FAN EXPO 24' Concludes in Denver, Colorado

With this year's popular guests bringing more excitement this year than the last I believe Fan Expo can say they had yet another successful year at The Colorado Convention Center. I personally didn't attend day one, though I was approved (just unfortunately not able to make it) - however upon my arrival on the second day and talking to various attendees and fellow photographers I heard that it was a full crowd despite the various July 4th activities going on about the city. So, let's dive into days two through four, shall we?

Day Two

I found day two to be a great first day for me, there were so many panels I wanted to catch to the point that I found myself running back and forth a lot, which I didn't mind as I was able to come and go as I please. Though, with this I wasn't able to catch the entirety of each one so I gathered what I could while I was there before heading to the next or returning back depending on what was going on.

The first panel I popped into was "The Voices in my Head" with Billy West as the guest speaker. For those of you that don't recognize the name, Phillip J. Fry should ring a bell. I was so happy I found the theatre in time since it was on the opposite end of where everything else was taking place. Theatre two was packed, there was hardly an empty seat, but I can't say I was surprised with Futurama having as big of a following that it's held. Billy was hilarious; the first thing he did after he gave the panel host a hug and sat down was take not only one, but two of the microphones and speak into the both of them. As he spoke you could imagine the illustration of Fry behind the voice, waving his hands wearing his signature red sweater. West cracked joke after joke before touching base on a more sensitive subject, Phil Hartman. Billy shared the story of how he acquired the voice of Zapp Brannigan after the passing of Phil explaining that his voice and overall personality was so close to his former college that he was asked to take it over. In doing so the cast and crew agreed that there was no one better who would have or could have taken his place and honor doing so.

Not long after that I had to rush down to the main theatre in order to catch Andy Serkis' panel. I personally wasn't too familiar with his work as I'm not big into science fiction, but I knew he was a hot topic out of the weekend guests so I didn't want to miss it - even if it was just catching a few minutes of the panel and snapping a few photos. I was glad not to miss it, especially the beginning portion. His energy and persona were so genuine and down to earth. He walked out with a huge smile, throwing up peace signs, following waves using both hands to the theatre jam packed with fans. He gave the panel host a huge hug and bowed to those surrounding him before taking a seat and talking about the admiration that he has for Colorado and the people that he's had the chance to meet and speak with so far.

I should have stayed at Andy's panel longer since the next one I wanted to get to where two guests that appeared the following year for the My Hero Academia panel - Justin Briner and Christopher Sabat. Here I go, running back to the opposite end and just as I suspected another full theatre. Christopher led the start of the panel since Justin was running a bit behind, poking fun at Justin as he's apparently known for being late. Justin eventually walked out a little blushed from what seemed to be embarrassment but played it off very well if that was the case because he carried himself very confidently. Before Justin joined the panel, Christopher told a story about a convention that he had been to previously and that one of his daughters was attending as well. When it came time for people to line up at the mic to ask him a question, he looked up and saw his daughter standing there as she said, "I heard you have two beautiful daughters, which one is your favorite?" The crowd as well as myself found this to be funny and I personally love with guests share stories like that.

There were two panels left for the day that I wanted to catch, and I couldn't believe how quickly the day was going. Before I knew it, it was time for the Supernatural panel. I wasn't expecting as many cast members to be there as there were - five of them took the stage as the panel host welcomed the cast which included Jared Padalecki, Mark Sheppard, Ruth Connell, Jim Beaver, and Alexander Calvert. I think this crowd had the loudest cheer from all the others as the cast came out and took their seats. Jared led the start of the panel before the host welcomed questions from the crowd, the first of which was a question for Ruth. Following the first question came many more that Ruth's fellow cast members answered praising and showing so much love for her which I thought was touching as you felt a strong and supportive family like love amongst the five.

Before the last panel of the day, I made it a point to head upstairs not only to grab some food but check out a couple of the vendors and make my way down Artist Alley. I also managed to end up near the opposite end where the exhibitors were, which is in my opinion is the more fun section of the upstairs area. In this section I stumbled across Onyx the Velociraptor hanging out in his cage along with some Zombie hunters.

