The 2020 San Diego Comic-Con has been officially cancelled. It's difficult to encompass the massive impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on the world in the last four weeks alone, especially the entertainment industry. Theater chains have shut down across the globe for the time being (with the current hope being they might reopen in July); films and TV shows have ceased production across the board over health safety concerns; and pretty much every other type of mass public event (sports games, Broadway theater performances) have stopped until further notice.
Obviously, that also includes entertainment and comic book-related conventions, with everything from this year's SXSW film and music festival to CinemaCon, Emerald City Comic Con, and ACE Comic Con having been either indefinitely delayed or cancelled because of the pandemic. In spite of this, the many people behind SDCC - which has evolved into the annual biggest international geek culture convention since its inception fifty years ago in 1970 - have been holding off on making the announcement which pretty much everyone already knew was coming.
Today, however, SDCC organizers officially confirmed (for the first time since it began) the event will not take place this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak, but will hopefully return in 2021. Here's an official statement about the decision from SDCC spokesperson David Glanzer:
Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and while we are saddened to take this action, we know it is the right decision.We eagerly look forward to the time when we can all meet again and share in the community we all love and enjoy.
As part of their announcement, Comic Con International also confirmed those who've already purchased their badges to attend SDCC 2020 will have the option to either request a refund or transfer their badges to summer 2021 (assuming SDCC happens next year, which, again, is far from a certainty at the moment). Badge holders will receive an email with further instructions within the next week. In addition, Comic-Con's online hotel affiliate, onPeak, will be canceling all hotel reservations already made for SDCC 2020 automatically and refunding the related deposits over the next few days, with no need for any additional actions from those who made them.
Suffice it to say, this was a necessary action, in spite of all the problems it's going to cause for SDCC vendors and organizers (and not just in terms of lost potential income, either). Even in the best-case scenario where larger public events begin to take place in July (when SDCC is traditionally scheduled), it would've been far too dangerous to hold a gathering of that size in the immediate wake of the coronavirus pandemic. That being said, it's plausible some of the studios and networks which were planning on attending this year's San Diego Comic-Con - like Marvel Studios - will elect to host a similar online event this summer instead, as a way to promote their upcoming projects without risking anyone's health and safety. Keep your eyes peeled for related announcements over (maybe) the next few months.
Source: Comic-Con International