In a weekend that is shaping up to be one of the best ever for fans of all things pop culture in the UAE, the debut of PopCon in Dubai is particularly exciting.
The three-day event promises a bumper, star-studded weekend filled with comic books, animation, superheroes, movies, TV and cosplay entertainment.
Among the attractions are celebrity guests, including Luke Cage and Sons of Anarchy star Theo Rossi, actress Brianna Hildebrand (best known as Deadpool's sidekick Negasonic Teenage Warhead), E! News presenter Giuliana Rancic, and The Expendables actor and former Ultimate Fighting Championship star Randy Couture.
Marvel’s vice president Stephen Wacker will also be in attendance, previewing some exclusive footage from upcoming movies and TV shows in the Marvel-themed Hall M, as well as scouting for local art talent.
Visitors will also be able to get their hands on a host of comics and memorabilia – including a limited, PopCon-exclusive edition of the new team-up comic Champions #1 (featuring Marvel favourites including Spider-Man, the Hulk, Ms Marvel and Cyclops), with a variant cover by Whilce Portacio.
There will also be a chance to try out new and retro video games, and the opportunity to have a photo taken in a massive replica of Iron Man's Hulkbuster armour, as seen in the film Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Aspiring actors can take part in an open casting session hosted by local agency Miranda Davidson Studios, which previously cast local talent in productions, including Brad Pitt's War Machine and Star Trek Beyond.
There will also be a cosplay competition, as part of the global Cage Challenge, which is offering a Dh25,000 top prize (registration for which has closed). Rossi, who appears as the smooth criminal Hernan "Shades" Alvarez in the latest of Netflix's Marvel adaptations, Luke Cage, says his trip to Dubai is the realisation of a long-held ambition.
“Dubai is one of those places that’s been on my bucket list forever,” he says. “This came up at a crazy time as I’m about to run the New York Marathon the week after, but there was no way I was missing it.
"I'm a huge fan of Comic Con and have been to some of the biggest ones in the world when I was in Sons of Anarchy [in which he played biker "Juice" Ortiz], so when the opportunity came up to go to one in Dubai, I was all over it. I'm really excited about the trip."
Rossi was already known to TV audiences for his role in Sons of Anarchy, as well as appearances in shows including Hawaii Five-0 and Lost, but he admits that the success of Luke Cage has taken fame to a whole new level.
"I can't believe how big Luke Cage is, and how fast it got there," he says. "This whole different model with Netflix, where we watch the whole season at once, has really changed things. The show only came out about three weeks ago and it's everywhere – I get hits on social media from all over the world.
"I thought things were crazy with Sons when that was on once a week and it would take five months to watch a whole season but this is just insane. It really is – everyone, and I mean everyone, loves the show."
This has been quite a year for Rossi, who acknowledges that many of his peers would love to be in his position as a fully fledged member of the Marvel Universe.
“It’s amazing,” he says. “Right now, some of the best actors in the world are queuing up to join the Marvel Universe. I think every actor, artist, screenwriter as a little kid read comics and pretended to be superheroes, so to now play a living comic-book character is a dream come true for a lot of people. It certainly is for me.”
• PopCon is at Dubai Outlet Mall from today until Saturday. Entry is free, though individual events and attractions may be subject to a charge. Find out more at www.popcon.com
cnewbould@thenational.ae
