Fan Expo Philadelphia 2026

Pop Culture Celebration in the Nation’s Founding City

Philadelphia will be a city of celebration throughout 2026, hosting the FIFA World Cup, the PGA Championship, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and festivities marking the 250th anniversary of the nation’s birth. For pop culture fans, the event of the season is Fan Expo Philadelphia, with three days of media celebrities, comics creators, pop culture vendors, and cosplay.

Media Celebrities

For many attendees, celebrity appearances are the main attraction, with autographs and photo ops available at prices ranging from several dozen dollars to over $200. Most celebrities also appear at Q&A sessions and panel presentations open to all attendees at no additional cost.

This year’s celebrity programming sessions included the following. (Click on the thumbnail images to display additional photos.)

Friday’s first celebrity panel got off to a somewhat rocky start due to scheduling issues. Listed as a Q&A with the cast of The Goonies—reuniting Corey Feldman, Sean Astin, and Kerri Green—the event turned into separate interviews with only two of the three actors. Moderator Kristin Finger first spoke with Sean Astin, then vamped awhile after Astin was escorted off the stage for another obligation. Shortly afterwards, Kerri Green arrived for her Q&A. Cory Feldman was nowhere to be seen in the scheduled session.

Saturday began with James Marsters talking with Kristin Finger about playing Spike on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The actor and singer also showed a video of his latest music video.

Elsewhere in the same time slot, Highlander and Mortal Kombat star Christopher Lambert discussed his work in the action-adventure franchises with moderator Joe Deckelmeier.

Back on the main stage, Dafne Keen, who played Laura Kinney (X-23) in Logan and Deadpool & Wolverine, took to the stage to discuss her career with moderator Joe Deckelmeier.

While rivals on Sons of Anarchy, Ron Perlman and Emilio Rivera came together for a friendly conversation about their work with moderator Kristin Finger.

The Lord of the Rings fans had a lot to love about this year’s Fan Expo. In addition to Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee) in Friday’s Goonies session, Saturday offered three back-to-back Rings-centric presentations moderated by Claire Lim.

First up: Orlando Bloom, who played Legolas in The Lord of the Rings films as well as Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean series, talked about his work.

Miranda Otto, Éowyn in The Lord of the Rings, and Dominic Monaghan (Merry Brandybuck) then took the stage together for a lively session.

Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, and John Rhys-Davies.

To conclude The Lord of the Rings afternoon, Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins), Billy Boyd (Pippin Took), and a late-arriving John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) came together for a hilarius exchange.

Claire Lim’s sessions typically ended with panelists responding to questions randomly pulled from her Existential Chicken purse.

Elsewhere in the Convention Center, Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris discussed his role as DEA agent Hank Schrader in the popular crime drama series.

Sunday’s Smallville panel brought together Erica Durance, Michael Rosenbaum, and Tom Welling for a conversation with moderator Claire Lim.

Philly loves the Rocky movies and the audience warmly welcomed Rocky III and The A-Team star Mr. T. The actor talked about growing up in the ghetto and how his on-screen persona differs from his actual personality. He described himself as “tough on the outside, tender on the inside,” and a man of deep faith and strong affection for his mother. “I’m a tough, hard-nosed mama’s boy trying to do the right thing,” he stated.

Star Trek: The Next Generation actors Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner discussed their podcast, Dropping Names. In the spirit of the podcast, they asked audience members to describe their personal encounters with celebrities. The pair were quite perturbed by the bright stage lighting, with Frakes going so far as to walk to the back of the auditorium to unplug the lights at one point.

The Walking Dead‘s Governor, David Morrissey, discussed his views on the character with moderator Craig Liggeons.

Wrapping up the con on Sunday afternoon, Claire Lim spoke with Doctor Who‘s Tenth Doctor, David Tennant. The freewheeling conversation bounced around multiple topics, including an extensive exploration on the nature of men’s socks.

Comics Creators

While media celebrities are the headliners at Fan Expo events, comics creators are also in evidence—and this year brought a strong lineup of noted comics writers and artists.

Famed writer/artist Frank Miller talked about the origins of his seminal Batman works, The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Year One.

Fan favorite artist and DC Comics Chief Creative Officer and Publisher Jim Lee sketched live while answering questions from the audience in a session moderated by Arris Quinones.

Writer, artist, and former Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada talked about his early love of comics and how he got started in the business.

Two sessions focused on the craft of writing comics:

Arris Quinones, Tini Howard, and Pornsak Pichetshote.

On Saturday, DC Comics wordsmiths Tini Howard and Pornsak Pichetshote talked about writing comics with moderator Arris Quinones.

Mark Russell, Heather Antos, Jackson Lanzing, and Jody Houser,

On Sunday, scribes Mark Russell, Jackson Lanzing, Heather Antos, and Jody Houser discussed writing science fiction and fantasy comics.

The topic was “Comics and Hollywood” in the panel session with Greg Weisman, Nadya Martinez, and Stephen Platt.

In the “Who Was Fela” session, writer Conor McCreery and artist Jibola Fagbamiye discussed Fela: Music is the Weapon, their graphic novel about musician and political activist Fela Kútì

In addition to the panel and presentation sessions, the Artist Alley section of the exhibition hall included many more comics creators.

Exhibition Hall

In addition to comics creators, the show floor included the usual array of vendors of comic books, both old and new, collectible figures, and all manner of pop culture items—from plushie cryptozoological creatures to laser-cut wooden illustrations.

Mav Oya’la Clan in the Star Wars Community Zone.

The Star Wars Community Zone included a rich array of costumes and props from the beloved franchise.

A few movies had small setups, including Scary Movie and Jackass: Best and Last, with the latter displaying a fake porta potty for fan photo ops. The Netflix booth was promoting Netflix House, the company’s new location-based entertainment experience in nearby King of Prussia.

As has become common at many cons, booths with little connection to pop culture were also in evidence, including displays by the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps and insurance giant State Farm.

Outside the show floor, attendees could watch a series of professional wrestling exhibition matches in one of the programming rooms.