Raleigh cornerstone GalaxyCon to bring ‘Daredevil,’ ‘Star Trek’ stars to town

Raleigh’s annual pop culture comic-con, GalaxyCon, will bring cosplay and sci-fi stars to downtown this weekend.

The event, which kicks off Thursday and wraps up Sunday at the Raleigh Convention Center, has developed into a cornerstone event for the city. The convention’s yearly presence brings an estimated economic impact of nearly $9 million, which benefits local businesses and the community, event organizers say.

GalaxyCon has even expanded its Raleigh footprint, bringing Animate! Raleigh to town for the first time in January.

“Raleigh is delighted to host GalaxyCon each year and witness this fun and exciting convention continue to grow and flourish,” President and CEO of Visit Raleigh Dennis Edwards said. “GalaxyCon significantly boosts tourism and local activity, and our local partners look forward to welcoming attendees every July. This fantastic convention draws locals and visitors alike to downtown Raleigh to nerd-out about their favorite shows, movies, entertainment stars, and creators.”

Along with its flagship event in Raleigh, GalaxyCon has expanded to several cities across the United States, including Philadelphia, Cleveland, Orlando, Oklahoma City, Savannah and Chicago.

“We are thrilled to bring GalaxyCon back to Raleigh,” GalaxyCon founder and president Mike Broder said. “The support from the community and the incredible turnout each year motivates us to keep growing and enhancing the experience for our attendees. We’re excited to see the continued positive impact on the city and to provide fans with more opportunities to celebrate their passions.”

Included in this year’s lineup of guests will be the stars of the hit Netflix series, “Daredevil,” and the stars of “Daredevil: Born Again” Charlie Cox, Jon Bernthal, Deborah Ann Woll and Wilson Bethel. Organizers say they and celebrities love coming to the convention in Raleigh, adding that it’s easy to book talent because celebrities know “they’ll be welcomed by amazing fans, enjoy fantastic, local restaurants and explore rich cultural attractions.”

“The enthusiasm of the Raleigh community truly makes GalaxyCon a special experience for everyone involved,” Senior Vice President of Talent for GalaxyCon Samantha Veilleux, Sr. said.

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

• Linda Hamilton, who portrayed Sarah Connor in the Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Terminator: Dark Fate.
• William Shatner, famous for his portrayal as Cpt. James. T Kirk in multiple “Star Trek” shows and movies.
• Marisa Tomei: Famous for her roles as Mona Lisa Vito in “My Cousin Vinny,” and May Park in the various Marvel Cinematic Universe and Spider-Man movies.
• Pauly Shore: Famous for his roles as Bobby Zimmeruski in “A Goofy Movie” and “An Extremely Goofy Movie,” Crawl in “Son in Law” and Stoney Brown in “Encino Man.”
• Ron Perlman: Best known for his roles as Hellboy in the “Hellboy” franchise, Clay Morrow in “Sons of Anarchy,” Slade Wilson in the animated series “Teen Titans,” Fire Lord Sozin in “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and Gnarlack in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
• Selma Blair: Best known for her roles as Liz Sherman in the “Hellboy” franchise, Cecile Caldwell in “Cruel Intentions” and Vivian in “Legally Blonde.”
• Matthew Lillard: Best known for his turn as Shaggy Rogers in the “Scooby-Doo” franchise, Stu Macher in “Scream” and Steve Raglan in “Five Nights at Freddy’s.”
• Danny Trejo: Famous for his portrayal of Machete in the “Spy Kids” franchise, Razor Charlie in “From Dusk till Dawn,” Machete in “Machete” and “Machete Kills,” Cucuy in “Once Upon a Time in Mexico” and Romeo “Romeo Parada in “Sons of Anarchy.”
• Ernie Hudson: Famous for his roles as Winston Zeddmore in the “Ghostbusters” franchise and Herbert “Magic” Williams in “Quantum Leap.”
• Sam Raimi: Famous for his directorial work in “Spider-Man,” “Spider-Man 2” and Spide-Man 3,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” The Evil Dead” and “The Evil Dead II” and “The Quick and the Dead.”

