Read what Ewan McGregor said about why he was 'ready' to play Obi-Wan at FlickSided, and his funny behind-the-scenes stories from Star Wars at Bam Smack Pow. 

We also have recaps about John Boyega’s journey to Star Wars at FlickSided and Geek Girl Authority.

Listen to the episode on Spotify.

Ron: Hello listeners. We’re coming to you fresh from Fan Expo Canada, 2025. Listen on for a recap of the convention. I’m Ron. 

Mon: And I’m Mon. 

Ron: Before we start our episode, we would like to acknowledge that the land we are recording on is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples. It is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. We also acknowledge that Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit.

Mon: While we are making this land acknowledgement, we understand that this is not enough and that positive action is required by the people of Canada to make substantive change for the Indigenous nations and communities whose lands we now reside on.

[Music]

Ron: We made our annual visit to Fan Expo Canada, and spent all four days at the event. This year felt different from others. A lot of guests we wanted to see dropped out so we ended up with a lot of celeb panels on the Sunday. I still wish we could’ve seen Jodie Whittaker and Mandip Gill from Doctor Who, but alas. 

Mon: The programming this year confused me no end. All the celebrity panels were shunted to Sunday. The BTTF celebration panel was advertised as only having two leads, even though more cast and crew were there. It felt like the Expo was bigger than before, and yet, not so well programmed. 

Ron: But, we managed to book a stay at the InterCon, cutting our commute time down considerably. Not that it had anything to do with our experience at the con. But not being dog-tired from travelling over an hour each way helps.

Mon: Thursday was all about the activations. While the show technically opens at 4pm, media previews began at 2pm. Our first stop was Paramount+. It was a long and slow moving line but there was a fair amount of excitement for it. 

Ron: The one thing we definitely knew going in was that we were going to get wet. Every single Paramount staff told us that. We finally had to check how wet we were going to get. Not drenched, but we would definitely feel it. 

Mon: We definitely got wet, but it wasn’t too bad. The activation was basically a pod and a screen where the Paramount goat introduced the network’s different properties to us.

Ron: Yes. We were supposed to be going up the Paramount mountain. Of course, we didn’t actually go up anything. But the video was so fun. I nearly squealed when I saw the USS Discovery. 

Mon: Next, we went to check out the AMD booth. They had invited us. Bit chaotic. We didn’t know where to check in and had to find the desk ourselves. 

Ron: But they were very sweet. We tried the claw machine and failed spectacularly. 

Mon: Four chances between us, and no goodies to show for it. 

Ron: Aye. So then, we checked out the Disney Consumer booth. There was a Lego Fantastic Four set that I really wanted. But it probably would have broken the bank. 

Mon: I’m still thinking about it. But the highlight of the booth were the photo ops. There was a section for Marvel, and the other for Star Wars. 

Ron: I put on Wolverine’s claws, and you took Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. We had a lot of fun posing with those. 

Mon: In the Star Wars section, you took Ahsoka’s lightsaber, of course, and I accidentally picked up Revan’s. It was cool-looking so I couldn’t help myself. 

Mon: Now, we’ve had opportunities to pose with lightsabers before, but it’s never not fun. Our teenage selves would have loved it. 

Ron: Yes! We’re doing it for our younger selves who never got near a lightsaber.

Mon: Next up was The Conjuring activation. There was even a priest who blessed us. He was so convincing!

Ron: I was so excited for this activation. And it looked so cool. But the moment I stepped in and saw the narrow hallways, claustrophobia kicked in. Where did this come from? I’m so upset! Tell me what I missed.

Mon: Ok. So, you basically go through a house of mirrors. It’s a tight space, like super tight. I don’t blame your claustrophobia for being triggered. There wasn’t a ton of stuff. But the Annabelle doll was there and the Nun mannequin as well. There was also a dress — I don’t recall the significance of the dress. But there was eerie music and sound effects, and when you stepped in front of the mannequins, there was a flash of light. Gave me a little bit of a headache. But it was fun.

Ron: I’m sorry I missed that. Dang you, claustrophobia!

Mon: Let’s talk about the Disney activation, which we both got to experience. We had no idea what we were in line for.

Ron: Yeah, we forget just how much stuff falls under the Disney umbrella. This was a pretty immersive activation. All along the outside walls, they had pictures and props from a number of shows, like Hannah Montana, Boy Meets World and High School Musical.

