The days when San Diego’s Comic-Con was the only place to go if you wanted to predict your geek viewing future are long gone. Disney has its own D23 and Star Wars Celebration conventions, while there are myriad other industry events such as Las Vegas’s CinemaCon. And yet the original Comic-Con, which returns this weekend after a Covid-enforced absence, remains the ultimate fandom boiler room, a place where audiences and the objects of their rapt attention seem to be on a level playing field for at least one weekend.
If fans aren’t dressing up as giant Yodas, or trying to get out of the way of Lou Ferrigno as he rushes furiously from one signing session to the next, or remarking on how much weight Kevin Smith has lost and wishing him all the best, they are invited to pose their own questions for the stars in the infamous 6,000-capacity Hall H. It might be an illusion, but for a few days it feels like Hollywood and those who pay their hard-earned cash to grease its lucrative wheels are really one giant, glowing ball of joyous mutual affection. The fans love the stars and the stars love the fans – what’s not to like here?
