Emdad Rahman
MCM Comic Con, the UK’s largest organiser of pop culture events, returned to London for a scorching weekend of sun, cosplay battles, a blockbuster guest line up and a new revamped look.
The first MCM Comic Con London of 2018 attracted thousands of sci-fi fans, gamers, comic collectors, movie buffs and anime enthusiasts to ExCeL London over the 25-27th May bank holiday weekend, while playing host to an exciting line up of guests and exclusive content that took the show by storm.
Lucifer’s Tom Ellis drew in the crowds as he took to the stage with a guitar and tales of the strength of the recent #SaveLuciferresponse. Black Panther’s Letitia Wright, The Defenders’ Rosario Dawson, Khary Payton and Cooper Andrews from The Walking Dead, and “Queen of Geek” Felicia Day also headlined the pop culture weekend, with standing-room only theatre appearances.
Orange is the New Black stars Taryn Manning and Jackie Cruz, Deadpool 2 stars Brianna Hildebrand and Stefan Kapičić, Grand Theft Auto V’s Ned Luke, Shawn Fonteno and Steven Ogg, Overwatch heroes Lucie Pohl and Gaku, Michael Biehn (Aliens, The Terminator), Kevin Conroy (famous for portraying Batman in the classic ’90s cartoons) also met adoring fans throughout the weekend.
While YouTube personality and self-proclaimed “Potterhead” Kelsey Ellison went viral with her Hermione-inspired dance video, fans went behind the scenes of new movie and TV activations from the likes of Jurassic World, The Meg and Jack Ryan, and reveled in getting their hands on exclusive products from brands including Funko, Nintendo, Build-A-Bear and Royal Mail.
Alongside an eclectic mix of sci-fi, film, TV, online video, comic book, gaming, anime and cosplay content, MCM’s panel line up featured exclusive interviews and screenings over the three days.
MCM London presented a never before seen screening of the first episode of Stan Lee’s Lucky Man season three, with a live Q&A with cast members James Nesbitt, Sienna Guillory and Stephen Hagan, while the cast and writers of Plebs went behind the scenes of the hit Roman ITV2 comedy series.
Panel highlights included Den of Geek’s Ryan Lambie’s chat with the cast of the forthcoming Lionsgate science-fiction film, Genesis. Comic book creators Cullen Bunn (Dark Ark), Connor McCreery (Kill Shakespeare) Liam Sharp (Wonder Woman) and Ken Lashley (Black Panther discussed their work with the big four publishers – Marvel, DC, Image & Dark Horse. Author Richard K Morgan talked about the Netflix adaption of his critically acclaimed science-fiction novel Altered Carbon, the influence that Blade Runner had on the series and where it might go next.
New for 2018, the May edition saw the successful launch of CreatorScape – MCM’s brand new creator zone. Replacing VidFest as the home of online goodness, the zone welcomed a host of bloggers, vloggers, artists and makers to meet fans, share merchandise and hit the stage to talk all about their projects.
“It was great to see so many thousands of fans enjoying the new features and improved areas of the show, including Comic Village, the Comic, Creator and Live Stages, and the new CreatorScape,” said Mary Franklin, Global Event Director at ReedPOP. “As we see their reactions and get their opinions, we look forward to adding even more features for them in the future.”
•For the next event in the series, MCM Comic Con heads to Manchester on 28-29th July at Manchester Central. Additional details about MCM Comic Con events, guests and sponsors will be announced in the coming weeks.
•For more information and to purchase tickets, go to: www.mcmcomiccon.com and MCM Comic Con’s social media pages (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
•Read more about it: New look for Comic Con ahead of ExCel event MCM London Comic Con is a great success
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