Veronica Mars and Game of Thrones are among the Comic-Con "losers"

Indiewire

Conan O'Brien, NBC sitcoms, Star Trek and The Walking Dead were among this year's Comic-Con winners, according to Indiewire. However, Indiewire classified Veronica Mars and Game of Thrones as Comic-Con losers. Hulu's decision to surprise release Season 4 one week early was a "massive misstep," says Hanh Nguyen. "While this was supposed to be a gift to fans and did create a certain amount of excitement, it actually upset many plans for the self-styled Marshmallows who couldn’t drop everything to watch," says Nguyen. "Many of those who could were dismayed and outraged with the series, and unfortunately spoiled their fellow Marshmallows on social media. Fans who’ve watched and those who didn’t were unhappy, and to make matters worse, Hulu lost a lot of planned media coverage as critics and reporters were similarly blindsided, which left them with stories that either remained unwritten or were no longer relevant. What should’ve been a celebration of a beloved character’s return instead became a pop-culture nightmare." As for Game of Thrones, Friday's Comic-Con panel was set up to be a victory parade following the HBO drama's record 32 nominations three days earlier. But Game of Thrones left behind more bad buzz with creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss dropping out and star Conleth Hill blaming poor reception for the final season on a “media-led hate campaign."