After what has seemed like forever, it has now been confirmed that Marvel will not attend this year's San Diego Comic-Con. Furthermore, it appears as if Sony and Paramount Pictures have both opted to stay away as well.

This is a huge blow for Marvel fans and those who believe the company would have used SSDC to announce who the next Spider-Man is. As it stands right now, everyone will have no choice but to tune in to Disney's D23 expo for any Marvel Cinematic Universe-related information.

A spokesperson for Marvel who spoke with Variety said this move had nothing to do with them wanting to leave Comic-Con. He blames it on the film cycles, but some might find this explanation very hard to believe.

"It wasn't a knock against Comic-Con," one spokesperson said, "the film cycles just didn't allow it."

From what we can tell, Marvel doesn't have much to show apart from Ant-Man, and let's face it, the studio has no reason to make an appearance at Comic-Con with just a single film.

Still, we can't help but wonder if Marvel couldn't bring a small footage of Captain America: Civil War to Comic-Con. Warner Bros. will definitely bring small scenes of Suicide Squad to the conference, and shooting began around the same time as Civil War.

At the end of the day, visiting Comic-Con can be an expensive affair for movie studios. At times, it can cost over $100,000 to bring multiple movies to Hall H, and we doubt every studio is interested in paying that amount of cash every year.

As for Sony and Paramount, well, these studios have nothing to show that is capable of getting fans excited, so as it stands right now, Warner Bros. and Disney will have to bring it this year in order to keep the conference interesting for the thousands who will show up.

Right  now it is up to Warner Bros. to keep the show interesting for fans who are seeking the latest in comic book movie announcements. This is the year the DC Universe could take center stage at Comic-Con, and there is not a single competition in sight.

This is a rare moment for DC, and also perfect timing since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad are both set for release in 2016.

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Photo: alexandre nakonechnyj | Flickr