Warner Bros. Discovery Cancels Popular Fan Event Amid Merger Shakeups

An anticipated fan event has just been axed. Amid a period of transition, which includes the planned HBO Max and discovery+ merge, Warner Bros. Discovery announced Thursday that the 2022 DC FanDome event will not be held this fall.

Originally launched in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, DC FanDome was a virtual event meant to generate excitement for upcoming projects amid the pandemic. The eight-hour livestream virtual convention showcased upcoming projects for the DC universe, including comics, movies, and TV series, and featured virtual panels with series creators and actors, who gave updates on their respective projects. Last fall's event pulled in 66 million viewers, which was up from 22 million views worldwide for the 2020 inaugural FanDome, according to Deadline. Despite the event's success and popularity, Warner Bros. Discovery has opted not to move forward with a third installment.

In a statement to IndieWire and other outlets, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed, "with the return of in-person events, Warner Bros. Discovery is excited to be able to engage with our fans live at numerous comic-cons around the world and will not be scheduling DC FanDome for 2022." The company will instead be focusing on in-person events, including C2E2, Emerald City Comic Con, and San Diego Comic-Con, where DC films made a huge splash in July. During an hour-long panel at this year's SDCC, Warner Bros. shared more footage for Black Adam, Dwayne Johnson's upcoming film that is set to release this October, and also debuted the trailer for Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which recently got delayed to 2023.

News that the DC FanDome event will not be held in 2022 comes amid a turbulent time for Warner Bros. Discovery. In recent weeks, dozens of titles have been canceled or pulled from HBO Max as the new leadership at Warner Bros. Discovery prepares for the eventual HBO Max-Discovery+ merged platform. The restructuring has led to the axing of the Batgirl movie, with it having been confirmed in August that the DC Comics film, which was directed by Bad Boys For Life team Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, would no longer make it to any screen. Several in-development projects have also been shelved, including the Batman: Caped Crusader animated series. In a statement, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav previously said, "We have done a reset. We've restructured the business. There will be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC. . We have done a reset. We've restructured the business. There will be a team with a 10-year plan focusing just on DC...We think we could build a long-term, much more sustainable growth business out of DC, and as part of that, we're going to focus on quality. We're not going to release any film before it's ready."