Crowded panels, raving fans, cosplays, full shops and queues around the corner. When we talk about a convention like the CCXP, these elements cannot be missing. This year, with the return to the facetoface event held in São Paulo, was no different.
Drawing on the Brazilian public’s yearning for major fairs of the genre, ComicCon delivered an event that maintained the quality of the previous ones but didn’t exceed expectations.
It must be borne in mind that the pandemic has directly affected the audiovisual sector. The rise of streaming platforms and the reluctance of cinema have been felt over the last nearly three years and eventually reflected at the convention.
Perhaps due to studio fears at this point in the revival, it’s fair to say releases and “surprises” have been more muted than expected. That’s not to say it was bad, just that there weren’t as many relevant announcements as in previous years.
Disney threw the party
The panels were of course as far as possible animated. While Disney gave a show on Thursday (1st) with a panel full of outbursts, screams and longawaited trailers, other companies weren’t so lucky.
It has been shown that a wellmanaged and animated panel is more important than a huge one with no animation.
Some of the talents present were very friendly and won over the audience. Paul Rudd, Pedro Pascal, Jenna Ortega, Gwendoline Christie and Bruna Marquezine are the names that stirred up the most over the four days of the event.
Activations for posting only
As for activations, the impression is that the focus was on generating content for Instagram, with very few interactions.
Activations were mostly focused on famous series and movies. The stands built amazing sets, with amazing detail, but they were sets, so the focus was on the photos.
Netflix impressed with a huge booth and constantly packed activations. Prime Video also took care of the decoration and scenery for “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Boys”.
Others, however, resembled more “instagrammable” scenarios than jokes and interactions worth the time in line. Anyone who wanted to experience the immersive adventure as happened in previous editions would be disappointed.
But was it worth it?
Overall, it was a good start for an event that has always faced so many challenges after the pandemic. For the coming years, the trend is to increase trust and fill more and more.
However, the growing anticipation may be a tension factor for the 2023 edition as more anxiety is brewing among fans of the pop world with the return of more solid cinema and big planned films.