Marvel's absence might have clouded Comic-Con. But fans found a silver lining

Los Angeles Times

7 days ago

SAN DIEGO — Over the years, Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con has built a reputation — and an expectation — as the room where Hollywood juggernauts in attendance at the annual pop culture extravaganza unveil exclusive footage, break news and share behind-the-scenes stories with devoted fans, who often spend hours in line just for a chance to make it through the doors.
It's not surprising, then,that headlines going into this year's Comic-Con, which concludes Sunday, carried an air of disappointment about the absence of Marvel and other major film studios from Hall H's programming schedule — even if 2025 is not the first time Marvel and others have sat out Comic-Con for one reason or another.
But for many fans in attendance, the news merited little more than a shrug.
Hector Guzman, who along with his friend Joaquin Horas made the trip from Los Angeles, acknowledged that the Hall H slate 'felt a little bit different this year' with no Marvel Studios panel.
But 'there's still a wide presence of Marvel,' he added. 'The 'Fantastic Four' movie that just came out — we've been seeing a heavy push on that this year.'
Guzman and Horas had spent a little over an hour in the Hall H line Friday afternoon trying to make it to the 'Tron: Ares' panel before bailing, but they said that in their three years of attending the event, Hall H usually isn't on their itinerary.
'If it's interesting to us, we'll give it a shot, and if it's not, then there's always plenty of other events and stuff going around [the convention],' said Horas. He and Guzman explained that they are generally more interested in exclusive merchandise, custom works by artists and getting together with their friends in cosplay.
Other attendees like Jennifer Moore and Sam Moore of British Columbia, Canada, took advantage of the absence of popular Hall H mainstays to get into Friday presentations they were excited about, including for 'Alien: Earth' and 'The Long Walk.'
'Last year was my first time [in Hall H],' said Jennifer Moore, who said they'd been attending the event for 10 years.
'Now [that] there's no Marvel thing or DC thing, it's pretty easy to get in,' said Sam Moore. 'We've just been doing walk-ins [for Hall H] this year.'
That's not to say Hall H was entirely without spectacle: Highlights included an ensemble of bagpipers performing 'Scotland the Brave,' a dazzling laser light show, the world premiere of the 'Alien' franchise's first ever television series and an appearance by 'Star Wars' filmmaker George Lucas to promote the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
And although the Comic-Con experience has grown beyond the walls of the San Diego Convention Center, with immersive experiences and pop-ups spilling into the city's Gaslamp Quarter and the Embarcadero, Hall H remains a venerated programming space for panelists and attendees alike.
'I want to give people the experience that they bought their tickets for to come here,' said Noah Hawley, the creator of 'Alien: Earth' before the upcoming FX series' Hall H presentation on Friday. 'I was surprised the first time I came to Comic-Con, how emotional it is for the people who attend. There's a lot of people for whom [361] days a year, they have to pretend to be somebody else. These [four] days of the year, they get to be who they really feel like they are on the inside.'
The Moores were among those who were able to make it into Hall H without much of a wait on Friday morning. But by Friday afternoon, the line had grown much longer in anticipation for later panels, which included capacity crowds. Other big draws included anime franchise entry 'Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle' and DC Studios co-chief James Gunn, who received an ovation for the success of his recent 'Superman' reboot while presenting the second season of the John Cena series 'Peacemaker.'
Even those who were attending Comic-Con to promote their own projects couldn't hold in their excitement for anime juggernaut 'Demon Slayer.' Besides the Hall H, panel ads promoting the upcoming movie — which has already broken attendance records in Japan — adorned a nearby hotel and the trains of the Trolley.
'There is a part of me that just wants to be out with the fans in my Tanjiro outfit with the earrings with my daughter,' said actor Babou Ceesay of 'Alien: Earth,' referencing the young warrior with a gentle heart at the center of 'Demon Slayer.'
The growth of anime and animation programming at Comic-Con and inside Hall H is a reminder that the convention is best understood as a reflection of ongoing shifts in nerd culture and fandom. Having evolved from a gathering primarily for comic book collectors to a broader celebration of pop culture where blockbuster movies once had a stranglehold, Comic-Con may now be witnessing the loosening of comic book superhero films' grip on the zeitgeist as a whole. Indeed, television has steadily increased its Comic-Con footprint for years. Studios and streamers have also been organizing their own promotional events, such as Disney's D23 and Netflix's Tudum, to build up buzz on their terms, too.
Plus, as fan Robbie Weber of Los Angeles reiterated, Comic-Con is more than just what happens in Hall H. When he first attended the event 11 years ago he was among those that camped out overnight in order to get into the hall, but this time around he skipped it, opting to explore activations and other panels instead.
'We saw [comic book writer] Jonathan Hickman [on Thursday],' said Weber. 'We saw a friend on the 'Primitive War' panel [on Friday], which was really cool. It was the first time I've been able to see a friend do something like that.'
For many, Comic-Con's main draw remains how fans can freely celebrate their passions.
'Alien: Earth' actor Alex Lawther said it was nice to hear the excitement of the people around him on his San Diego-bound train as they reminisced about their past experiences and shared photos of their cosplay.
'I really get that intense enjoyment of something to the point where you want to walk down the street wearing the costumes,' he said.