Mon: Yes, it was a throwback special. I can’t say we’re all that familiar with these properties, but it was still amazing to see the detail gone into making the activation. 

Ron: And then we finally went inside. So the first area was from Alien: Earth. This is a new Disney+ show. The actors were so dang good and convincing as they made sure we weren’t bringing in an alien virus, or going too close to the container, and definitely the girl who was delighted that we’d all made it out ok. 

Mon: Oh man, she was amazing. And then we went to the Diner from the Percy Jackson show. It was like being on a real set. I couldn’t believe how good it looked. 

Ron: I literally thought they were gonna hand us a milkshake at any moment, it was that realistic. Even though we’ve not seen the show, this was such an extraordinary experience. I want to watch the show now. 

Mon: Definitely worth the wait!

Ron: While I ran to the North building, you had some time before a session.

Mon: I tried so many times to get into the Lego activation. I was literally second-in-line at one point, when someone or other came to start filming and they paused the line. I had to get to a session so I missed my spot. I really wanted to make the little Lego controller. I saw some other people with it and it looked so cute. I’m kinda gutted I couldn’t get you one. 

Ron: Awww. That sucks. 

Mon: On Thursday, we attended a couple of sessions. The main one we were looking forward to was the X-Men Voice Actors panel. 

Ron: We’d seen a lot of these actors last year at Toronto Comicon but there were even more this time around at Fan Expo. Cal Dodd, Wolverine, Alyson Court, OG Jubilee, Alison Sealy-Smith, Storm, Adrian Hough, Nightcrawler, Catherine Disher, OG Jean, George Buza, Beast, were joined by Jennifer Dale, voice of Mystique, and Ron Rubin, OG voice of Morph. Paul Shubat, sound engineer, also gave some valuable behind the scenes insights. 

Mon: The best part of the panel was when all the actors spoke a few of their character’s dialogue. Man, it was brilliant seeing how easily they turned these characters’ voices on. That’s talent.

Ron: We ended Thursday with a retrospective for Jaws’ 50th anniversary. It was a fun session by a podcaster and he delved into different aspects, like the music and the animatronic shark.

Mon: He also explored the Sharksploitation genre and the many terrible films that exist within it. But there were quite a few images of sharks and shark teeth. And I had nightmares that night. 

Ron: Oh dear! I had the shark nightmares a whole night later. 

Ron: But moving on to Friday, I attended a few smaller panels. One was on Sinners and Vampires by the Horror Writers Association. 

Mon: Ooo, tell me all. 

Ron: Of course! The panel was interesting enough as they discussed the lore of vampires. As well as why these monsters have such staying power in pop culture. There was also some discussion around why we get phases of vampire stories and films. A lot of it has to do with progressive narratives, according to CC Adams. Andrew F Sullivan felt it was more because of the divide between haves and have-nots, and that vampires tend to be on the wealthier side. Stephanie Bedwell-Grime said the resurgence of vampires was a reflection of our current concerns and anxieties, which I think makes the most sense. There was also discussion about Sinners the film, although they couldn’t talk about spoilers because people in the audience hadn’t seen it. Why were they at a panel about the movie then? No idea. But the conversation was completely dominated by Andrew F Sullivan, and it got really annoying. He talked for so long every time, jumped in at every question, talked excessively about Sinners while a Black writer sat right next to him.

Mon: Shouldn’t the moderator have said something?

Ron: She really should have stepped in and redirected the conversation or asked the other panelists more questions. But nope. It was a very irritating experience.

Mon: We also attended the Behind the Scene of Writing & Publishing Novels & Screenplays. Boy, that’s a mouthful. It was held by the York Region Writing Community, and they shared some insights into the writing process, and the differences between traditional and self publishing. I got to chat with one of the panellists later on, as well. 

Ron: Oh that’s nice. While the audience took a lot away from the panel, it was frustrating that the moderator had to do almost all the talking. We got very little from the screenplays side of things, because David A. Lloyd wasn’t comfortable speaking. 

Mon: Yeah, that was such a strange choice. Why put him, or anyone, on the stage, when they’re not comfortable? 

Ron: Anyway, we then got to the Sketch Duel between Simone Di Meo and Mike Del Mundo.

Mon: This was so fun. I love listening to the origin stories of these creatives, and their processes.

