A number of big studios (including Marvel) will either have a minimal official presence at Comic-Con next month or none at all. I feel sorry for the folks who love that aspect of the event but it's not all or even most of what Comic-Con is about. It's just the part that gets the most attention from some corners of the media and generates the most headlines.
This article in Variety says there's an "existential threat" happening here and that's, well, kind of ridiculous. The con will still be the con. It will still have as many attendees…and if for some reason, some now decide not to attend and others don't rush in to claim that opportunity, that wouldn't hurt the con financially. The tickets were all bought and paid for months ago and if they put tickets for 2024 on sale now, they'd also sell out in under an hour. The only difference you'd notice if fewer folks showed up this year would be that the ones who were there would be happier about the shorter lines and less-mobbed aisles.
And the only downside I see is that Variety might not be able to write so much about one of the only two aspects of the convention that ever interests them. The rest of us will have a dandy time.
A few years ago, a friend of mine was involved with a movie that was showing previews at Comic-Con and he said to me, "This is going to be the event that everyone at the con will be talking about." Their preview/panel was in Hall H which holds 6,000 people and I told him that fact, reminded him that the con attracts 130,000 people (give or take a couple of guys in Harley Quinn suits) and asked, "How are you going to get the other 124,000 to talk about you?"
He didn't have much of an answer. I'm also reminded of those years when Conan O'Brien was recording his show at a theater in San Diego during Comic-Con. A exec for his network told Variety and other trade papers that Conan had become "the face of Comic-Con." One of their publicists called me to ask that I promote Conan on my panels because he'd become "the signature celebrity of Comic-Con."
Yeah, sure. Fine. Need I point out that since Conan stopped with the tie-ins, which was before he stopped with his show, not one person has noticed his absence? But, hey, that's what publicists try to do: Make everything all about their clients. Even back when Comic-Con had 300 attendees, it was never about one thing. It still isn't just about Hollywood using it, as a wise man named Jack Kirby once predicted, "…to sell the movies they made last year and to find out what they're going to make next year."
Comic-Con might have some sort of "existential threat" if all the studios were pulling out forever because they decided it was no longer a place worthy of a spot in their promotional budgets. I don't think even that would doom the con. There would be plenty of other businesses that thought it would be of value to them to participate. "Existential threats" are about the entire future existence of something. This year is just a one-time outlier because of one or more strikes.
And even this year, there will probably still be enough movie/TV promotions and celebs to interest Variety or anyone. There will definitely be enough cosplayers on the premises for Variety to make this year's version of the following video they released last year. This is the other thing besides the TV/movie stars they're there to cover…
About half the time when I meet people who've never attended Comic-Con but find out I have, I need to disabuse them of the idea that every attendee or almost every attendee comes dressed up as some super-hero or videogame character or Klingon. I say, "No, no…those are just the people who the reporters point their cameras at." Understandably. I mean, with those cosplayers around, I sure wouldn't point my camera at me. (It's another reason I like having the cosplayers around. I'm not thrilled about cameras pointed at me.)
It's never been just about the cosplayers just as it's never been only about the celebrities. They're just the elements of the con that mainstream media loves to focus upon.
The cosplayers will be out in full force this year. Some celebrities will be there. Some movies and TV shows will not miss the chance to promote their product. So Variety will be there. There's no "existential threat" to the convention. For one year, there just might not be as much there for Variety to write about. And Variety, if you want to write about "existential threats" to the existence of something, how about writing about industry trade papers that can no longer turn a profit printing every day or every week on paper?