As soon as you enter the comic con, you immediately realize it’s smaller than in past years. There are fewer aisles to navigate and fewer booths tempting you with Funko Pops and lightsabers you’ll probably never use (but would still like to buy). Yet, the reduced space didn’t stop them from featuring some killer names: Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen, John Cena, Simon Pegg… a Hollywood red carpet cast squeezed into a New England pavilion.
The sore point comes when we talk about the main stage. Typically, guest panels are held in closed, soundproofed rooms so you can hear every word without the background noise of a vendor shouting “5-dollar posters!” Here, however, the VIP stage was located to the side of the exhibition area, separated from the rest by simple curtains. The result? While Ewan McGregor recounted Star Wars anecdotes, the beep-beep of a comic book store cash register and the chatter of a group haggling over a plastic sword could clearly be heard in the background.
Noise aside, the program was packed with constantly rotating panels, and autograph sessions and photo ops that transformed the aisles into a mini-nerd marathon. The stands offered the full range of classics: rare comics, official merchandise, and cosplay of every level (from “costume sewn in three months” to “I bought this mask yesterday”).
In the end, FanExpo Boston 2025 was a bit like a smaller sandwich than expected, but with the same quality filling. It might not have been as filling as it once was, but every bite was worth the price of admission.
