SDCC 2023: Expect A Quiet Year As Major Studios Forgo Significant Presence

Expanding from its humble beginnings as a convention dedicated to all things comics, San Diego Comic-Con has become the place to be for pop culture enthusiasts of all kinds. Most notably, in recent years, it has become one of the biggest platforms for movie studios to share first looks at their latest projects, announce upcoming titles, and provide con-goers with any number of surprises. For those hoping that the 2023 event would bring all of this and more, it would be unwise to get your hopes up this time around.

On June 23, Deadline revealed that numerous major movie studios plan on largely skipping this year's event. Industry heavy-hitters Universal Pictures, Marvel Studios (as previously reported), Lucasfilm, Sony Pictures, and Netflix will all miss out on SDCC 2023, at least compared to the level of involvement they've had in it historically. This is yet another unfortunate situation for those behind SDCC, who had to cancel both the 2020 and 2021 conventions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Deadline's sources note that plans could change before the weekend of July 19, when the event takes place.

The reason for this mass exodus of movie studios from the SDCC spotlight isn't hard to figure out. It all boils down to the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike and the one that SAG-AFTRA could engage in very soon.

In early May 2023, the Writers Guild of America kicked off a massive strike, not unlike the one that took Hollywood by storm and produced some pretty awful stuff in 2007 and 2008. The goal is to get the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to meet its demands, including improved working conditions and livable wages — things folks in any industry deserve to have. When SAG-AFTRA's contract with the AMPTP is up on June 30, its members may form a picket line of their own to gain similar things. All of this combined doesn't give major studios much incentive to attend San Diego Comic-Con 2023.

Without writers working on stories and potentially actors performing in those that have already been written, the entire entertainment world freezes. Production halts on all levels and everything is left at a standstill until a new agreement is met. That means studios like Universal, Marvel, and its contemporaries won't have much of anything to show off at the event this year. Even if this strike (or possibly strikes) ends before the show, it'll still be a pretty lean year when it comes to first looks, announcements, and the like.

While it may be disappointing that major studios won't have much of a presence at SDCC 2023, it's important that the talented creatives responsible for their output of films and television shows are well taken care of for all of their hard work.