Ahead of San Diego Comic-Con 2025 (SDCC), fans learned what Marvel Studios plans to do for the biggest pop culture event of the year. The studio behind the MCU is usually known for delivering arguably SDCC's most celebrated panel as the Saturday night headliner, bringing news for filming and casting that has fans talking for months to come.
Marvel Studios will not host a panel during San Diego Comic-Con 2025. Having used the event in past years to announce news about projects and character castings, which often become the most notable news in the entertainment space, Marvel skipping this year's festivities will be a shock for the fandom.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel made this decision because it did not have a new theatrical release to promote before 2025's SDCC event begins. The Fantastic Four: First Steps, the MCU's first Phase 6 movie, will open in theaters on the same Friday on which the event takes place. Additionally, Marvel is deep into filming for Avengers: Doomsday, which was recently delayed until December 18, 2026, and the studio did not feel that the timing was right for a Hall H panel this year.
While this news is certainly disappointing, it is not the first time Marvel Studios has skipped putting on a panel for SDCC.
Most recently, the actors' and writers' strikes of 2023 forced Marvel to skip the festivities, as the studio could not bring any of its creatives to the event to promote upcoming projects. Before that, the event did not happen at all in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic shutting the world down.
In 2018, even with the then-untitled Avengers: Endgame set to premiere the following year, Marvel did not have anything new to announce, and the team was not ready to reveal the fourth Avengers movie's title yet. Similarly, in 2015 (after Avengers: Age of Ultron), Marvel avoided the event when it had no footage to deliver for 2016 films like Captain America: Civil War or Doctor Strange.
Currently, Marvel Studios is celebrating the release of Captain America: Brave New World on Disney+, while Thunderbolts* is pushing through its run in theaters. Next, with multiple Disney+ shows still left to debut, Marvel looks to kick off Phase 6 of the MCU with The Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25.
Why Skipping San Diego Comic-Con 2025 Is the Right Move for Marvel Studios
Although this news will disappoint many MCU fans, Marvel is about to go through a record-breaking period without a theatrical release as Phase 6 begins. This makes the move to skip SDCC 2025 understandable, considering the studio would only be there with news to promote for a handful of Disney+ shows and not much else.
Following The Fantastic Four's release on July 25, Marvel is expected to go 17 months without another movie release until Avengers: Doomsday comes the following December. While there is still a small chance changes could be made to that slate, adding another movie or two during that gap, the expectation is that fans will be waiting longer than usual for the MCU to get back on track with releases.
For the time being, Marvel Studios is ensuring it will deliver the best product possible for the rest of the Multiverse Saga. Considering that Doomsday and its successor (Avengers: Secret Wars) are expected to be two of the biggest comic book movies in history, the studio is working diligently to ensure they live up to heavy expectations.
Richard Nebens joined The Direct in March 2020, now serving as the site's Senior Writer and also working as an assistant editor and content creator. He started his journalism career as a hobby in 2019 and is passionate about sharing news and stories from the entertainment industry, especially comic book movies, comedy, and sci-fi. Richard looks to expand his knowledge about movies and TV every day, and he is eager to stay locked into the latest releases and breaking news at every opportunity.