It was finally time for the last panel of the day and the one I had been most looking forward to - Adam Savage from MythBusters. While the crowd waited for Adam's arrival, the panel host engaged with the crowd and as a weird result ended up doing a cartwheel upon their request. Adam eventually ran out after watching a short clip that he had put together - waving as he was in awe of how many people sat in front of him. He talked about the joy he gets from attending conventions like FanExpo and how much he loves seeing families cosplay together. After touching on the little things that put such big smiles on his face at conventions the panel opened up questions from the fans in which he answered with such excitement and joy each time.

Day 3

The third day of FanExpo was just as exciting and jam packed as the day prior. I already knew I was going to be running back and forth in order to catch all of the exciting panels that were scheduled throughout the day. I got there fairly early to catch Genna Davis's panel; however I didn't stay too far into it since I hadn't eaten before I got there I needed to head upstairs to grab some food. But I was able to catch about the first half hour or so. Genna walked out glowing, her smile and warm energy lit up the room full of guests as she waved to everyone before having a seat and jumping into questions from the audience. I love that she came out wearing pink fuzzy-like slippers. She was kind and thoughtful as she responded to the questions that she was being asked.

After running upstairs and grabbing a quick bite to eat I realized I had some time to catch the last half of Priscilla Presley's panel. I didn't grab any photos and I wish I had, but I was so captivated by what she shared. When I entered the main theatre there was already a line of people behind the microphone waiting to ask her their questions. The first question was about her experience with OJ on Top Gun and her response was honest while trying to show some respect in doing so. She shared that she witnessed an interesting interaction between him and another woman on set which made her feel uncomfortable and somewhat scared. After answering this question, another fan approached and respectfully inquired if he could ask about Elvis, as that may be a sensitive subject. She accepted and the person went on to ask what her favorite memory of Elvis was, in which she responded his laugh and shared a couple of stories about him. Following that question, she was prompted with one regarding Graceland and shared a couple more stories that involved Elvis as well as how she saved Graceland as well. Out of all the panels on day three, Priscilla's sat with me the most and I believe that everyone else that sat through her panel would agree. I heard many comments throughout the remainder of the day praising not only her strength and honestly but how genuine she was as well.

After Priscilla's panel was over, the theatre emptied and soon after a new crowd filled the seats for Brie Larson's panel. This was the panel that I was most looking forward to that day as I'm a huge Scott Pilgrim fan and loved her as Envy Adams - though I'm pretty sure most of the attendees were there for her roles in the Marvel movies. She came out just in time and was so taken aback by the love that the fans expressed, showing them love in return by making a heart out of her hands before taking the microphone, having a seat on the black sofa and getting comfortable by sitting cross legged. Prior to her panel, questions were submitted online so the host went right into reading the selected questions for the many that were received. Brie talked about bringing the role of a superhero to life along with the growth of Her Universe.

The next panel that I popped into, but only briefly since they started about twenty minutes late was Saved by the Bell with Mario Lopez and Elizabeth Berkeley. The panel started off with Elizabeth giving a warm welcome to a surprise audience attendee, Richard Dreyfuss who was accompanied by his wife right in the front row. Richard stood up and briefly waved to those seated behind him before sitting back down. Elizabeth went on to share some of her experiences on working with Richard, specifically on broadway before her and Mario went on to talk about working on the set of Saved By the Bell as a child actor. They shared memories and stories as well as talked about going to school on set outside of shooting times along with small parties that would take place after wrapping up each episode.

The day was halfway over, and I had four left to go, what a crazy day - but in the best way! Next up was "All Hail Lana Parrilla" in the main theatre, which was packed as well and hardly had an open seat. Another guest with a vibrant personality, energy and returned love to the fans that sat before her. Lana was absolutely adorable and so down to earth, her smile beamed throughout the entire panel and she was also super taken aback by the love the crowd showed her as she entered the room. So much so that it took her awhile before she actually took a seat. Once she did she started up on the arm of the sofa with the panel host before moving down to the cushion beneath her feet. The hot topic of the panel was without a doubt, Once Upon A Time - which was exactly what I was there for personally and expected nothing less.

The remaining panels for the day were probably the most entertaining and had the most laughs in my opinion. The next being "My Name Is Earl" with Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee. As Jason sat down alongside the host panel, he started beatboxing into the microphone while Ethan took a seat beside him. Lee and Suplee started off by talking about the series and how surprised they are that the show not only obtains viewers but gets new viewers (and a younger demographic at that) to this day. With this, they discussed how upset they were amongst their fans when the show got canceled back in 2009. Not long after touching on that topic, the panel was open to Q&A's from the fans. The first question was for Ethan as a fan shared that they loved him in "Blow" and was curious if him and the other cast members actually "did drugs" (specifically smoked marijuana) during the filming. Before answering, Ethan chuckled a little bit - responding vaguely stating that they had a lot of fun on set and it was definitely a "party vibe" while following up with subtle jokes.

