The organisers of the San Diego Comic-Con held off as long as they could, but this year's event was cancelled (and it's probably for the best when California has just brought back stricter lockdown measures with COVID-19 cases on the rise). Talking to Variety, the event's CCO David Glanzer described the move to call off the show as being a "heartbreaking decision."
"People in the office were crying," he continued before addressing the upcoming Comic-Con@Home virtual event which is set to take place online over the same weekend. "We wanted to do something. But then came the second half of that thought: Can we do it? We felt there were some platforms that lend themselves better to programming videos, some to exhibit tour stuff, some to community engagement and watching as a group."
"Many of them asked, as they should, ‘Okay, who will be watching this?'" Glanzer adds.
The trade goes on to confirm that neither Marvel Studios nor Lucasfilm will be part of Comic-Con@Home, so we can forget about any sort of surprise panel announced at the last minute. As they point out, "there’s little sense in promoting blockbuster titles without a clear picture of when audiences will actually get to see them," but it is surprising that The Mandalorian is going to be M.I.A. when the Disney+ series is still aiming for an October debut.
As for what the future holds in store for Comic-Con, Glanzer isn't sure right now. "If this were to continue and we weren’t able to have a convention, I don’t know what the future would be," he says with a sign. "It’s possible that [Comic-Con@Home] is laying the groundwork for something that could exist in the future. We’re learning a great deal."
Are you planning to get involved with Comic-Con@Home?