Don’t be alarmed if you see folks dressed as Storm Troopers on the Metro this weekend.
They’re probably heading to Awesome Con at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“This will be our 11th year,” Vice President of Comics & Marketing Lauren Dabb told WTOP. “We celebrated our 10-year anniversary last year, but still just as much fun this year. There’s Comic Cons in pretty much every city, but Awesome Con is, well, awesome and it’s D.C.’s Comic Con, so our place for everybody in D.C. and the surrounding areas to get together and celebrate different fandoms, gaming and anime. It’s gonna be a great weekend.”
This year’s celebrity guests include a major opportunity for “Star Wars” fans.
“This year we’ve got Hayden Christensen and Rosario Dawson,” Dabb said. “I don’t believe they’ve been at a Comic Con together; if they have, it’s been a really long time, so that reunion will be super cool. Then along with them is Natasha Liu Bordizzo from ‘Ahsoka,’ so that will be a really cool grouping for ‘Star Wars’ fans this year.”
Dawson will also reunite with co-stars from a different cast.
“We’re actually bringing out Tara Reid and Rachael Leigh Cook for a ‘Josie and the Pussycats’ reunion, which I also don’t think we’ve seen a reunion at any other Cons,” Dabb said. “That is super popular, that will be a really cool reunion that has definitely got a lot of nostalgia there, it’s got a great cult following for the film.”
There’s also a star-studded lineup for fans of “Breaking Bad.”
“We’ve got Dean Norris, who is Hank on the show, he is actually bringing beer bottles from his brewery that he will sign,” Dabb said. “We’ve got Tuco, Raymond Cruz, then Walt Jr., RJ. Mitte, and the Salamanca cousins. This group just got together at the SAG Awards, so it will be really cool for them to make a stop at Awesome Con.”
The list of guests is endless from superheroes to sketch comedy to animation.
“We’ve got a ‘Daredevil’ reunion going on with Alaqua Cox, Charlie Cox and Wilson Bethel,” Dabb said. “We also have Orlando Jones [of ‘MADtv’] and Tom Kenny, he does the voice of ‘SpongeBob,’ so that one’s pretty cool.”
Whatever your fandom, be sure to wear the costume of your favorite character.
“Cosplay is a huge part of Comic Cons,” Dabb said. “Cosplay can be anything really. It can be just a fun shirt that represents a show you like or something big and beautiful and elaborate. … If you want to stick around to see the best cosplay of Awesome Con, we do our cosplay competition on Saturday on our main stage. That’s where you get to see the most amazing, elaborate, handmade cosplay up on stage.”
Listen to our full conversation here.
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