San Diego Comic Convention, the organizers of San Diego Comic-Con and WonderCon, have canceled both shows for 2020 and plan to return in 2021, the organization said in an announcement today. “Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures and while we are saddened to take this action, we know it is the right decision,” David Glanzer of SDCC said in the announcement. “We eagerly look forward to the time when we can all meet again and share in the community we all love and enjoy.”

The decision became inevitable this week when California Governor Gavin Newsom said, “The prospect for mass gatherings is negligible at best until we get to herd immunity and we get to a vaccine,” and called large events “unlikely” (see “California Governor Says Large Summer Events ‘Unlikely’”).

Individuals and exhibitors that have paid for Comic-Con 2020 will be able to request a refund or roll their payment over to the 2021 show.  Hotel reservations made through the show travel service (onPeak) will be canceled and refunded. 

The 2021 dates for Comic-Con are July 22-25, 2021, for WonderCon, April 10-12, 2021.

Work on the building planned to house the Comic-Con Museum has also been affected, the organization said, and will be “re-phased.” The grand opening had been planned for Summer 2021.  That date has not been changed at this point.  The organization did say that the rescheduling of work would “not scale back the experience to be offered to visitors upon the Museum’s grand opening.”

What's next? We're looking at you, Gen Con.