OP-ED: Oh, Marvel...We Need A FanDome From You

I am both a fan of Marvel and its Distinguished Competition, but, I have to say that over the last decade, I started gaining more faith in Marvel and less in DC. First, there were all the changes that went on in publishing and then came the movies which, initially, seemed like a mess as opposed to Marvel's slow building exciting storytelling. Regardless, I still kept up my love for both companies.

Every year, we look to San Diego Comic-Con for the news from our favorite comic book companies. But, then, suddenly COVID-19 happened and changed the way we've had to do things in 2020. No longer can we have large gatherings together and Comic-Con was cancelled this year to be replaced with the virtual Comic-Con@Home. This brought great hope to fans out there. But, the content was limited. Marvel really only brought two of its docuseries - Marvel's Storyboards and Marvel 616 - to the con.

DC didn't bring anything to Comic-Con@Home, instead deciding to do its own thing with DC FanDome. In all honesty, I didn't think it would be any good. I thought it would be the company stroking its own ego instead of just participating in Comic-Con@Home as Marvel somewhat had.

But, I decided to check out the Wonder Woman panel on Saturday morning and saw this highly produced virtual convention that brought the excitement that I wanted to have from Comic-Con@Home. It was big and wonderful and beautiful and exactly what we need during these dreary times. I ended up watching it all day long.

The Marvel fan in me became jealous of the DC fan in me.

Why didn't Marvel think of this? It's not like they don't have content that they could us excited about. Just off the top of my head of things I know are in production or finished are Black Widow, The Eternals, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision and Loki. Then, there are movies not in production, but could have thrown us a bone. In comics, they have a major event going on in Empyre. And, they've got video games in terms of the new Avengers and Spider-Man games along with the Iron Man VR game. There is definitely enough content out there. And you can't tell me that Marvel doesn't have access to its vast array of stars to put together panels.

DC brought content for several of their movies. For some, they haven't even started production. Seeing the rendered animatic that The Rock brought for Black Adam was amazing and more than wet my whistle on a project I haven't really thought about. DC FanDome even sold me on Ezra Miller as the Flash by letting the fans engage with him in a fun way.

I just feel like Marvel lost an opportunity to really connect with the fans like it did a few years ago when it announced Phase Two and Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That event made me proud to be a Marvel fan. We need that kind of hope again. And, given we're still going to be trapped in our homes for awhile, there is time! Come on, Marvel! We need a FanDome from you more than ever!