Fan Expo Canada is back. Here's what to expect

Fan Expo Canada is back in its full glory this year — a space for comic enthusiasts, TV and film superfans and cosplayers to unite.

The convention — the largest pop culture event in Canada — is expected to draw thousands of fans to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre over four days, between Aug. 25 and 28, its first full-scale show since the pandemic began.

What fans can expect this year

For cosplay fans, there will be an open red carpet, a workshop on cosplay techniques and the Masters of Cosplay Grand Prix — a competition to show off the event's best costumes. The winner will face champions from seven other Canadian cities.

Tattoo artists will be setting up shop for fans looking for specific ink, including Marc Draven, the only tattoo artist in the world who is both licensed by Lucasfilm Ltd and endorsed by late comic book writer Stan Lee.

Fans of Stranger Things will be able to take photos with cast members from the new season, as well as attend panels featuring the actors. Grace Van Dien (Chrissy Cunningham) will have a Q&A on Friday, while Jamie Campbell Bower (Vecna) will do one on Saturday. Joseph Quinn (Eddie Munson) and Canadian Finn Wolfhard (Mike Wheeler) will be joined by a surprise guest on Sunday.

Stranger Things fans will also be familiar with Sean Astin, who played Bob Newby in Season 2. He joins his fellow hobbits from The Lord of the Rings, Elijah Wood, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd for a reunion event over the weekend.

Iconic Canadian comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall will also be at the expo to promote their return series on Prime Video.

Other fan favourites attending this year's convention include Laz Alonso, Giancarlo Esposito, Kevin Smith and William Shatner.

Fan culture continues to evolve

Canada's first Fan Expo launched in 1995, attended by just 1,500 people. But over the years it has grown substantially, attracting the likes of major stars like Stan Lee, Carrie Fisher and Nichelle Nichols.

Other fan conventions, like Toronto Comicon or Anime North, have also been growing in both numbers and attendance in recent years, highlighting the continued rise of fandom culture.

This growth is also garnering new audiences, says Jamie Broadnax, the founder and CEO of the media publication Black Girl Nerds.

"We are seeing more women, more Black women, more people of colour, in the subcultural communities, from gaming to anime to cosplaying," she said.

Social media has allowed more people to feel included and represented, Broadnax said, encouraging participation from those who may have felt discouraged to partake in fandom culture in the past.

"I remember even when I started Black Girl Nerds, that cosplaying different characters and anime was, like, taboo. So to see that it's being normalized within different cultures is amazing," she said.

Social media has also given fan communities more visibility, said Broadnax, calling it "a huge catalyst that allows fans to have more of a say."

One example of this is Zack Snyder's Justice League. After Snyder stepped away from the film in post-production, Warner Bros. changed Justice League's tone, moving it from the director's original intention. But fans used social media to sway the studio, which eventually released Snyder's original cut online.

WATCH | Zach Snyder's darker Justice League movie finally drops: 

"They have been able to shift Hollywood into being able to make certain changes, which I think is pretty phenomenal," said Broadnax.

Fandom also trickles into casting

However, Broadnax said, there are still issues that need to be addressed when it comes to representation in fan culture.

Particularly, people she refers to as "book purists or movie purists." This refers to fans who want to keep character casting similar to a very specific time, which often means they don't want to see changes to gender or race.

This has been seen in some backlash around the casting of certain characters, like Death and Lucienne in Neil Gaiman's adaptation of The Sandman, Reva Sevander in Obi-Wan Kenobi, or Annabeth Chase in the upcoming Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Actor and former Star Wars star John Boyega recently opened up the racism he experienced after being cast a Black lead in the franchise.

And while fans like Broadnax say we have come a long way in the last 10 years, continuing to see these changes will go a long way — for fans now and the fans to come.

"We have to reflect the world that looks like the world that we live in — and that's going to continue to happen."