Ron: Yes! I love Di Meo’s work from his Power Rangers run, and Del Mundo has been a staple at Marvel for years. The sketch duel had the two of them drawing Batman in their own styles. But their origin stories were so different. Del Mundo is Canadian, and has a rap career. He was discovered at a portfolio review with Marvel head CB Cebulski at the 2009 Fan Expo Canada.

Mon: On the other hand, Di Meo is from Italy, where there are more art schools than there are art jobs. He became an artist but was an inker for Disney for five years. He depleted his savings doing portfolio reviews in the US until finally getting steady work seven years in. Talk about perseverance.

Ron: Indeed. Of course, our usual luck continued to strike. We did not win the raffles to receive the sketch duel art. Your number was so close!

Mon: It was. Dang it! You attended one more session, didn’t you?

Ron: Yes, it was about the Wolverines, Logan, and Laura Kinney, Daredevil, not Matt Murdock, but Elektra, and Punisher, who continues to be Frank Castle. The panelists were Ben Percy, Erica Schultz, and Chris Condon. They spoke about taking legacy anti-heroes and discovering ways to continue to make them interesting. Also, the research that goes into ensuring their backgrounds aren’t ret-conned, while trying to give these characters a fresh perspective. 

Ron: I really liked something that Schultz said about writing Elektra, that she wrote her as someone who treats killing as an addiction. Her internal battle is against this addiction. I loved that. Percy talked about writing Krakoa-era Wolverine, and using some of the real-world happenings, like BLM and the #MeToo movement, as inspiration for the mutants’ fight for sovereignty. Condon had an interesting experience, because he was writing the Ultimate comics, and he ended up writing a version of Sabretooth who was an absolutely lovely man. He wrote him in one book but then he kept returning and became a mainstay. It was quite a good session to end my Friday.

Mon: Ok, I went to a different kind of panel on Saturday — it was Walmart Presents: Hasbro Marvel and Star Wars. 

Ron: Let me guess, it was about toys. 

Mon: Indeed. Specifically, some of the upcoming collectors’ editions. They showed us Marvel Legends action figures of Mephisto from the OG Spidey animated show and a new version of the mutant Strong Guy. Star Wars figures were Ani and Obi. People can get their hands on the Wolverine helmet from Deadpool & Wolverine, and a Shore Trooper helmet from Andor. The highlight was a gun ship from AOTC. I have to say, the detail on it is incredible. The ship can fit figures of clone troopers, it comes with different painted panels and some Separatist figures. Each missile is a separate piece. Incredible stuff. 

Ron: That does sound incredible.

Mon: I should say that the panel was presented by the creative and marketing team at Disney. Not Walmart. Very confusing. But they did share some behind-the-scenes knowledge. They get access to the actual props from the properties to ensure they make the collectors’ items as close to the screen version.

Ron: Sounds great. Meanwhile, I started Saturday morning with a panel held by Toronto Film School, aka where I’m studying part-time right now. The panelists were great. Moderator Michelle Daly was my one-hour drama instructor and she asked some insightful questions. Also on the panel was Orville Cummings, who played Lieutenant Christopher on Star Trek: Discovery. He had some fun stories to share about working on the show. The panel also included a writer from Murdoch Mysteries, and a VFX editor from the Spider-Man MCU films.  

Mon: Following the morning sessions, we met a few creatives at the Artists Alley. Despite how busy Saturday gets, we got to speak with them. We met Timothy Zahn, who was delighted by Lars Mikkelsen’s live-action version of Admiral Thrawn.

Ron: We also got to speak with Cody Ziglar, who’s writing Miles Morales. He told us he was a fan of the character and was excited but nervous about writing him. He liked Peter Parker before but Miles was the one who he felt he could connect with. Which is what we felt, minus the bit about liking Peter Parker. In the comics. Peter is annoying.

Ron: We then stopped to speak with Erica Schultz. I hadn’t been able to ask my question during her panel on Friday so I got to chat with her at her table. I asked her about her comment about Elektra and her addiction to killing, and how reality impacts her writing of anti-heroes. She told us that she’s in recovery, and has been for 16 years. She’s using that experience to write Elektra. 

Mon: But Schultz also spoke about how women are programmed to make others comfortable even when they’re uncomfortable. And that’s a universal experience, whether one comes from a patriarchal or matriarchal system. She said Elektra is now having to be uncomfortable with fighting her addiction but she has to do it for herself. 

