‘Being true to our inner nerd’: The eye-catching lineup at L.A. Comic Con is proof of the event’s growth

Giancarlo Esposito is no stranger to the fandom convention circuit. His role in “Breaking Bad” brought a certain type of fan. His roles in “Abigail” and “The Mandolorian” bring another type. And his upcoming role in “Captain America: Brave New World” will thrust him into a Marvel fan space he has yet to experience.

He acknowledges that it’s all because of fans.

“They are responsible for me being in ‘Captain America,’ because although I liked the idea of X-Men and many other comic book characters, it was that particular fandom blowout that allowed me to walk up to [Marvel executive] Nate Moore at an Emmy Awards and say, ‘Hey, it would be great to do something with you,’” said Esposito.

“The world has changed in film and television, and I think people are listening to the fans. Fans are loyal. If fans love what you do, they can create a space for you to do more of what you do and to do what you don’t do.”

The award-winning actor is one of the standout participants at this year’s Los Angeles Comic Con. The con takes place this Friday through Sunday, and has been around in different forms since 2011. Founded by producer Regina Carpinelli and her brothers as Comikaze Expo, the show gained support from industry stars like Elvira, Todd McFarlane, and Stan Lee. It has gone through enough iterations and name changes and now draws about 125,000 people to downtown L.A.’s convention center. Not exactly low-key, but when mentioned alongside other national fandom events, it may not seem to have the same Hollywood cache.

There’s little reason for that logic, and this year could help prove it.

Chris DeMoulin, CEO and GM of Los Angeles Comic Con parent company CEI, wants L.A. Comic Con to be a home for Angeleno nerds. It’s different than its two closest comparisons (not competitors): Anime Expo, which features Japanese anime, manga and cosplay, and San Diego’s Comic-Con International, which, though fan-centric, has become a calling card for Hollywood studios.

But how is it different?

“Our mantra from day one has always been that we’re a convention that’s for the fans by fans. … In the early going, as a little show, the studios weren’t going to sit down with us and think about doing big publicity things with us. So we just asked the fans, ‘Who do you want to see?’ ,” says DeMoulin. “So we don’t do it just for the sake of doing it. We really do it because somebody like Hayden Christensen has been in the top five recommended guests in the post-show surveys we’ve done for the last five years.”

Besides Esposito and Christensen , additional fan-favorite guests this year include Ewan McGregor, Tara Strong, Hayden Panettiere and Gordon Cormier. Reunion casts of “Back to the Future” and “The Addams Family” will also make appearances on panels and at autograph booths.

DeMoulin was excited over last year’s appearance of the four hobbits from the “Lord of the Rings” franchise (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan), and this year’s crop is just as exciting. Many of the names, like Rosario Dawson and Ming-Na Wen, are familiar on the convention circuit. But there are others, like Michael J. Fox and Anjelica Huston, who represent a little of what’s different about L.A.’s Comic Con.

“I mean, Anjelica Houston. Amazing actor. Doesn’t normally do cons — but when we had Christopher Lloyd and we were talking to Christina Ricci, we thought, ‘Hey, “Addams Family” reunion!’ We reached out to her agent and she was like, ‘Yeah, I normally don’t do this stuff, but I live here, so why not?’”

It’s that proximity to stars — not just where they work in Hollywood, but also where they live — that is also a unique component of the growing convention. Though he’s an avowed New Yorker, Esposito sees something special about the L.A.-ness of the event. He has been to the con twice before, and will be there again this year greeting fans who may only know him as Moff Gideon, his “Mandolorian” bad guy, but most likely are more savvy about his career.

“I think the L.A. Comic Con is an example of people who are also in film. And I think that gives it a bit of an edge,” says Esposito. “The connective tissue between Los Angelinos and Hollywood and film and geek actors and geek technicians is huge. I always look forward to doing L.A. Comic Con because part of the reason I go to Comic Cons is to be in wonder, enchantment and joy.”

A shot of the Artist Alley at last year’s Los Angeles Comic Con in the L.A. Convention Center.

(Courtesy of Los Angeles Comic Con)

Like other fandom gatherings, L.A. Comic Con also endeavors to keep fans front-and-center with the vendors. The main stage is actually in the middle of a showroom floor, which will be host to almost 900 exhibitors and artists. The Artists’ Alley section also highlights what DeMoulin sees as one of the main purposes of the convention.

“Ultimately, we want this to be a place where creators want to come and debut new stuff and just interact with fans. We’ve got really knowledgeable, interesting fans in this town, and they love to come out and meet the creators that are associated with the stuff that they love,” says DeMoulin.

The convention is evolving, this year inserting video game creators and lots of anime- and manga-centered entertainment in their own spaces. The new additions are a side effect of growth, and there’s more coming.

“I think you’ll see us continue to add concentric circles of adjacent entertainment spaces as we grow, but always being true to our inner nerd, which is we’re never going to walk away from the key franchises,” DeMoulin continues. “The Marvels and the ‘Star Wars’ and the ‘Star Treks’ and the whole comic universe. That’s always going to be the core of what we do. But I think we have the opportunity to do more because we’re L.A.”