Strange as it may seem, the recent New York Times article suggesting that a number of Hollywood studios were skipping out on Comic Con turns out to be true-- well, sort of. We already know that Disney is keeping their sci-fi epic John Carter of Mars away entirely, and that Christopher Nolan won't show up either, though since he's never come that's not a huge surprise. Now The LA Times has confirmed that Marvel Studios, which is releasing The Avengers next year plus planned sequels for Iron Man and presumably Thor, won't be in Hall H either.
If you haven't been to Comic Con before, Hall H is the enormous room where the most high-profile panels are held each year, from the first footage screened from Kick-Ass to Marvel's own panel last year, which wowed everyone with very early footage from Captain America then brought the house down by bringing the entire Avengers cast out onstage. The reasons for sitting out Hall H are numerous, from the enormous hassle to the fact that the hype doesn't always translate at the box office, but given that Marvel was the clear champion of the Hall H buzz last year, it's a little surprising to see them do an about-face and abandon it entirely.
Don't worry if you've already booked your Comic Con trip though-- Marvel promises they definitely will have a presence at the Con this year, and according to the Times, "one Marvel source cryptically said that the booth plan will be as attention-grabbing as last year’s Hall H panel." Last year on the floor Marvel had a complete recreation of the Asgard home of Thor, which was definitely attention-grabbing but not exactly a showstopper. Feel free to begin your speculation now about how Marvel might change the formula for movies trying to make a splash at Comic Con.