Ron: Yes, because if you do it for someone else then it’s not going to work. I loved talking to these creators. And especially because Schultz has written a new Mandrake book. 

Mon: Our parents have been talking about Mandrake recently and we couldn’t believe there’s a new book with the character. This new Mandrake is a woman so our mum might be particularly interested. And Schultz also mentioned that most people asking her about Mandrake were from South Asia and South America. Which isn’t surprising because our parents got those comics in the newspapers and they loved them. 

Mon: I was able to attend the Troy Baker session where he was one of the rare guests who took fan questions. Really great questions from all the fans — thoughtful and insightful. They were interested in learning about how he brought his characters to life, and his experiences as a voice actor. Baker is a bit of a character; he’s full of energy and has a quirky sense of humour. He loves telling stories, which is a great way to engage an audience. Lots of name-dropping from him. He’s worked with a variety of people, and knows even more. From Val Kilmer to Kevin Conroy, he had a lot of stories to share. And, he’s an emotional guy. He was right choked up recalling acting some of the scenes he did with video game Ellie actor, Ashley Johnson. It was a fascinating session.

Ron: That sounds amazing! I’m so glad you got to attend that. 

Mon: It was. We ended the day at the Ewan McGregor session. It was fantastic. 

Ron: I’ve waited 26 years to see this man. He did not disappoint. 

Mon: To read Ron and my experience at Ewan’s session, head on over to FlickSided and Bam Smack Pow. We both had very different takeaways from the session. Head over to the show notes for links to the recaps. 

Mon: Sunday was a panel-heavy day but our main mission was to see John Boyega. With that in mind, we raced to the con and lined up before 9:30am. John’s session was at 11am. That’s dedication for you. 

Ron: This is a big deal for us. We love Finn and you’ve seen a ton of John Boyega’s filmography. You can read recaps of the session over at Geek Girl Authority and FlickSided.

Mon: Right after this, I got into the Spider-Men panel. The session featured Hudson Thames who voiced the MCU Spider-Man in the What If…? series, and voices Spidey on Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. He’s also voicing MCU Spidey in the upcoming Marvel Zombies. Thames wasn’t specifically asked to copy or channel Tom Holland on What If…? but he figured since this was essentially the same character, he should. But once the show came around, he did ask to be able to do his own thing. 

Ron: I get that. But he definitely still straddles the line with the MCU voice in the show too. 

Mon: We also had Nadji Jeter, the voice of Miles Morales in the games, and Yuri Lowenthal, who voices Peter in the games.

Ron: We love Miles and we thoroughly enjoyed playing the Miles part of the Spider-man game. We haven’t had luck seeing Jeter in years before so I’m very happy you got to see him this time. 

Mon: I found Jeter so delightful. He’s funny, and energetic. He doesn’t sound exactly like Miles, so it’s not a cognitive dissonance listening to him speak. I didn’t feel I got much out of the session regarding their process. Jeter did talk about finding Miles’ voice. He was cast when he was 19 or 20. His uncle knew about Miles and recommended he take the project on. But Miles was still a child in the first game, so, with the help of some tea, Jeter found his pre-pubescent voice. With the subsequent games, Jeter can at least use his regular voice.

Ron: Oh how interesting. It didn’t sound like he was putting in that extra effort. I’m intrigued to hear what he sounds like in the second game. Once the price goes down enough for us to afford it. 

Mon: Jeter also talked about enacting different aspects of Miles. He explained that when Miles is with Peter then he’s trying to be all manly, like a hero. But when Miles is at home, with his mom, then he’s different, he’s himself. And Jeter makes sure to imbue that difference into his acting. 

Mon: Jeter is also a fan of Mo-cap. In the first game, there’s a street dancer and it was actually Jeter dancing! He seems to love the art form. 

Ron: While you listened to the Spider-men, I headed downstairs for the Dafne Keen session. It started a few minutes late but Keen was full of energy. She’s filmed in Canada a few times and she was very enthusiastic about the country. Which is nice. She spoke about her love for stunts, and how she chooses her roles based on their physicality. That’s bonkers considering her major breakthrough role was Laura Kinney, X-23 when she was 11! She also mentioned that coming back to Laura at 18 for Deadpool & Wolverine worried her, mainly because she felt that there was a recklessness in her younger self that she felt had dissipated as she’d got older. But, the moment she started rehearsing her stunt work, it all came back to her and she was able to be Laura Kinney again. 

