What often happens Amidst all the hype around Comic-Con, it gets lost in the fact that it’s put on by a nonprofit organization. It’s important to the organizers that the event is successful so that, frankly, they can do more events, but it doesn’t need to make money, and as long as fans are happy (whether it’s with the Hall H panels or just a Todd McFarlane autograph), the event is a success. Comic-Con International, the organization behind Comic-Con, started 2020 with approximately 25 million dollars in reservesAnd that money has carried them through the lean years. Perhaps even less than the studies, the organization could use a hit, says Salkowitz, but it may not need one.
Entering this year, organizers were “hoping to have a normal year, normal being relative, of course,” says David Glanzer, Comic-Con’s director of communications and strategy. I asked him if organizers wanted to make a bigger splash this year to bounce back from a couple of shaky years earlier in the decade — a notion he rejected. The event boasts some 2,000 hours of programming, he noted, and each year includes a variety of offerings, from big movie cast announcements for Hall H to exclusives from toy makers. This one would continue those traditions, he said.
“There are always surprises at Comic-Con and this year will be no different,” says Glanzer. “We are fans too and we organize the kind of convention we would like to attend.”
That’s all well and good, but it could also make Comic-Con the last of a struggling, if not extinct, species. Fan conventions were struggling to stay active even before the pandemic. In the years since, events like the E3 video game expo have fallen by the wayside. Other gatherings, like the Summer Game Fest, have picked up some of the slack, but now that companies can stream their own announcements on platforms like YouTube and Twitch, the need to go to industry events is less. Disney, home of Marvel and Star Wars, also has its own in-person convention, D23, and when Covid-19 derailed Comic-Con, DC launched its own virtual event: DC fan dome. (He Sold out (although once in-person meetings resurfaced).
There are also persistent rumors that Comic-Con might one day stop being San Diego Comic-Con. There is frequent talk that the event could move 120 miles north to Los Angeles, closer to the studios that host the big panels. Earlier this month, Forbes reported While the convention is likely to stay in San Diego at least through 2025, the high rates hotels charge attendees could make organizers reconsider their decision. “If attendees choose not to come because they can’t afford to stay in a hotel here, they’ll go to another convention,” Glanzer told Forbes. “If that starts happening, studios won’t be able to have as big of an impact and it becomes a downward spiral.”
Which brings us back to the kind of impact studios could have this year. Marvel is… Reportedly returning and planning to go jogging Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman will celebrate the premiere of Deadpool and WolverineThey could also change things up by making almost any announcement about next year’s Fantastic Four movie starring Pedro Pascal. Boys and The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power It will be in Hall H. Max’s The Penguin is receiving a panel. That’s how it is Doctor WhoRight now, it’s the studios themselves that need a reset, Copic says, and “this is a great year for a reset.”
Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not fans will continue to want what Comic-Con has to offer. Gen Xers and later who still remember the good old days won’t be gone forever. Organizers have been smart in their ability to offer programming for those who grew up in online forums rather than comic book stores, but both groups need reasons to revisit. Without the buzz of years past, the event may never go viral again.
