Why Marvel reportedly skipping Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con makes sense

Marvel and Disney are not planning a Hall H presentation at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, according to a report from The Wrap. The panel is normally the biggest of the convention, but it seems this year Marvel’s presence will be limited to a booth on the show floor. While Disney has not made this official yet, none of it seems too surprising.

Perhaps the clearest reason for the MCU missing the event is that it might not have any writers or actors to parade out during the panel. At the moment, the Writer’s strike against studios is still ongoing, while the Screen Actor’s Guild approved a strike that could arrive on July 1. Without actors or writers participating, it’s hard to imagine directors being enthusiastic participants in a panel, and it would be awfully difficult for Marvel to hide the number of stars missing from the event. And this issue isn’t limited to Disney. The Wrap’s report also mentions that HBO and Universal might not host panels, either.

Another issue for Disney and Marvel might be that they just don’t have many announcements to make. During last year’s SDCC panel, Marvel gave fans new looks at Secret Invasion, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and more. In other words, lots of looks at projects that were due out in the near-ish future, and which have now been released.

As we know from the creative schedule-shifting that Disney’s done in the last few weeks, there aren’t many new movies or shows on the immediate horizon for the MCU. And with the writer’s strike still ongoing, it’s possible more projects could get pushed back in the near future.

There are still a couple of Disney Plus series on the way, but again, there might not be anyone to promote them. There are certainly a lot of casting announcements that would be exciting, but those can’t be announced during a strike.

The good news for fans is that the announcements about the next steps in the MCU are sure to arrive one way or another. Disney and Marvel have skipped Comic-Con and Hall H in the past, and often replace the blitz of announcements that would normally happen at the panel with a presentation during Disney’s investor day — which often happens in either November or December. This timing also makes a little more sense for any potential strikes, which would hopefully be resolved by that point in the year, freeing Marvel up to reveal what’s next for the MCU.