Fan Expo Canada returns to the Metro Toronto Convention Center for its 23rd consecutive year, providing all things nerdy and pop culture for those coming from near and far. The convention runs from Thursday, August 30th until Sunday, September 2nd. This year has an impressive guest list spanning popular genres including comic books, sci-fi, anime, and gaming! Â
Guests include stars from some pretty major movies and television series such as the cast from Back to the Future, including Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, and Tom Wilson, the cast from Degrassi, a Princess Bride reunion with Wallace Shawn, Chris Sarandon, and Cary Elwes. Stranger Things fans will have a chance to meet everyone’s favorite TV mom- Steve! Joe Keery is attending Saturday and Sunday. The Walking Dead stars Austin Amelio, Tom Payne, and Steven Ogg are coming, as well as Ogg’s castmates. Ned Luke and Shawn Fonteno from the insanely popular video game, Grand Theft Auto V will be in attendance, as well as several WWE superstars. This is just the tip of the iceberg for guests, for more check out the Fan Expo website.
The four days are packed with things to do that are sure to please just about anyone attending. One of the best offerings at Fan Expo Canada that I just have to recommend is the voice actor script reading panel hosted by Twisted Toonz. Every year it’s absolutely hilarious and a must see for anyone going to the Expo. This year, panelists include Jim Cummings (Winnie The Pooh, Tigger), Grey Delisle (Catwoman, Fairly Odd Parents), Todd Haberkorn (Fairy Tail), Richard Horvitz (Invader Zim), and Jeremy Shada (Adventure Time). They will be reading from the Back To The Future script all while doing character impressions.
Some other awesome events to partake in over the weekend include a Harry Potter escape room, themed cosplay meet-ups, a board game library, as well as in-depth Q&As with your favorite celebrities. Thursday night was the first time Fan Expo is hosting its own WWE Night. With WWE Raw and Smackdown taking place in Toronto the week leading up to Fan Expo, some superstars were able to attend Fan Expo for one day only. Charlotte Flair, AJ Styles, The Miz will all be attending as well as Triple H in a super rare appearance. Â
The gaming section at the con is shaping up to be the best yet with Blizzard making their Fan Expo debut this year. They’ll have their games on-hand to play including the highly anticipated Diablo III Nintendo Switch port. Speaking of Nintendo, they’ll have their own booth again and will have Super Smash Bros. Ultimate available to play before anyone else in Canada. Over at the Xbox booth, you’ll get to play even more unreleased games.
Get behind the wheel in Forza Horizon 4 and bring your tissues because Ori and the Will of the Wisps will be playable as well. Assassins Creed Odyssey, The Division 2, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Mega Man 11 will all be playable as well on the world’s most powerful console, the Xbox One X. The PlayStation booth is sure to be popular as well as they’re bringing their greatest and latest in PlayStation VR. Outside of the convention, Activision (partnered with Blizzard) will be commissioning a street artist to create life-sized art of Blizzards video game characters. This will be located at the corner of Bremner and Simcoe outside of the convention center.
As we mentioned before, Funko will also be exhibiting at Fan Expo Canada for the first time this year. We went over all the exclusives that they’ll have at the con. As of now, we know that they’ll be in the South building, but Funko isn’t giving us much more information than that. Funko won’t be the only toy giant at the con as Hasbro will also have their store at Fan Expo this year. They’ll be selling all the hottest toys from Star Wars, Marvel, and Transformers, including SDCC exclusive pieces. They’ll also be revealing new products over the weekend as well.
One exhibitor that I’m pretty excited about is Rooster Teeth. The internet giant is returning to Fan Expo Canada for the first time in almost 10 years. They’ll have a booth where they’ll be selling merch (goodbye, money) and will have personalities on-hand to sign and take photos. So far those set to attend are Barbara Dunkelman (who also stars in Rooster Teeth’s anime RWBY), Chris Demaris, Ellie Main, and Bethany Feinstein. Who knows who else might show up.
Fan Expo Canada runs from Thursday till Sunday and is located in the heart of downtown Toronto at the Metro Toronto Convention Center. Hours, guests, ticket info, schedules, and floor plans can all be found on the website at fanexpocanada.com. This year, they have an app that should help con-goers plan things and organize their schedules better. This can be found on the Apple Store and the Google Play Store.
Are you attending Fan Expo Canada? Let us know what you’re excited to see.
