The Marvel Hype Is Real – My Experience At San Diego Comic Con!

Donald Edmonds |

Jul 23, 2017

I have a story to tell.

It was 2015, and it was my first Friday night at San Diego Comic-Con. I watched as people were marched from Hall H from the Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel out to the bay for a concert under the stars. John Williams was conducting a Philharmonic orchestra as fireworks shot off in the sky above them. The cast then appeared on stage and greeted the crowd, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher up way past their bedtimes. I, however, being a huge X-Men fan, could only hear from a distance, as I was waiting in line to see a bit of X-Men: Apocalypse.

Fast forward to being in Hall H later that morning. It was my first exposure to Deadpool, and I saw what FOX had to offer for X-Men: Apocalypse. What kinda irked me was waiting all night to be in Hall H, and there were people coming in later on Saturday morning who also got to see it. So this year, I figured I’d play it smart and show up early on Saturday morning. The cold of the bay was enough to prevent me from attempting another year of an overnight, but I was determined to get in before sunrise. I thought I probably wouldn’t make the DC/Warner Bros. panel, but I’d at least get in after some folks left.

I was wrong.

And so were about 1,000 other people still waiting in line later that evening. The Marvel hype is real.

What I Learned

First thing, I should’ve read the area. There were guys in line who were waiting since Thursday afternoon to get in. I felt it was a waste of their Friday and Thursday experience of the Con. I saw their dedication but regarded them as foolish. Plus I should’ve seen the line behind them.

Second, we are just coming out of the successful run of Spiderman: Homecoming. Iron Man, Captain America, and Spidey were all in the movie, and it served as a reminder that these three would be together on screen again in Avengers: Infinity War. The hype coming in was already there.

Third, we have two other movies also coming out that are equally promoted. Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther are premiering November 3, 2017 and February 16, 2018 respectively. Of course people are going to want to see what was going on with those movies as well.

With all these things working against me, I watched as everyone who showed up for the morning Warner Bros. panel stay the entire time, waiting for Marvel later on in the evening. Here I was, just feet from the door, confident that my strategy was bulletproof. Yet as the hours waxed on, my foolishness became all the more apparent. I wasn’t making it in, and neither were the people in front of me or behind me. To Marvel’s credit, they have a dedicated fan base who believes so much in their product, that they will brave days of cold nights and scorching sun, foul smells and overall uncomfortable living just to get a glimpse of what they have to offer.