Editor’s Note: Comic-Con ended a week ago, making this retrospective the most time-sensitive piece among our remaining coverage. Two additional stories, built around topics that extend beyond the convention weekend, will appear over the coming week.
A week after Comic-Con, downtown has returned to normal while the announcements are still buzzing online.
By Shor M. Masori in San Diego
By the morning after Comic-Con, the giant studio wraps and offsites had been dismantled. The Gaslamp sign over Fifth Avenue, which had spent the weekend disguised as an Eastern European gateway for Avengers: Doomsday, was once again the familiar entrance to the Gaslamp Quarter’s main street. More than 135,000 fans had come and gone, taking their costumes, props and collective body odor home.
What unfolds over the weekend can be better understood as three overlapping “cons,” as in conventions happening at once. Each with its own economy, audience and specific purpose.
There is the citywide San Diego Con, the industry-driven Hollywood Con, and the sprawling, unpredictable Fan Con that takes over multiple blocks downtown. San Diego’s enthusiasm for its biggest single event draw has not wavered, though the convention may have to change to remain here. Comic-Con has recovered its spectacle after the one-two punch of COVID and the 2023 strikes. However, the industry behind its biggest attractions has yet to recover its confidence.
The San Diego Con
The city projected more than 61,000 hotel-room nights and $95 million in spending at hotels, restaurants, attractions and local businesses. That activity was expected to generate about $3 million in hotel and sales-tax revenue, with an overall regional impact above $160 million. Few cities get the opportunity to turn several downtown blocks into a temporary Times Square every year. Luckily a new agreement will keep Comic-Con in San Diego through 2030.
However, space is still a primary concern for convention conductors. At Sunday’s Talkback, Comic-Con Chief Communications and Strategy Officer David Glanzer discussed the possibility of returning Hall H to revenue-producing exhibit space. Organizers said sponsorship money was down and publicly sought help funding outdoor Wi-Fi for the Hall H line. No decision has been made yet.
Hall H can be brutal, but it remains an essential part of the experience. The wait can consume a day while the exhibit floor reaches shoulder-to-shoulder congestion. Having extra space for exhibitions would be great if we can find a good place for the weekend’s biggest stage. Comic-Con already uses the Hilton Bayfront, Marriott Marquis and Central Library for various panels and the Manchester Grand Hyatt for swag drops. Petco Park has the capacity for a large crowd, though a roofless presentation would end the secrecy studios use to make the experience special. Any replacement would need thousands of seats while still a walkable distance for attendees.
But all those concerns disappeared when the lights dropped Saturday night.
The Hollywood Con
Marvel had given Doctor Doom masks and green cloaks to all attendees, including the press section for the first time. When approximately 6,500 people put them on, Hall H became a sea of Doom. H.E.R.B.I.E., the Fantastic Four’s robot, rolled onstage entertaining the audience before exclusive footage showed Sue Storm warning about the approaching threat. Cast members later entered through the rear, rewarding people who had spent hours waiting for seats far from the stage.
Jon Bernthal introduced footage from Spider-Man: Brand New Day, where the Punisher and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man confront the Hulk. Bernthal and Holland, longtime friends, also appear together in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, giving them an unexpected summer double feature. Marvel followed by announcing Ryan Gosling as Ghost Rider and David Jonsson as the next Black Panther. Avengers: Doomsday opens December 18th.
Then a denim Deadpool began shouting from the audience. Ryan Reynolds had spent part of the day walking the floor without handlers or security as Jeanpool, wearing a Canadian tuxedo in the shade “Jean Grey,” for no particular reason. He asked to join Doomsday, learned the movie was already finished and disappeared into the crowd.
Rick Moranis supplied another Hall H surprise by attending his first Comic-Con for Spaceballs: The New One, which I covered separately.
Marvel’s performance made the gaps around it easier to see once the stage cleared. DC Studios skipped a studio presentation despite preparing for Man of Tomorrow. Several studios reduced their presence or stayed home during one of the year’s largest promotional opportunities. Following the pandemic and multiple strikes motion-picture production employment at ~100,000 jobs below its October 2022 peak.
The Fan Con
But Comic-Con was never about Hollywood alone. Science journalist Melissa Miller described attending Star Wars Celebration, where everyone gathers around one universe. Comic-Con contains “a thousand properties” she has never heard of, represented by people dressed as characters she cannot identify.
That balagan is the attraction. Someone arriving for Marvel may encounter an independent cartoonist, a scientific discussion or a fandom that had never entered their online bubble. The same energy spreads through downtown, where offsites allow people without badges to participate in part of the convention.
Holding it together requires hard work most attendees never think about, even for panelists. Comics and television writer Mark Evanier moderated more than 15 panels! Kevin Smith called the staff and volunteers Comic-Con’s lifeblood, crediting their familiarity with returning guests for making the backstage maze feel personal.
Smith then demonstrated how long those relationships can last. A fan asked whether he remembered the small felt doll she had given him a decade earlier. Not only did he remember, he still owned it! Another fan introduced herself as a 15-year-old whose parents had brought her to his panels for literally her entire life.
The journalism panel offered the same lesson from my side of the room. National outlets can chase Marvel’s press room. But we small outlets can stop at a folding table or smaller panel and find a story that has not already reached millions of screens. The panelists also noted that kindness travels far. Today’s assistant may become the executive deciding access in just a few years.
That is why our website is still writing about Comic-Con a week later… aside from our columnists attending too many interesting panels. The headlines belong to Hollywood. The fans, workers and creators give the weekend a life beyond the screen.
Comic-Con will remain here through 2030. After this year, I am confident San Diego will keep showing up for it. The question is whether the industry will find its confidence and show up for us.
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Shor M. Masori is a San Diego-based freelance writer.
Thank you very much for an entertaining coverage story, Shor.
You gave me a vivid glimpse into the Comic Con experience that showed you clearly enjoyed your constant ‘on the go’ attendance.