We may be facing a Foxless Comic-Con

28 APRIL 2016



Remember last year's furor over Marvel "skipping" San Diego Comic-Con? (For those of you who are new to our ways: when people speak of a brand sitting out or skipping SDCC, they're usually referring to its big splashy Hollywood panels, not comics and action figures, etc.)

Well, now Fox is allegedly too delicate to come join us this summer and the reason is piracy.  "The studio feels it cannot prevent the piracy of custom trailers and exclusive footage routinely screened for fans in attendance." No, not that! Why, the very idea of a Hall H trailer making its way onto YouTube.

So that's the problem; studios are outraged by their "carefully prepared" SDCC trailers leaking into the public, as happened with Suicide Squad and Deadpool. And CCI is disappointed too; David Glanzer says, "This leak not only violates the trust of Comic-Con and the studios but each of the attendees who respect the bond we have long held." Raise your hand if you feel violated.

I guess we'll just see about all of this. With SDCC coming up fast, studio panel and marketing plans are indeed solidifying so we should have a firmer idea soon of who will and won't dazzle us. (Rumor has it Disney will be gone too or at least scale back.) The Fox panel is always hotly anticipated and I know plenty of attendees will be bummed at its absence. Smaller plans will still proceed, it sounds like, but if you were yearning to see 131 seconds of Assassin's Creed footage, you may be out of luck. No word yet on if you'll be able to bounce around its huge obstacle course again.