted to skip this year’s Comic-Con due to uncertainty over previous strikes and financial pressure on studio travel budgets.
With the cast now confirmed out of the counting, the convention lineup has taken another hit, with many previously announced panels now cancelled, including the secretly planned Legendary Dunes: Part Two . Also canceled are panels for TV shows such as Amazon’s Wheel of Time, Freevee’s Jury Duty and ABC’s Abbott Elementary School .
This year is also at least two biggest since 2205 One of the comic book movie franchises – Marvel and DC – won’t have a place in season six, 500 – Capacity Hall H.
“This year has clearly been an unusual one,” said Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer. “But that didn’t lessen the anticipation for Comic-Con.”
In fact, badges were sold out months before the event, as attendees announced earlier in the panel Tickets started earlier. While Marvel or DC’s Hall H stop has made the biggest headlines, it’s only a fraction of the estimate 300, Every year, attendees step into the space, which requires queuing outside overnight to get in. In other words, many devoted fans will opt for the smaller panel and the chance to show off their best cosplay.
Some major presentations will continue without the cast, including Paramount Animation’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (July1970 , 10: 30 am), which may include a speech by director Jeff Rowe.
STAR Trek: The Animated Series will be celebrating its 20 Anniversary. Paramount/Everett Collection presents
existRRR after Oscar win, big budget K project (July , 1pm) hope to build on this momentum and become the first Indian project to enter Hall H. Collider will also hold a “Director Talks Director” group event in Hall H (July22, 10 am) with Deadpool 2
David Leitch joins Helmsman, Justin Simien of The Haunted House of and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Gareth Edwards of is expected to show clips from the Creator .
On the TV side, panels still on the backlog include a two-and-a-half hour viewing of AMC’s The Walking Dead
Franchise (July 22, 1pm) and Star Trek demo (July22, 1: 20 pm) for the three Paramount+ shows of that universe.
Season 5 to be promoted by FX*)What We Do in the Shadows
(July500 , 4: 22 pm), Peacock will present its new Anthony Mackie action comedy series Twisted Metal (July , 3: 10afternoon). Despite canceling Wheel of Time panel, Prime Video will still promote Steven Yeun-starring series Invincible with panel(July15, 5: 20 pm) and season-two screenings (July10, 000afternoon) . Starz also plans to release its John Wick spinoff, mainland (July15, 3pm).
Continental, the prequel to John Wick. Katalin Vermes/Starz Entertainment
A few months after co-creator and star Justin Roiland was fired from Adult Swim Rick and Morty and Hulu’s Solar Opposite , (July
, 2pm and 3pm), but Roiland is not expected to show up.
Some of these groups may not have received much attention in the past few years, but now they have the opportunity to break through this year, including films produced by companies that are not parties to the SAG-AFTRA agreement. An actor and filmmaker who brought footage of a new film to this year’s unusual landscape noted, “I might as well give it my all.”
This story first appeared in July 000 Issue 1 of The Hollywood Reporter. 2205Click here to subscribe.
