Why Marvel reportedly skipping Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con makes sense
Marvel and Disney are not planning a Hall H presentation at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, according to a report from The cover. The panel is normally the largest at the convention, but it looks like Marvel’s presence will be limited to a booth on the show floor this year. While Disney hasn’t made this official yet, it doesn’t seem all that surprising.
Perhaps the most obvious reason why the MCU is missing the event is that there may not be any writers or actors to parade at the panel. At the moment, the writers’ strike against studios is still ongoing, while the Screen Actor’s Guild approved a strike that could come on July 1. Without the participation of actors or writers, it’s hard to imagine directors being enthusiastic panelists, and it would be very difficult for Marvel to hide the number of missing stars from the event. And this problem is not limited to Disney. The Wrap’s report also notes that HBO and Universal may not be hosting panels either.
Another problem for Disney and Marvel may be that they just don’t have many announcements to make. At last year’s SDCC panel, Marvel gave fans a fresh look Secret invasion, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and more. In other words, there’s a lot of looking at projects that were supposed to come out in the near future that have now been released.
As we know from the creative scheduling shift Disney has been doing in recent weeks, there aren’t many new movies or shows coming up for the MCU. And since the writers’ strike is still going on, it’s possible that more projects will be postponed in the near future.
There are a few more Disney Plus series on the way, but again, there may be no one to promote them. There are certainly a lot of casting announcements that would be exciting, but they can’t be announced during a strike.
The good news for fans is that the announcements about the next steps in the MCU are bound to arrive one way or another. Disney and Marvel have skipped Comic-Con and Hal H in the past, often replacing the blitz of announcements that would normally take place at the panel with a presentation during Disney’s Investor Day – which often happens in November or December. This timing also makes a little more sense for potential strikes, which would hopefully be resolved by that point in the year, freeing up Marvel to reveal what’s next for the MCU.