Marvel Was Fined Thousands of Dollars For 'Avengers: Doomsday' SDCC Reveal

The promotion for Avengers: Doomsday at SDCC caused a problem for Marvel. The studio was hit with a $160,000 fine over a film installation placed on the Gaslamp Quarter arch in San Diego. Check out the image below! The ad covered the sign of one of the city's best-known landmarks throughout the entire convention.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, even after giving one week's notice, the company responsible for the installation, Elevue Outdoor, had already received a warning from San Diego authorities. The company was instructed not to proceed with the structure due to safety concerns and the possibility of disrupting pedestrian flow during Comic-Con.

Even so, Elevue installed the ad anyway. “The contractor knowingly created a safety hazard and refused to correct it, despite being properly notified and fined,” San Diego spokesperson Richard Berg told the Union-Tribune.

The $160,000 fine was not issued all at once. Authorities gave Marvel and Elevue several opportunities to remove the structure, but since it remained in place, the penalties increased over the course of the convention. The first fine was $10,000 on Tuesday, followed by $10,000 on Wednesday, $20,000 on Thursday, $30,000 on Friday, $40,000 on Saturday, and $50,000 on Sunday, totaling $160,000.

The practice of fining companies for advertising during Comic-Con is not uncommon in San Diego. The city has restrictions on outdoor advertising and, according to the Union-Tribune, issued $48,500 in fines related to ads during this year's edition - more than double the amount recorded in 2025.

Marvel Studios has not yet commented on the fine.

Everything you need to know about Avengers: Doomsday

The villain of the fifth Avengers movie will be Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr., the actor who portrayed the legendary Iron Man in the MCU's Infinity Saga and now takes on the role of the antagonist. Avengers: Doomsday will be directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo (Endgame), with a script by Michael Waldron (Loki) and Stephen McFreely (Endgame).

Marvel has already confirmed the main cast members of the new movie, in one of the biggest gatherings of MCU stars ever assembled. Returning from previous Avengers films are: Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Winston Duke as M'Baku, and Letitia Wright as Shuri/Black Panther.

Among characters introduced after Avengers: Endgame - in Phases 4 and 5 of the MCU - we have Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, the entire new Fantastic Four (Pedro Pascal as Mister Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Thing), almost the entire cast of Thunderbolts* (Florence Pugh as Yelena, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hanah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Lewis Pullman as Bob, the Sentry), and Tenoch Huerta as Namor.

In a live cast announcement, there was also the movie's biggest surprise so far: the return of the classic X-Men from Fox's original films, including Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and, introduced in Deadpool & Wolverine, Channing Tatum as Gambit.

Avengers: Doomsday premieres on December 18, 2026.