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Charlize Theron is one of the celebrity guests who will appear at Comic-Con@Home. Photo: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Comic-Con goes online – can Keanu Reeves, Charlize Theron and Norman Reedus pull the crowds in for Comic-Com@Home?

  • The annual convention in San Diego, California, normally attracts 135,000 attendees and a line-up of A-list celebrities and studios
  • The convention will be free to attend, and organisers hope its greater accessibility will pull in large audiences

The staff of Comic-Con International knew it was coming, but that didn’t stop the tears.

In mid-April, San Diego’s prized event was called off because of Covid-19. It made sense, considering 135,000 attendees jammed into the Convention Centre gave it the potential to become an epic super-spreader event.

“We had to break the news to everybody that we wouldn’t have a show,” said Comic-Con spokesman David Glanzer. “I will be very honest with you, there was some crying.”

But then something happened. Staff members started working on a plan to move the convention to an online-only format. And it turns out, a lot of movie studios, comic book companies and wacky pop culture groups were enthusiastic about the idea – and willing to work hard to make it happen.

Comic-Con 2019 drew 135,000 fans to the convention in San Diego. Photo: Shutterstock
On July 22, Comic-Con will kick off its 51st year – rebranded as Comic-Con@Home – online for free. Around 350 panels will be viewable on YouTube with the potential for thousands of fans sitting at home all over the world tuning in.

Comic-Con is tempering expectations of attendance. On one hand, the organisation has always complained it doesn’t have enough space at the Convention Centre and thousands of people are always turned away. Now there is, in a sense, no limit on attendance. But, does anyone really want to sit in front of a computer or phone instead of being in Hall H?

“There’s nothing more exciting than being in the room,” said Heidi MacDonald, editor of The Beat, a comic book news website.

Like a lot of frequent attendees, she lamented missing out on the real thing, even the parts most of us would dread. – from the excitement of waiting in line for hours with the chance to be there when the next big film is announced to braving the oceans of people who would never have the chance to meet unless at this pop-culture extravaganza.

It is hard to forget last year’s convention when Marvel Studios stole the show with announcements of a massive film and TV slate. It was pandemonium when a fourth Thor film was announced and Natalie Portman strutted on stage to lift the mythical hero’s hammer to deafening applause among 6,500 fans in Hall H.

However, McDonald said the online event takes away from the sting of missing out on Comic-Con this year and credited the organisation for going all out to try and create something.

“I wouldn’t be surprised – especially for the entertainment panels – to see quite a bit of attendance,” she said.

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Measuring success of the online Comic-Con may be difficult because it doesn’t have the same number of must-see events. At least for now, the biggest names are sitting this year out: Marvel Studios, Warner Bros with its large DC film division, CBS-AT&T television channel The CW with its massive line-up of DC shows and Star Wars.

At least some of that can be explained by production and release schedules being disrupted by the coronavirus, and DC holding its own online convention in August, DC FanDome.

It’s part of a slow creep of pop culture entities having their own conventions, such as Star Wars Celebration and Disney’s D23 event.

Natalie Portman receives Thor’s hammer on day three of last year’s Comic-Con International in San Diego. Photo: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP

That’s not to say there isn’t star power at this year’s convention. Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves are confirmed for the event.

And TV shows with substantial followings seem to be going all out with multiple casts and panels, including The Walking Dead, The Boys and CBS’ ever-growing crop of Star Tre k shows.

Schedules can also be added to. A week after the convention schedule was announced, the highly anticipated (and often delayed) new X-Men film, The New Mutants, was added to the Thursday schedule – quickly becoming the most anticipated panel of the convention.

The film was the last of the Fox era of X-Men films and not considered part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that contains Captain America, Black Panther and Iron Man.

Logistics for the event are fairly straightforward: Comic-Con staff will work from home, while studios are responsible for setting up their own video equipment. To avoid major glitches, most panels will be pre-recorded.

Comic-Con has been driven online this year by the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: John P. Filo

It might take away from the excitement, but the potential for equipment problems across hundreds of presenters is high, said Walter Kinzie, chief executive of Texas-based Encore Live, a company that has been creating drive-in concert experiences for Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Trace Adkins.

Comic-Con will take a financial hit not charging for tickets. The non-profit, which also runs Anaheim’s Wonder Con, brought in US$24.8 million in programme service revenue in 2018, according to tax returns.

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One thing that might come out of this event is future streaming of panels that are the hardest to get into. Glazner said what makes the event great is the vast community of fans coming together in person but there may be room for more online features.

“I think there might [be] an online component [in future conventions],” he said.

Two franchises are going all out at this year’s Comic-Con: Star Trek and The Walking Dead.

The Star Trek universe is in the middle of a renaissance, with new TV shows on CBS All Access and the return of its biggest star, Patrick Stewart. It will pretty much take over Thursday’s programming with three shows featured: Picard, Lower Decks and Discovery.

Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead. Photo: Shutterstock

A zombie epic that has now spilled over into three shows, The Walking Dead , will take up three hours of programming on Friday. The most popular cast members, including Norman Reedus, will be there.

Besides Reeves and Theron, another prominent name at the convention is Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda will appear on a His Dark Materials panel on Thursday, Theron will have a panel all to herself on Friday and Reeves will pull double-duty Saturday with panels about the anniversary of the Constantine movie and his new movie, Bill & Ted Face the Music.

Other big draws include an appearance by the cast of Amazon Prime’s The Boys on Thursday, The New Mutants on Thursday, HBO Max’s adult animation panel Friday, and vampire comedy What We Do in the Shadows on Saturday.

A catch-all place to see everything happening from July 22 to July 26 will be at Comic-Con’s website.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Comic-Con poised to go online, but doubts linger
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