With San Diego Comic Con cancelled this year, DC Entertainment is hosting its own online event in 2020 where we’ll learn more about The Batman, Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max, Wonder Woman 1984, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad and many more. 

It’s called the DC FanDome (check out more here), which just about passes as an acceptable pun, and it’s a 24-hour virtual experience accessible to the entire world on August 22, 2020. It’ll also casts and creators from movies like The Flash, Shazam! and Aquaman, and DC calls it the “largest gathering of talent, announcements and content reveals in the history of DC”. Expect stars, creators and filmmakers to be heavily involved here.

Something Watchmen-related is also mentioned, but it’s unclear if this relates to the HBO TV show that aired last year, or another multimedia project based on Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ graphic novel. 

DC TV series will be well-represented, with Batwoman, Black Lightning, DC Super Hero Girls, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, DC’s Stargirl, Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, Lucifer, Pennyworth, Supergirl, Superman & Lois, Teen Titans GO!, Titans, Watchmen and Young Justice: Outsiders making DC’s list of confirmed media properties for the event. 

Warner Bros Games will also participate, making the next Batman game a possible participant for the event. Comics fans will also learn more about DC’s future plans. 

What’s cool about this event is the international focus. DC FanDome will be available in the following languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish. It’s totally free to watch. 

This is a great idea

In a summer that’s been starved for entertainment news other than reports about movies shutting down production due to the global pandemic, this is a terrific idea. With no San Diego Comic Con this year, and the future of packed comic cons in general looking tricky, we’ll happily take a Batman-related distraction from the real world.

At minimum, we expect new footage from Wonder Woman 1984, and probably a first proper look at Snyder’s Justice League, which could come to streaming service HBO Max in several parts. 

Sometimes, film and TV companies save the really juicy reveals and trailers for people in the room at comic cons. This means only people who can afford to fly to San Diego or other expensive locations and pay for accommodation get to enjoy them. This brings down those barriers significantly, and maybe hints at a future of how these sorts of events could play out.