San Diego Comic Con 2019: Who Is Skipping Comic Con This Year?

While San Diego Comic Con is typically a hotbed of news and announcements for some of the biggest films of the next year, 2019’s iteration is going to be missing some big players.

Sony Pictures

The latest studio to announce news that it would take a break from comic con is Sony. Sony made the announcement ahead of the release of “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” which is predicted to debut big at the box office. There is also the upcoming Tarantino film, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which has already received rave reviews coming out of the festival circuit.

And compared to previous years, Sony had a strong lineup for the next year that would have played well at SDCC 2019. Two of the headliners would likely have been the upcoming “Morbius,” starring Jared Leto, and “Bloodshot,” starring in Vin Diesel. “Morbius” is based on the vampire who has a long history with Spider-Man. “Bloodshot,” on the other hand, is based on the Valiant Comics character and is expected to be the first in a shared universe of Valiant Comics movies under Sony.

Warner Bros’ DC Film Slate

One of the first to announce their absence from this year’s Comic-Con was Warner Bros’ DC film slate. This is a sharp change from the last few years, where Warner and DC had taken advantage of Disney’s absence to tout films like “Wonder Woman” and “Aquaman.” And while reactions to the films have been all over the place, fans appeared enthusiastic for Warner and DC’s future coming out of Hall H.

To be clear, Warner is not skipping out on comic con entirely. It will be bringing its massive television slate to show off, which includes DC shows like the upcoming “Batwoman” and final season of “Arrow.” However, fans will have to wait a little longer for new looks at “Joker,” “Birds of Prey,” and “Wonder Woman ’84.”

Universal Pictures

Universal wasn’t far behind Warner with news that it would be skipping out on SDCC 2019. However, it may not be as big an absence this year compared to previous years. That’s not to say there aren’t big films under the Universal banner, but it’s not as full as previous years for the studio.

The headliners would likely have been “Hobbs & Shaw” and the upcoming ninth “Fast and Furious” film, which has been Universal’s most successful franchise to date. But beyond those, it’s a mix of untitled films and unannounced projects that may not have fit in with the comic con crowd. That said, the crowd may be disappointed that it won’t be getting any of Dwayne Johnson this year.