Mon: Did Keen talk about The Acolyte?

Ron: Yes! A lot of the cast were already huge Star Wars fans so they were very excited for the opportunity. The stunt training was a massive draw for Keen, of course. She was beside herself when she was given a lightsaber. She did mention that Ahsoka and Obi-Wan were influences for her Jecki Lon, so that’s where the double-saber fighting came in. 

Ron: But it was quite intense. They had 4-5 hours of training per day. Plus they had Force training. Which, Keen was clearly delighted about, because she called her father, another big fan, and told him that she was getting training to use the Force. It sounded very fun and of course, she would love to return as Jecki in some form or other.

Mon: I caught the last bit of Keen’s session because I thought I’d have to line up for the Supermen panel. But the line hadn’t started yet. We managed to catch lunch and then queued up for the session. The panel had Tom Welling from Smallville, George Newbern, a Superman voice actor, Tyler Hoechlin, from Superman and Lois, and Brandon Routh from Superman Returns.

Ron: We’ve met Tyler before and he’s lovely. We never really watched Smallville even though the ads played on TV all the time. But the real draw here was Brandon Routh. We’d seen the Christopher Reeves movies and we liked them but he was before our time. Routh was the first Superman we got and I absolutely loved that movie. I was telling you how it was my comfort watch for years and years. 

Mon: We also loved Routh as Ray Palmer on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Which he did mention a couple of times. But this session was not good. First of all, Tyler kept trying to speak but the moderator would move on to the next question before he got the chance. And then when he did ask everyone a question, the questions were terrible! Why ask them if Matt Reeves’ Batman fits into the James Gunn DCU? They can’t answer that!

Ron: Plus the session was ridiculously short. It started nearly 10 minutes late and finished early. What was that about? At least we got to see Brandon Routh. Only waited 19 years for that.

Mon: The last session of the day was Hailee Steinfeld’s talk. There was such a long line and it started so early!

Ron: Hailey’s session was another short one too. She may have been tired, but she wasn’t the most articulate in her session. 

Mon: Yeah, I noticed that. Here’s the thing — I think the questions should be about the work. The moment the moderators or fan questions get too cute or personal, the guest is thrown off course. They want to talk about the work, not share their inner souls with some strangers. 

Ron: Yeah. I’m sad she didn’t get to speak much about Spider-Gwen, or discuss further about Sinners. She did chat a lot about Hawkeye and Kate Bishop. 

Mon: Yes, that was nice. She seemed to have enjoyed working with Jeremy Renner, but she did say training to do the archery was a challenge. She watched hours and hours of videos, but at her first class, she only learned about form. She didn’t even touch the bow. 

Ron: That makes sense. I liked that she and Renner loved doing the car chase scenes in Hawkeye. Apparently they stuck their phones inside the cars to capture some of the action. How fun. 

Mon: Yeah. She’s a real multi-hyphenate and I think a longer session would have given us the chance to hear more about other aspects of her careers. 

Mon: To wrap up, I’m so confused by my feelings about this edition. Almost every panel started late. Two sessions that I planned to attend got cancelled. There were too many celebrity cancellations at the last minute, and the choice to program all the big draws on the same day was terrible. Add to that, the limited availability of the food which was exorbitantly priced, and the complete lack of seating, it seems the Expo is trying its hardest to make the experience as unpleasant as possible for customers. People are paying for this, and folks like us are working this event, they need to take care of us. 

Ron: And then there were the crowd control issues and the escalator issues, which seem to reoccur much too frequently. There was the whole AI kerfuffle with Bell using AI filters in their booth. Some of the artists alley vendors were clearly using AI art, as well, and that is a very bad look.

Ron: But aside from all that, this con was a much calmer experience than usual. It really helped to be staying at the hotel attached to the convention centre. The commute is a killer. But logistical stuff aside, this is the first time we got an art commission done. Shoutout to Surge who we have bought so much art from over the years. He took my extremely vague instructions to create a beautifully detailed artwork of The Falcon and Captain America. It’s been so hard to get anything Brave New World-related and now we have a beautiful art piece by a fellow Torontonian! That has to be the highlight for me.

Mon: That’s it for our recap of Fan Expo Canada 2025.