Comic-Con tamer than ever: seven major studios announce they will not have a panel

The crisis is very real for movie-lovers in San Diego. The iconic San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) continues to deflate, following the announcement this week that Marvel Studios would not be attending the event.

Marvel owner Disney also has no plans to attend the convention, according to Variety. The same will happen, as reported by the same media, for another of its subsidiaries: Lucasfilm.

Universal Pictures, HBO and Sony Pictures will also be without a panel. Netflix, which just announced its upcoming releases at an event of its own, the Tudum, will be another major studio skipping the event starting July 19.

Who will be present? Although the schedule for the event will not be finalized until July 5, so nothing is certain, some of the most important companies in the industry are expected to be present.

Variety reported that Warner Bros. and its video-on-demand service, Max, did not rule out presenting new content at Comic-Con. After the failure of some of their recent movies, such as "The Flash," Warner is looking to take advantage of the event to generate buzz around their upcoming releases.

Paramount, meanwhile, is rumored to have a panel on a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" animated production and others on "Star Trek," although these were not confirmed.

The presence of Apple, Amazon and NBC, which would only participate if it does not have actors on strike, is still in doubt.

The strike continues

Comic-Con organizers avoided commenting on how the writers' strike will affect the convention. "We tend to refrain from speculating or forecasting," the event organizer's spokesperson responded when asked by Variety.

It wasn't all bad news for SDCC, as the Directors Guild of America (DGA) signed an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) this week that will prevent the directors' union from going on strike.