SpaceCon returned to San Antonio this June at the Freeman Coliseum Expo Hall, marking my second consecutive year attending the city’s science-fiction convention. For the first time, I could compare how the convention changed from year to year. While it still felt familiar, I undoubtedly had an even better time than last year.
Our photographer, Samantha, and I split coverage between the convention’s first two days, Friday and Saturday. Samantha’s first-day experience included panels featuring Brandon Routh, Helen Slater, and Tommy Wesley, as well as one featuring Smallville stars Tom Welling, Erica Durance, and Laura Vandervoort, making it a Superman-filled day. She felt both panels were entertaining, with Routh discussing his role as Superman and Welling reflecting on his stunt work during the show and teasing a Smallville Christmas movie with his costars, an idea the audience was loudly excited about.
When I attended on Saturday, I was there for one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, John Cena. I never got to see him wrestle live, as his San Antonio farewell show had resale prices that were absolutely insane. Just being able to see him in person and interact with fans was exciting. Instead of having a moderator like the other panels, Cena came out and said his entire 30-minute time slot would be devoted solely to fan questions, turning his panel into a full fan Q&A. Hundreds of fans ran to form a line, dying to ask Cena the most pressing questions on their minds about his career inside and outside the ring.
Cena discussed the most memorable fights of his career, highlighting his final match against AJ Styles and sharing how much he enjoyed working with James Gunn and the Peacemaker crew. The question that ended the panel was, “Will we ever see you?” Cena responded that he hoped his retirement would finally solve the issue of not being seen, but he did his own “You Can’t See Me” gesture, which made everyone in the crowd laugh and cheer. Witnessing the wrestling side of Cena emerge for even a brief second was a legendary moment.
I also had the chance to check out Zachary Quinto for my other panel of the day. He discussed his time on Heroes and reflected on playing Spock in the most recent theatrical Star Trek films. He noted it was one of the most difficult yet fulfilling roles he’s ever played, and he’s still honored that audiences connected with his version of the character.
Heading out onto the vendor floor, it was arranged almost the same way as last year’s, except somehow this year felt like there was more space to walk around and explore. I browsed through Funko Pops, keychains, art prints, LEGO sets, phone chargers, squishy toys, photo cards, neon signs, and large, detailed figurines, with more vendors catching my interest this year. The best purchase, though, was at the snack tent next to it, where I bought a refillable SpaceCon popcorn tin for the entire weekend. One highlight was the free Yakult samples every day, since those little probiotic drinks are already part of my daily routine.
While I certainly enjoyed the event overall, I was disappointed with how the convention’s biggest panels were handled. The Tom Hiddleston panel on Friday and the Hayden Christensen/Ian McDiarmid/Jimmy Smits panel required separate paid admission, with tickets priced at $50 or $100, depending on your seat. However, even credentialed press like ours had to buy a ticket to cover the panels. That made it harder to cover the convention’s most notable moments, even though I nonetheless appreciated the event overall.
I did hear rumors that Christensen had left the panel early to attend the Spurs’ Game 5 NBA Finals game right next door at Frost Bank Center, so I clearly wasn’t the only one affected by the game that day. I didn’t go to the game myself, and thank goodness I didn’t, as this was the night the Knicks won it all, but leaving the expo hall was a bit chaotic.
SpaceCon does a great job of bringing together core sci-fi, wrestling, comic, and anime fans, as well as television and film fans. Seeing thousands of people come together to enjoy these things is always amazing, and this SpaceCon improved on last year’s for me, so I’m very excited to see how it keeps growing in San Antonio over the years.