For the second year in a row, a supervillain of a virus has defeated the superheroes.

On Monday, organizers announced the cancellation of 2021’s Denver Pop Culture Con, which had been scheduled for May 14-16, 2021. The festival — in which fans dress as comic book and movie characters and mingle at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver with writers, actors and directors — was also cancelled this year because of the pandemic.

“Uncertainty around large public gatherings isn’t going away anytime soon,” said Adam Kullberg, executive director of Pop Culture Classroom, which runs the convention. Kullberg’s nonprofit raises most of the money it uses on its literacy and other educational programs from the Denver Pop Culture Con each year.

“Considering the impact that the pandemic has had on our organization and budget, it just won’t be possible in 2021 to hold the kind of show people have come to expect,” Kullberg said, adding he was concerned about the survival of Pop Culture Classroom and is currently seeking donations.

Denver Pop Culture Con started in 2012 as Denver Comic Con. Attendance topped 27,000 the first year and grew to more than 100,000 in 2019.