Out and About

The stars assemble for GalaxyCon in Raleigh

GalaxyCon Raleigh is more than a comic-con! It's a four-day festival of fandom with celebrities, artists, writers, voice actors, cosplayers, entertainers, creators, wrestlers, fan groups, panelists and people like you. Enjoy this event at the Raleigh Convention Center.

Posted 2023-07-25T14:52:10+00:00 - Updated 2023-07-26T22:17:17+00:00

GalaxyCon in Raleigh to feature stars of Vampire Diaries, Karen Gillan from Guardians of the Galaxy

Joseph Ochoa

, WRAL multiplatform producer

On Thursday, GalaxyCon returns to the Raleigh Convention Center. The convention will be in town for four days from July 27 through July 30.

Included in this year's lineup of guests will be the star of the hit television series, "The Flash," and former Elon University student Grant Gustin.

Beyond Gustin, there will be numerous stars from various television and film properties at the event, including:

Karen Gillan, who currently plays the role of Nebula in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise and numerous Marvel Cinematic Universe properties
Vincent D'Onofrio, Who portray's "Kingpin" in the Netflix television show "Daredevil" and in Disney+'s Hawkeye
William Shatner, famous for his portrayal of Cpt. James T. Kirk on "Star Trek"
Giancarlo Esposito, most known for his portrayal of Gus Fring in the critically acclaimed television series, "Breaking Bad." Since the hit show, Esposito has portrayed Stan Edger in the Amazon Prime Video series, "The Boys," Moff Gideon in Disney+'s "The Mandalorian," and lent his voice to the video game "Far Cry 6" and Disney's live-adaptation of "The Jungle Book."
Christopher Lloyd, famous for his portrayal of Doc Brown in the "Back to the Future" film series.
Stephen Amell, best-known for his portrayal of Oliver Queen in the popular CW series "Arrow."

Film and television actors won't be the only ones shining bright at the event. Voice actors will be around for photo ops and autograph signings at the event.

Some of the notable voice actors will include:

Shameik Moore, who portrays Miles Morales in the "Spiderverse" franchise.
Yuri Lowenthal, famous for his portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man across various animation and video game properties and Sasuke Uchiha in the hit anime "Naruto" and "Naruto: Shippuden."
Nadji Jeter, who portrays Miles Morales in the Spider-Man video game series on Playstation 4 and Playstation 5.
Sarah Natochenny, who voiced Ash Ketchum in the "Pokemon" anime for nearly two decades.
Charles Martinet, the voice of "Mario" in the Nintendo video games.
Peter Cullen, the voice of Optimus Prime in "Transformers" and Eeyore in "Winne the Pooh."
Frank Welker, the voice of Megatron in "Transformers," along with Scooby-Doo and Fred Jones in "Scooby Doo"

There will be plenty of comic book authors in attendance as well as current and former wrestlers such as "Nature Boy" Rick Flair and Mick Foley.

Professional cosplayers will also be in attendance.

For those who are curious if the current SAG-AFTRA actors and writers strike will affect the appearance of actors planning to attend, organizers of GalaxyCon said it will not be an issue.

"The short answer is no. Celebrity guests will still be appearing at our events as advertised," organizers said in a statement. "The only thing that can potentially be affected is what the guests can discuss. As SAG-AFTRA only affects theatrical contracts, members are not permitted to participate in the promotion of/services for work."

Regardless if you plan to ask Esposito about being one the most recognized television villains of all-time, the Spider-Man voice actor what it feels like to have so many people be Spider-Man at the same time or ask Rick Flair to give you a "WOOOOO," the convention will have plenty to do for people of all ages.

Note that many celebrity guests charge for autographs and photos. Packages can be purchased in advance online.