Fandemic TOUR BRINGS TV, MOVIE STARS TO TOWN
After a delayed start, culture fest brings in TV and movie stars like Jeffrey Dean Morgan. |
For a first-time event, the Fandemic Tour that comes to Houston this weekend feels familiar. That’s because the fan convention got washed out last year when Hurricane Harvey flooded tens of thousands of homes in Houston and the city’s arenas and stadiums and convention centers became shelters.
Founder John Macaluso tried to reschedule it for later in 2017, but some of his stars had conflicts. So he made the difficult decision to sit on it until 2018.
“Look at the news story you did on it last year,” he says. “It basically could be about this year’s Fandemic. That’s how little has changed with this event in a year. But it was just devastating to see what happened to the city after that storm. We wanted to get it back up for the people in Houston, but we just couldn’t make it work last year.”
Sure enough, Fandemic’s second take will unfold Friday through Sunday at NRG Center, anchored by “The Walking Dead” fan favorites Norman Reedus and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
The event scored a big get with Sebastian Stan, from the Marvel sphere, but a scheduling conflict meant he couldn’t make it. “No problem,” Macaluso says. “We just brought him here early.”
Sure enough, Fandemic set up a one-day meet-and-greet with Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier from the Captain America films, and a couple thousand fans showed up for photos, autographs and a panel.
As for the actual Fandemic, the event will bring in additional “Walking Dead” stars with Pollyanna McIntosh and Steven Yeun. Beloved “Evil Dead” star Bruce Campbell is in the lineup, as is Houston native and Reedus’ “Boondock Saints” star Sean Patrick Flanery.
Dean Cain and Tom Welling represent two different Superman portrayals.
Marvel enthusiasts should be enthused by a set of “Guardians of the Galaxy” stars: Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Chris Sullivan and Dave Bautista, who has been in the news threatening not to reprise his role of Drax since director James Gunn was fired for inappropriate social media posts.
The event will also bring in the requisite artists, writers and creators.
Macaluso worked for years with Wizard World, before departing to start a new convention. He came up with Fandemic, a touring event that recently stopped in Sacramento. He identified Houston as market that could handle a second convention to go with May’s annual Comicpalooza.
“There are so many people in Houston,” he says. “Comicpalooza does a great job. But I think the city is so big there’s plenty of room for both of us.”