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:

• The original cast of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT) 1987 cartoon
  • Rob Paulson: Famous for his portrayal of Raphael in “TMNT (1987),” Donatello in “TMNT (2012),” Pinky in “Pinky and the Brain,” Pinky and Yakko in “Animaniacs, and Carl Wheezer in “Jimmy Neutron.”
  • Cam Clarke: Famous for his portrayal of Leonard in “TMNT (1987)” and Kaneda in “Akira.”
  • Barry Gordon: Famous for his portrayal of Donatello in “TMNT (1987)” and Sheldrake in “Batman: The Animated Series.”
  • Townsend Coleman: Famous for his portrayal of Michelangelo in “TMNT (1987),” The Tick and Midnight in “The Tick,” and Falseface in “Batman Beyond.”
• The cast of the critically acclaimed cartoon, “Avatar: The Last Airbender:”
  • Zach Tyler Eisen: Famous for his role as Aang.
  • Jack De Sena: Famous for his role as Sokka.
  • Dante Basco: Famous for his role as Prince Zuko. Also known for his portrayals of Ruffio in “Hook,” and Jake Long in “American Dragon: Jake Long.”
  • Grey DeLisle: Famous for her portrayal of Azula. Also known for her portrayals as Catwoman in “Batman: Arkham City,” “Batman: Arkham Knight” and “Injustice: Gods Among Us,” Daphne Blake in the “Scooby-Doo” franchise and Mandy in “The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.”
• Janet Varney: Famous for her role as Korra in “Avatar: The Legend of Korra.”
• Cast members from “Star Wars: Rebels:”
  • Sam Witwer: Famous for his portrayal as Maul in “Rebels and “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”
  • Vanessa Marshall: Famous for her portrayal of Hera. Marshall has also voiced Wonder Woman in the HBO animated series, “Harley Quinn” and Dinah Lance/Black Canary in “Young Justice.”
  • Taylor Gray: Famous for his portrayal of Ezra Bridger
  • Tiya Sircar: Best known for her portrayal of Sabine Wren. Sircar also portrayed Vicky/The Real Eleanor in “The Good Place.”
• Tara Strong: Famous for her portrayals of Raven in “Teen Titans” and “Teen Titans Go!,” Miss Minutes in “Loki,” Bubbles in “Powerpuff Girls,” Timmy Turner in “Fairly OddParents,” multiple versions of Batgirl and Harley Quinn in various DC video games and television shows and Dil Pickles in “Rugrats.”
• Josh Keaton: Known for his portrayals of Peter Parker/Spider-Man in “The Spectacular Spider-Man,” Shiro in “Voltron: Legendary Defender,” Young Hercules in “Disney’s Hercules” and Ocelot in “Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.”
• Cristina Vee: Famous for her roles as Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Ladybug in “Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir,” Hawk in “Seven Deadly Sins,” Rei Hino/Sailor Mars in Sailor Moon and Tuilin in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.” Vee is also a professional singer and has performed for various YouTube channels, including her own.
• Dana Snyder: Famous for his role as Mastershake in “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.”

There will be plenty of comic book authors in attendance as well as current and former wrestlers such as Kurt Angle.

Professional cosplayers will also be in attendance. You can check out the full guest list here.

This will be the first GalaxyCon Raleigh since the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA resolved their strikes with Hollywood producers. Many actors could not talk about their current projects during the strike at the previous GalaxyCon, but will be free to do so this year.

Regardless if you plan to ask Linda Hamilton about being one of the pioneer female action stars, Rob Paulson about the strangest places people have asked him to do his voices, shopping across the various vendors at the convention, sharing your cosplays or just watching stars reunite and talk on Q&A panels, GalaxyCon Raleigh will have plenty to do for everyone during its four days in Raleigh.

Note that many celebrity guests charge for autographs and photos. One of the major features is you can get a tattoo with a celebrity while you are at the convention. Pricing can be found here.

Fan packages can be purchased in advance online.