Marvel's panel at San Diego Comic-Con is one of the highlights of the comic book movie calendar. But not anymore- apparently, Marvel's quitting Comic-Con this year, and won't have any presence at all. No movie announcements, no sneak previews, no props, no stars, no surprise trailers. Nothing.
James Gunn, director of last year's Guardians of the Galaxy, broke the news. When asked if he'd be attending this year's Comic-Con, Gunn replied that he wouldn't be. But he ended up saying far, far more than that:
"I'm not sure. Marvel isn't going so I'm not sure I will either."
That's a massive change from previous years, when Marvel was one of the biggest presences in all of Comic-Con, unveiling new superheroes, new movies and showing off major pieces of footage. Last year, Marvel premiered the first-ever footage from Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Ant-Man as well. Although last year's Comic-Con was also considered fairly small for Marvel, who saved most of their big announcements for a special presentation they held themselves.
It could be that Marvel is trying to focus on the films premiering this summer. First is Avengers: Age of Ultron, which has a release date of May 1, just two months before Comic-Con traditionally begins, in July. Marvel may not have much footage ready yet from their next films, Captain America: Civil War or Doctor Strange, so they would be in a bind during Comic-Con.
There's also Ant-Man, which premieres on July 17, 2015- exactly when Comic-Con usually occurs. Marvel may be trying to avoid a scheduling nightmare, where they would be trying to promote Ant-Man and their Comic-Con slate at the same time. But whatever happens, rest assured- it doesn't mean Marvel's going to stop making grand annoucements about their upcoming superhero films. It just means they might not happen every July.
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