{"id":436087,"date":"2026-09-15T00:20:27","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T00:20:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/436087\/"},"modified":"2026-09-15T00:20:27","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T00:20:27","slug":"all-the-best-costumes-at-2026-fan-expo-dallas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/436087\/","title":{"rendered":"All the best costumes at 2026 Fan Expo Dallas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tFan Expo Dallas was this weekend. Per usual, the city showed up and showed out. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Preston Barta<\/p>\n

Fan Expo Dallas<\/a> rolled into the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Sept. 11-13, and we spent Saturday and Sunday bouncing around the floor with cameras up and dignity optional. A quick rookie tip: Saturday is the elbow-to-elbow crush, while Sunday lets you actually breathe. Both days deliver magic if you\u2019re standing in the right spot at the right time.<\/p>\n

Speaking of right spots \u2014 reader, we tried. There was a sexy Gandalf out there, and we got politely shuffled away before the shutter clicked. You shall not pass, indeed. The photos below will have to make up for that loss.<\/p>\n

Fan Expo Dallas brings A-listers to town, and celebrity row is essentially window shopping, unless you commit. Nicolas Cage held court behind the curtains, drawing a nonstop line and $225 per signature. Fans came prepared, waving a prop Declaration of Independence (no theft required) and, our favorite, a collage of Cage\u2019s greatest freak-out faces. \u201cThe Lord of the Rings\u201d and \u201cYoung Guns\u201d casts turned out too, including North Texas-raised Lou Diamond Phillips<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"The North Texas Ghostbusters brought the Ecto-1, the proton packs and the exact level of commitment this convention respects.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Arts & Culture newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n

THANK YOU!<\/p>\n

You’re all set.<\/p>\n

CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Gaming voices stole the show, though. Nick Apostolides \u2014 Leon Kennedy himself from \u201cResident Evil\u201d<\/a> \u2014 kept his line packed all weekend. And yes, Peggy the Dog from \u201cDeadpool & Wolverine\u201d made an appearance: $60 for an autograph (a paw print, we assume) and $75 for a photo. No open-mouth kisses, sadly.<\/p>\n

The heart of it all is the cosplay culture, where strangers compliment your very niche anime build like old friends. One handmade Rocky, the rock alien from \u201cProject Hail Mary,\u201d was pure craftsmanship.<\/p>\n

Our best find? A \u201cGodzilla vs. Texas\u201d comic \u2014 part of the \u201cGodzilla vs. America\u201d series from Texas artists like Matt Frank, Devin Craft and Joe Eisma, with a cover by Brian Denham. The cover pits Godzilla against the cybernetic cowboy robot Tex-Mech, with Reunion Tower in the background. Inside, the King smashes through the Fort Worth Stockyards, San Marcos Outlet Mall and Austin City Limits, with Dallas hogging the most pages. It was an exclusive through Collected Comics & Games<\/a> out of Fort Worth.<\/p>\n

\"\"This Godzilla comic came with some very obvious Dallas ties.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere: 3D-printed sculptures from family photos, Saber Guild lightsaber lessons (mind your fragile blades) and a fencing pit for live duels. There was always something to see. Scroll on.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cMidsommar\u201d fans, meet Dallas\u2019 May Queen.<\/p>\n

\"\"A handmade Vox costume from the animated musical series \u201cHazbin Hotel.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\" The Sorcerer\u2019s Apprentice after discovering the magic of flavored vapor. <\/p>\n

\"\"Ghost Rider showed up looking like he was either headed to hell or hoping to bump into Nicolas Cage.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nothing says \u201cweekend fandom\u201d like casually stumbling into a sword fight between two people who absolutely know what a gambeson is. <\/p>\n

\"\"Shrunk 3D DFW turns family portraits into detailed 3D-printed figurines, because apparently flat memories are no longer enough.<\/p>\n

\"\" Inosuke, but make him North Texas gym-rat feral. <\/p>\n

\"\"In the Saber Guild battle zone, casual disagreements were settled the old-fashioned way. <\/p>\n

\"\"Fans left flowers and messages for Peter Cullen, the beloved voice of Optimus Prime and Eeyore, at what was meant to be his final convention appearance.<\/p>\n

\"\"Amaze, amaze, amaze! One fan showed up with a handmade Rocky from Project Hail Mary. <\/p>\n

\"\"At Fan Expo, even the side quests had side quests.<\/p>\n

\"\"Lady Deadpool was one of many cosplayers roaming the convention floor. <\/p>\n

\"\"Lieutenant Jim Dangle is just boot goofin\u2019. <\/p>\n

\"\"Just a normal card game in a galaxy far, far away. <\/p>\n

\"\"These Stay Puft minis look like they made a bad decision. <\/p>\n

\"\"Even Darth Maul has to stop terrorizing the galaxy long enough for a smoothie break.<\/p>\n

\"\"This Thor looked less like \u201cbring me Thanos,\u201d and more like \u201cbring me another beer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fan Expo Dallas was this weekend. Per usual, the city showed up and showed out. Preston Barta Fan…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436088,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,64],"class_list":["post-436087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436087\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}