SAN DIEGO COMIC-CON: WHAT’S MISSING?

1st things 1st: After going over the full Comic-Con schedule, there is more than enough to be happy about. Marvel is back and so is Disney and DC/Warner Bros.  In fact, being the 1st SDCC back due to the pandemic shut-down, I was surprised at how many great panels there are.  But fans are never 100% satisfied, so there are a few absences that people have been asking about… So lets take a look.    

Titans, Doom Patrol, Halo, The Munsters and The new Walking dead spin-off Isle Of The Dead are nowhere to be seen.  But guys, because of Covid-19 filming protocols, shows/movies in production, like these are,  can’t send their stars and Executives to Comic-con for one day, and then just bounce back to continue filming like they did in the past. That’s not how things work anymore. And, if someone did contract Covid, that could stop production for 7 to 10 days.  And that’s a financial burden no one wants to bare.

Also, shows like The Flash, Superman & Lois, The Boys, Stranger Things and The Umbrella Academy have just finished out their current seasons, and haven’t begun filming again yet for 2023.  So they have nothing new to bring to Comic-Con. I mean, the stars & showrunners could just show up and talk about what happened during their already-aired 2022 seasons. But again, because of Covid, why risk it when they’ve got nothing to promote in 2022…

Then there’s Stargirl on the CW. The long delayed season 3 is dropping  in August. So they show could have benefitted from some Comic-Con exposure.  Unfortunately, the fate of The CW is still in flux, and the show has not been renewed for a season 4 just yet.  So they are skipping Comic-Con.  Along with the new Gotham Knights, which looks God-Awful.  I mean, the CW pilot for that train-wreck isn’t even being dropped solo at Comic-con. And after seeing the first trailer we all know why.

Now all that being said, I am surprised that Sony isn’t bringing Spider-man: Across The Spider-verse to Comic-con, to get eyes on that franchise again.  I know it’s not dropping until June 2023.  But this would have been the perfect time to re-engage fans, and get them talking about this sequel to the Academy Award winning Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse… (I love that movie) Also, considering the fact that Sony’s Spider-man: No Way Home broke the box office, why not keep that momentum going?

And what about the big blue elephant in the room? Why isn’t there an Avatar 2:The Way Of Water panel?  That drops hard December 2022. And a James Cameron panel would have been the talk of the convention.  But maybe Avatar’s return after 12+ years is something they want to hold back for D23, Disney’s own fan-convention in September.  That would be understandable.  Now that Disney owns the franchise, that is a big feather in their cap.

Also, speaking of Avatar.  What about season one of the new Netflix Live-Action version of Avatar: The Last Airbender?  They have a Dragon Prince panel, so why not give us a 1st look at The Last Airbender as well?  The series wrapped in June, so they must have something they could show.  But alas, this is not meant to be.  So lets file this under ‘missed opportunity’ for now. But another possibility is that they are unsure of how the fan-base will react to the Netflix take on this beloved property. (The creators of the animated show walked off this version of Last Airbender over creative differences)

But say what you want:  San Diego Comic-Con is back and back big!  And I hope they never leave us again!