Will Marvel and ‘Star Wars’ Skip Comic-Con 2013?

At last year's Comic-Con, Marvel held the last panel on Saturday night and they did it in grand fashion. Edgar Wright came on stage and showed the very first footage from 'Ant-Man.' The 'Guardians of the Galaxy' lineup was revealed. And Robert Downey, Jr. came dancing down the aisles of Hall H to introduce 'Iron Man 3.' But all that pomp and circumstance could be missing from Comic-Con 2013 as Marvel and 'Star Wars' could sit this year out. Say it ain't so!

Every other year, Disney throws an event called the D23 Expo in Anaheim, CA. It's like their own mini Comic-Con. And this year they may use D23 instead of Comic-Con.

Since D23 is a bi-annual event, there was no D23 in 2012 allowing Marvel to bring out the big guns at Comic-Con. But back in 2011 when the D23 Expo was scheduled, Marvel had no presence in Comic-Con's Hall H and instead brought the cast and the very first footage from 'The Avengers' to D23. With the next D23 scheduled for this summer, there's a strong chance we won't see any Marvel footage (including first looks at 'Thor: The Dark World' and 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier') at Comic-Con 2013. (Similarly, Marvel will have no presence at this month's WonderCon, the San Francisco-based convention run by Comic-Con.)

And that brings us to 'Star Wars.' The 'Star Wars' panel is something of a tradition in Hall H considering it was George Lucas who helped turn Comic-Con from a local comic convention into one of the biggest pop culture events in the world. Lately though, the 'Star Wars' panels were mostly going through the motions and didn't have much to reveal. But there were big changes in the 'Star Wars' world over the past few months and with Disney now owning Lucasfilm, they may look to make their big 'Star Wars: Episode 7' announcement at D23 instead. (Keep in mind, Lucas said Disney wants to announce the original 'Star Wars' cast returning with "some big whoop-dee-doo," which likely means bringing Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford on stage with J.J. Abrams.)

As of now, there is no concrete word on what will be presented at either Comic-Con 2013 or D23 (we contacted Disney for comment and will update this article when we hear back) but considering the last time a D23 Expo was held, Disney was absent from Comic-Con, it's seems reasonable to believe that may happen again this year.