Every year, Fan Expo Canada arrives to Toronto the delight of fans of comic books, anime, movies, TV, and other entertainment mediums and talents. I love hopping on the GO Train to head to the city and see everyone in their colourful and elaborate cosplay. It’s such a wonderful community and one that shares synergies with the tech space.
Last year Fan Expo 2025 prepped to welcome some huge guests, including Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, Ewan McGregor, Tom Welling, John Boyega, and more. We had fun chatting with The Walking Dead‘s Michael Cudlitz and my son was in heaven with the incredible experiences offered by companies like Paramount, local shops, and more.
What is Fan Expo Canada?
Fan Expo focuses heavily on popular franchises, gaming, movies, comics, and TV across the sci-fi, anime, horror, and other genres. Many fans go in cosplay, wearing costumes they have made themselves. My costume for one day last year was a simple one (not homemade) dressed as Dexter Morgan from Dexter, complete with a blood-soaked nail design.
Fans can walk the show’s various areas with the entrance fee, as well as participate in panels, workshops, events, and shopping. There’s also the chance for meet and greets, photos ops, and to get autographs, all for a fee, of course.
Who Will Be There This Year?
The big question is always what the celebrity guest line-up will look like. And this year for the show, which takes place August 27-30, 2026, the line-up is even bigger than last year (minus Marty McFly, of course, because no one can top the Canadian treasure that is Michael J. Fox!)
Along with lesser-known folks (but heroes to die-hard fans) like animation voices, anime guests, gaming stars, and comic creators, the big celebrity guest this year is Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame. He will only be appearing briefly and only 300 VIP packages are availabl to meet him. Another big draw for the show this year will be former WWE wrestler and current actor John Cena. Fans will also be delighted to know that Alan Ritchson who stars as the title character in the Amazon Prime Video series Reacher,will also be there. For The Lord of the Rings fans, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, and Dominic Monaghan will all be on hand.
Mel Gibson is set to appear as well, appealing to fans of Lethal Weapon, Braveheart, and Mad Max. Did you grow up in the ’80s? Then you’ll definitely watch to see pro wrestler and actor Mr. T. and The Goonies actors Corey Feldman, Martha Plimpton, Joe Pantoliano, and Kerri Green. For sci-fi fans, say hello to Christopher Judge from Stargate SG-1 and several members of the case of Starship Troopers, including Denise Richards, Michael Ironside, Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, and Jake Busey.
From more recent shows, there’s Erin Moriarty (The Boys), Dean Norris (Breaking Bad), Colin O’Donoghue (Once Upon a Time), Brendan Wayne (The Mandalorian), and Richard Harmon (Memory of a Killer).
This is only a small selection of the celebrities who will be there and available for photos and autographs: see the full list on the Fan Expo website.
How Much Is It To Attend?
You can buy single-day or multi-day passes for both adults and youth (13-17) as well as family passes for two adults and up to four children aged 6-12. Individual child passes are also available for kids 6-12, though proof of age may be requested. There are VIP packages as well that include swag and additional access. You can review pricing and details on tickets on the website. Single-ticket pricing for Thursday starts a $41 and goes upto $73 for Saturday, but you can enjoy discounts with a family pass or multi-day passes. If you plan to take the GO Train into the city, don’t forget that you can buy a $10 weekend pass to travel back and forth as many times as needed on the Saturday and Sunday. Not that at the time of this writing, Saturday Family Admission passes are already sold out.