Next up was "Assistant to the Manager" with Rainn Wilson - I knew this was going to be a good one, especially given that this panel was based around The Office. The following year FanExpo Denver had the pleasure of welcoming Kevin Malone, Leslie David Barker and Kate Flannery all together and without a doubt between the three of them was amazingly hilarious. Rainn did talk about The Office quite a bit as fans had questions based around his experiences on set and the nature of the jokes that took place on film (and off film), but he did also talk significantly about his Podcast which is heavily based off mental health, unknown wonders of life and what comes after it. Though these topics can be heavy subjects to discuss, Rainn turned almost all of it into a joke and kept the audience laughing almost the entire time.

Wrapping up the panels for the day, the main theatre welcomed Rosario Dawson to discuss Ahsoka - one of the newer and very popular Star Wars series. I personally am not and never have been a Star Wars fan, however the first film I ever saw her in was Rent and that's why I was there (plus I just really like her as a person). I was hoping she'd talk a bit on Rent, but in the same aspect I knew that's not what the panel was be based around, ultimately didn't expect it and would have been surprised if she had. Rosario was also another adorable guest and had a very down to earth and "real" energy about her. She was energetic and excited about being in Colorado and at FanExpo and shared how amazing it had been to meet and connect with her fans. She talked about her daughter and being a mom before discussing how her career became what it was today. I learned that she grew up in an abandoned warehouse with her family while the start of what would be such a huge career began to come into play.

Day 4

I'm not going to lie, by the fourth day (third for me) I was spent. I was still excited about the day's events, but definitely tired and ready for the weekend to be over. It seemed like a lot of the attendees had felt the same. I had made acquaintances with a family that had VIP passes and attended the entire run of the Expo. They not only expressed their exhaustion, but you could see it in their eyes. This isn't to say they didn't have a good time - because they had, they were just tired and ready to relax.

Due to the lack of energy, I had despite how hard I tried, I didn't attend as much as I had the days prior. There was only one panel that I really wanted to make sure I caught and that was "Time Warp Through the Rocky Universe", a Rocky Horror Picture Show based discussion with Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick. As expected, they shared a lot of stories and behind the scenes moments regarding the filming of Rocky Horror and the infamous Tim Curry. They also talked about the various events, current day changes and outlooks that the film heavily portrays - following the acceptance and encouragement of being who you are and want to be. Susan made a couple of different comments indicating how she felt about the current world's state, which I agreed with and was almost reassuring that it was ok to feel that way knowing that someone so well-known had the same feelings and outlook that I had.

I wrapped up my day and my weekend with the Charmed panel with Holly Marie Combs. Charmed was never a series that I got into, but I was very much familiar with it. Holly talked about being a mother in today's day and age and how strange it was that teens today don't have the urgency as we adults did when we were younger to learn how to drive. She followed up joking that it couldn't be all that bad considering there's way more distractions today than there were in the o90s and that the younger population simply have a hard time paying attention and focusing on something happening right in front of them. A little bit of a scary thought but she's not exactly wrong.

After the Charmed panel I did try my best to wait out one last panel before leaving, which was "The Voices of Animation" with Billy West, Jim Cummings and Fred Tatasciore but I was not only so tired and ready to go home but the theatre was nearly empty when it came time for it to start. There wasn't even a line outside the theatre - so at that time I did depart.

As the weekend came to a close, fans returned home to their lives after hearing some of their favorite superheroes (or in some cases villains) stories and experiences as well as having the opportunity to meet and connect with them on a personal level. As someone who attended last year's event, I have to say that with FanExpo adding a fourth day this year I believe it resulted in far less crowding which made it easier to get from point A to point B much quicker and easier. I found that this also resulted in shorter and quicker moving lines in order to gain entrance into any given panel. I also think this years lineup was a touch more exciting than the last, so I'll be intrigued to see who they'll manage to get for the year 2025. With this being said, I hope to be able to return again and look forward to future announcements!