Comic Con 2023: Marvel Studios Won't Have Hall H Panel

Marvel Studios Won't Have Hall H Panel

Kevin Feige won’t be on stage at San Diego Comic-Con this year.Photo: Alberto E. Rodriguez (Getty Images)

This year’s San Diego Comic-Con was just dealt a major blow, as it seems Marvel Studios will not be presenting its upcoming slate in Hall H this year.

According to the Wrap, which broke the news, the studio will have a presence on the convention center floor—so possible displays, giveaways, stuff like that—but Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige won’t be doing what he loves to do at the convention: taking the stage in Hall H in front of 6,000 fans and making all kinds of news. Disney confirmed the news to io9.

After last year’s epic panel, fans had been speculating that this year could possibly top it. Maybe we’d learn who Marvel is going to cast in its upcoming Fantastic Four. Get some more context about learn more about the two upcoming Avengers movies, The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, and certainly see footage from projects like Loki season two, Deadpool 3, and Captain America: Brave New World, which have all either finished filming or are currently filming.

But alas, with the Writers Guild of America still on strike, which has resulted in many projects shutting down production and script development on other projects stopping altogether, there’s a unique uncertainty this year. Add in a likely Screen Actors Guild strike at the end of the month and you have to guess Marvel didn’t want Feige out there without any guarantee of when his projects would be released, and potentially no talent to help promote them. Don’t forget, just last week almost every Marvel project in 2024 and beyond was delayed for those very reasons. Oh, and the actor behind the biggest villain of all those movies is currently in legal trouble too.

The next question then becomes, what about Warner Bros. and DC? In recent years, Warner Bros. and DC have had an equally huge, newsworthy presentation on Saturday morning, ahead of Marvel’s Saturday night. With James Gunn and Peter Safran working on their brand new DC Universe, you’d imagine maybe they want to give fans a chance to ask some questions and gain some goodwill. Or, maybe they also don’t have enough to talk about. io9 reached out to the studio for possible comment or clarification and will update this if or when we hear back.

It’s not looking great though. The Wrap also reports both Universal and HBO (which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery) are also considering sitting out SDCC, which means it’s not just the movies that will be taking a hit. It’s television too.

We’ll have much more on San Diego Comic-Con as we get closer to its kickoff, July 20.

We updated this post with Disney’s confirmation that The Wrap’s report was accurate.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.