Why Marvel is skipping Comic-Con this year

The Marvel panel is usually a Comic-Con highlight, but the studio is absent from Hall H this year, for one very good reason.

Marvel normally rules the roost at San Diego Comic-Con, with their star-studded Hall H panels one of the hottest tickets in town.

Last year featured the casts of Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Fantastic Four: First Steps, while the big announcement was that the Russo brothers would be directing Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Followed by the even bigger reveal of Robert Downey Jr playing Doctor Doom.

But this year the MCU will be MIA from SDCC, for reasons to do with those Avengers.

Why is Marvel missing Comic-Con 2025?

Marvel is skipping San Diego Comic-Con in 2025 due to logistics, scheduling, and cost, and so the studio can go big in 2026.

Fantastic Four: First Steps hits screens this week, then thanks to films being pushed back, it will be a full year until a new Marvel movie hits screens, as Variety explained back in May:

“With Avengers: Doomsday moving its release date from May 2026 to December 2026, the studio is holding its powder for Comic-Con 2026, rather than suspend production in London to fly its cast of more than two dozen stars to appear on stage in San Diego this year.”

Marvel will still have a presence however, via panels for comics and games, as well as a Fantastic Four: First Steps booth.

It isn’t the first time Marvel has missed Comic-Con, with the studio sitting out the event in 2011, 2015, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2023, due to a variety of reasons, including strikes, the global shutdown, and a lack of footage.

Marvel isn’t the only studio skipping 2025 either. Longtime rivals DC aren’t bothering with a movie panel, instead focusing on Season 2 of Peacemaker. While the likes of Warner Bros. Sony, Lionsgate, Paramount, Legendary, and Lucasfilm are also giving Hall H a miss.

But there will still be lots of exciting film fare to savour, including previews of Project Hail Mary, Tron: Ares, and Predator: Badlands, all of which we’ll be covering.