In the age of COVID-19, the DC FanDome set the new gold standard for virtual cons. How did they manage to pull it off? Let’s see.
When Warner Bros. announced the DC FanDome, a 24-hour immersive virtual convention dedicated to all things DC, fans were apprehensive. Remember how boring Comic-Con@Home was? However, the DC FanDome managed to garner 22 million views across 220 countries. Against all odds, the event has set the new gold standard for virtual gatherings. Let’s see how it managed to pull it off.
The obvious thing that made DC FanDome stand out was the content: lots of announcements and trailers, all coming in for free! In this time, the event was able to trend on Twitter in 53 different markets, making it a social media star.
Aside from some interesting panels, the FanDome gave us trailers for stuff like Wonder Woman 1984, The Batman, and the Snyder Cut of Justice League, which pretty much exists because of the determination of passionate fans.
Another upcoming event on September 12, titled “DC FanDome: Explore the Multiverse,” will focus more on TV, fandom and comics.
As you can imagine, a super event like this doesn’t just instantly come together; it takes a lot of planning and preparation. WarnerMedia didn’t have much time to put together, only starting in April as it became clear it wasn’t to be able to do anything outside the digital realm, so that it came together as well as it did is very impressive. “We really wanted to put together an event that would super-serve the fans,” Warner Bros. TV president and chief marketing officer Lisa Gregorian told Variety.
The idea was to make fans feel as though they were at a physical event, says Blair Rich, marketing president at Warner Bros. “What could we invent to really put the fans at the center of an experience that could be dynamic and meaningful to them?”
"You could already feel this sort of detachment and the loneliness of COVID, and we thought this could bring fans together. We wanted it to feel as much as possible as a physical destination and gathering place for fans to celebrate and discover."
If you missed them, let’s take a look at some of the trailers that made the event such a success. First up is the Snyder Cut, which features some…interesting musical choices:
Next, and possibly the most exciting, is a look at Robert Pattinson in The Batman:
And Gal Gadot returns as Diana Prince in another trailer for Wonder Woman 1984:
James Gunn takes us behind-the-scenes in a look at his sequel/reboot, The Suicide Squad:
And finally, Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson finally gets in on the superhero craze with Black Adam:
This year has presented some tough challenges, so everyone had to think outside the box. It’s likely that we’ll return to the usual format next year, but the success of the DC FanDome has given everyone something to think about. I’d be down to have a similar virtual event next year.
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