5 Mar

William Shatner, Carrie Fisher and Shannen Doherty announced for Fan Expo Vancouver 2015

William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek.

Princess Leia, Captain Kirk and, uhm, Brenda Walsh will be among the guests at this year’s Vancouver Fan Expo. And for the first time, it will be the real – or at least, original – versions of Leia and Kirk, and not people in costumes. (We’re not sure if anyone’s turned up in the guise of Beverley Hills 90210’s Brenda Walsh, but probably.)

So William Shatner, Carrie Fisher and Shannen Doherty – those are three big names. But who else is coming to this year’s Fan Expo Vancouver? Well, plenty, as it turns out.

Fan Expo Vancouver is a convention that brings together fans of a diverse set of pop-culture interests – comics, science, horror, anime, and gaming genres. Now in its fourth year, the three-day event (April 3 to 5, at the Vancouver Convention Centre, 1055 Canada Place) offers the opportunity to meet celebrity guests and creators, to get photos taken with legends (like Shatner) and see people dressed up as their favourite super-hero or zombie.

Other guests include a number of actors from popular AMC zombie series The Walking Dead, including Chad Coleman, Scott Wilson, and Sarah Wayne Callies, as well as actors Stephen Amell and John Barrowman, both from the Vancouver-shot CW superhero series Arrow.

Other guest actors include Karen Gillan of Doctor Who, Brent Spiner of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Lance Henriksen (a character actor from two many movies to name), and Jeremy Shada, of the cartoon series Adventure Time. There are also celebrity cosplayers as well as guests from the worlds of anime, gaming, horror, and comics, including an artist regarded by many as one of the best in the history of the medium, Bernie Wrightson.