If you happen to find yourself sitting next to someone in a creative costume on the public transit, you're not dreaming, it just means that Fan Expo Canada was back for another four days of comic, sci-fi, horror, anime, gaming and cosplay.
Attendees enjoy 400,000 square feet of unique shopping experiences as well as activities and photo ops from companies such as Disney, Paramount Lodge, Xbox, Squishmallows, eBay, LEGO, MGA's Mini-Verse, Prime Video and more. There was also the chance to meet your favorite celebrities, get autographs and photo ops.
For those who wanted to indulge in some nostalgia, Sharon, Bram and Elephant returned to celebrate their 40th anniversary of The Elephant Show with a special singalong, while the RetroKids booth welcomed Lani Billard and Laura Bertram, the stars of the show, Ready or Not, which ran from 1993 to 1997.
This year's Fan Expo Canada had an exciting lineup of celebrity guests, including stars of TV, film, theatre, animation, comics and gaming, such as Rosario Dawson, Josh Gad, Morena Baccarin, Helen Hunt, Marisa Tomei and John Rhys-Davies, to name a few.
Originally, the cast of Charmed was scheduled to appear, but with Holly-Marie Combs canceling due to sickness and the recent passing of Shannen Doherty, only Rose McGowan was able to come to the panel. She paid tribute to Shannen Doherty, saying that she truly believed her late co-star was in the room with her, adding that she wished she'd known her sooner than she did. She ended the tribute by having the fans raise their hands and shout out “We love you Shannen!”
Disney was promoting a spooky new series that will be coming to Disney+ called Agatha All Along, starring Kathryn Hahn as Agatha (pictured at top). The panel included Jac Schaeffer (director/writer), Joe Locke ("Teen") and Kathryn discussing how the series came to be after Kathryn's successful portrayal of the character on WandaVision (also created by Schaeffer) and how much they were looking forward to hearing what the fans think when it airs -- beginning September 18, 2024 on Disney+.
Canadian Simu Liu (Shang-Chi, Barbie) made his first appearance at Fan Expo. He spoke fondly of the show that started his career -- Kim’s Convenience -- and said he owed everything to the little show that grew. He talked about working with Michelle Yeoh on Shang-Chi, saying that she's a very strong and assertive woman but people don’t often get to see the goofy side of her that loves kids. He mentioned he would love to try a romantic comedy movie or a scary movie as a genre that he has not yet tried.
Oscar winners Helen Hunt and Marisa Tomei also came to meet the fans and had their own panels. Helen Hunt spoke fondly of the late Bill Paxton and working on Twister but admitted she didn’t know anything about tornados. She also spoke about her Mad about You co-star Paul Reiser and how their friendship really helped with the chemistry in the long-running sitcom. Marisa Tomei mentioned that she’s quite shy and quiet but the characters she play are the opposite of her. She credited Robert Downey Jr. as the person who really challenged her as an actor.
Bryce Dallas Howard
credited her grandparents and her parents for bringing her and her siblings up in a very loving and healthy home and taught good values. When asked about what she learned from being an actor to use in directing, she said that Sam Rockwell used to improv his lines and it would be brilliant. She learned to give actors more freedom when it comes to their characters. It was the same lesson that George Lucas taught her dad, Ron Howard, when he was directing Willow.
Canada’s long-running beloved TV series, Murdoch Mysteries, held a panel with actors Shanice Banton (Violet Hart), Clare McConnell (Effie Crabtree), Lachlan Murdoch (Henry Higgins-Newsome) and Daniel Maslany (Llewellyn Watts). They spoke of how the crime series is currently now filming its 18th season and the introduction of the new character, Inspector Albert Choi played by Canadian actor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience, The Mandalorian, Avatar: The Last Airbender). A clip of his first appearance on the show was played, to the delight of fans.
But the show wasn't just about celebrity panels. There were plenty of booths giving out freebies and free experiences, including Squishmallows, where we won free Squishmallows using a claw machine, MGA's Mini Verse, where we made tiny resin souvenirs and Prime Video, where we had the opportunity to make colorful The Lord of Rings: The Rings of Power resin rings, choosing our own colors for the band and the gem stone, to celebrate the return of the popular series to Prime Video for a second season.
While Fan Expo Canada is over for 2024, the fans left with memories with friends and celebrities, new friendships made and plenty of memories and souvenirs of a wonderful weekend. Until next year! ~Photos and article by Joanne Chu-Fook.