Comic-Con Organizers Speak Out on Online Event Replacing SDCC 2020

San Diego Comic-Con might be cancelled for the first time in decades, but that’s not stopping the organization behind the event from putting on a show. Now without the company’s two biggest shows of the year — Comic-Con and Anaheim’s Wonder Con — Comic-Con International will instead host a virtual event later this summer, drawing in the masses via the internet. Though the outfit has yet to unveil exact details for the event, Comic-Con head David Glanzer has revealed some details about what he hopes to happen by hosting a virtual convention.

“I don’t think we’ve really thought of it in terms of a replacement for the show,” Glanzer told THR. “It is an iteration that we hope will convey some of the excitement of Comic-Con in whatever format we and our stakeholders can create. We are reaching out to various entities who are usually involved in the physical show to see if, and how best, we can incorporate them into an online version.”

Shortly after the team had to pull the plug on WonderCon, it introduced WonderCon@Home, which featured live panels with select guests intertwined with footage from the archives of previous shows. Though it would be reasonable to expect Comic-Con@Home will follow a similar format, Glanzer tells the publication he and his team have yet to solidify formats for the online show.

“There are several different ideas floating about [concerning the format and timing of the event], but we are still in the nuts-and-bolts planning phase, which is why our tease about Comic-Con@Home was deliberately void of any specifics,” the organizer said. “But there are certainly a great many options from which to choose.”

While Comic-Con, International plans to be business as usual in 2021 with both San Diego Comic-Con and WonderCon, Glazner can’t rule out the future possibilities of having an online segment involved with every event they hold. “I imagine there will be an online component to all our shows from now on,” he concludes. “It’s interesting that the Comic-Con Museum, which is slated to open to the public in 2021, had always envisioned a virtual component. They’ve had to move things along a little faster than originally planned, but I think there could be a permanent online element moving forward.”

Cover photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images