WonderCon was back in person again at the Anaheim Convention Center from Friday, March 24 through Sunday, March 26, 2023. We were able to spend a little time there on Saturday, March 25. Here’s a recap and photos of our experience at WonderCon 2023!
Getting to WonderCon 2023
We only live about a 10-15 minute drive from the Anaheim Convention Center, so it was easy for us to get there. We got there a little later in the day, having left our house around 12:45pm and arriving at the GardenWalk to park around 1:00pm. This is where we have been parking for conventions in the past year, including Star Wars Celebration and D23 Expo, in order to avoid the congestion of trying to park on site.
However, this time the GardenWalk parking structure was noticeably more crowded than it had been during those previous conventions. Before, we had been able to park on the 2nd level, right next to the stairwell that leads out to Katella. But this time, we had to go all the way up to the 4th level to find any parking, and when we did find parking, it was more toward the center of the parking structure, rather than conveniently next to the stairwell. We wondered if it was so much more crowded because of WonderCon, or if there was something else going on in the area.
Not long after, we noticed a tweet from WonderCon stating that on-site parking was full, and that parking might still be available at Toy Story and GardenWalk. So parking was crowded because of WonderCon after all!
Sure enough, when we got on site and walked up to the main entrance area to the front of the convention center, it was very crowded and congested trying to get through the food truck area. Although, putting the tables in the middle of the walkway didn’t help. Plus this was peak lunch time.
Unlike last year, at WonderCon 2022, when you had to get a wristband for proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test, there were no COVID-19 restrictions at WonderCon 2023. I think I had subconsciously been expecting it to take a little longer to get in, having gotten used to this requirement at WonderCon 2022, Star Wars Celebration 2022, and SDCC 2022. Additionally, masks were not required this year. However, we still opted to wear N95 and KN95 masks indoors and in crowded outdoor areas.
The Walking Dead: Dead City
Our first order of business for the day was to attend The Walking Dead: Dead City panel, which was scheduled to take place in the Arena at 1:30pm. Whereas last year, the Arena was not in use, it was back this year with programming all three days of the convention.
Chris Hardwick moderated the panel, which seems to be a tradition at this point for any TWD related panels. He informed us that The Walking Dead: Dead City is the first of three spin-off shows of The Walking Dead, and will premiere on AMC on Sunday, June 18. The show takes place in New York City after Maggie’s son, Hershel, has been kidnapped, and she and Negan team up to get him back.
Prior to the panel starting, we watched a short teaser clip. In the clip, Maggie seems to have a plan, but it’s on a “need to know” basis, and does not share it with Negan. However, he is of the opinion that he has paid for what he’s done.
After the clip, the panelists were brought out, which included Showrunner Eli Jorné, Lauren Cohan (who plays Maggie and is an Executive Producer), and Gaius Charles, who plays a new character named Perlie Armstrong. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan) was unable to make it due to filming for The Boys. We were pretty excited to see Gaius Charles, as we are big fans of Friday Night Lights, on which he had played the character “Smash” Williams.
Eli teased that with the city itself being a character and new setting in the show, as opposed to being out in the woods, “it’s nothing like you’ve ever seen before on any of the shows.” He acknowledged that despite Maggie and Negan working together, there’s still tension in that Maggie always remembers what Negan did to the love of her life every time she looks at him, and that’s still part of the show. There is a little bit of a time jump from the end of TWD, though Eli was vague about exactly what the amount of time has been.
Gaius told us a little about his character, Perlie, who is a New Babylon marshal. He explained that New Babylon is a state that has come together to try to put the world back together. Perlie’s main objective is to bring justice to their community, and one of his specific tasks is to capture Negan and bring him to justice. On a personal note, Gaius exclaimed of Glenn, “That was my dude!”
When Hardwick asked how Maggie came to be in NYC, Lauren explained that after Hershel was kidnapped, she tracked the people who took him. She also told us that a new, slightly older, actor would be playing Hershel, Logan Kim.
Eli spoke a little about recreating NYC to look apocalyptic, and teased that we would see iconic landmarks messed up in cool ways, and uniquely incorporated into the story. He talked about how it’s different trying to get around in tall skyscrapers, and revealed that one way was to zipline between buildings.
We got to watch another clip. In this one, we saw walkers falling from the side of a building! We also saw that Negan is still his classic self with a “get your sh*t together, dickhead!” comment.
Lauren talked about her and Jeffrey Dean Morgan stepping into the role of Executive Producer, telling us that although they don’t like each other on screen, they do in real life. She said how helpful it was to have had the experience of having been on the show for 10 seasons. Eli chimed in saying that Lauren and Jeffrey’s vast experience in TWD world was invaluable to him. Gaius talked about his experience of first starting the show and how they ingrained in him not to call the walkers “zombies,” they’re walkers! He also mentioned how helpful it was to have actors at the producer level.
As I mentioned before, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was unable to make it to the panel, but he did send a video message apologizing for not being there. He said that he was proud of the show, and went on to individually praise Lauren, Gaius, and Eli for the work they’ve done on the show. He even had a personal message for Chris Hardwick, saying that he missed him!
We learned about a couple new characters we would see. One such character is called the Croat, played by Zeljko Ivanek, who is the one who took Hershel. Another character is Ginny, who is a young girl played by Mahina Napoleon. We didn’t get much more info than that, other than Eli telling us that we would meet a lot of new characters who bring something new not only to the universe, but to Maggie and Negan.
In lieu of audience Q&A, there were some questions that had been submitted via social media. One such question was how would the walkers be different? Lauren joked, “They’re in suits! It’s New York!” Eli explained that there would be giant hordes of walkers, considering how crowded it is in NYC. He also teased that because Manhattan is an island, you would have to cross the river. How do they cross the river? You’ll have to watch the show!
Regarding whether Gaius had to learn new skills, he explained that this is a very physical role, and he had to learn how to interact with and kill the walkers. Some of the fight sequences they shot were a week long, and he had to learn how to pace himself.
For Lauren, the most notable change from the original series is that Maggie is taken to darker places, and gets to tap into a cold, treacherous world that she’s inhabiting emotionally. Eli chimed in that we get to see both Maggie and Negan’s characters stretched in new ways since the show is zeroing in on their characters.
The panel had been scheduled for 1:30pm-2:30pm, but it ended 15 minutes early. Up next in the Arena was the Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 panel. However, we’re not caught up on Fear the Walking Dead, so we opted to go walk around the Exhibit Hall for a bit, and then we would come back for the Quantum Leap panel, which was scheduled to take place in the Arena at 3:45pm.
Exhibit Hall
As has been the case in recent years, the Exhibit Hall floor was filled with vendors from Halls A to C, including a Gold & Silver comics pavilion, small press area, fan club booths and tables, a gaming area, and an Artists’ Alley. Click here for the full list of this year’s exhibitors or click here to see the Exhibit Hall map.
Once again this year, Funko’s booth was definitely the biggest draw on the Exhibit Hall floor, with the Funko Fun House! Attendees would have needed to enter the WonderCon Exclusives Portal lottery prior to the convention and have won a timeslot in order to enter the Funko Fun House. Alternatively, there was a standby line from which attendees would be able to enter the booth periodically.
Bandai Namco was the next largest presence on the WonderCon 2023 Exhibit Hall floor.
Speculative Fiction Collectibles is always a fun booth to stop by, as they have such detailed and life-like figures!
As usual, we always make sure to stop by the Hero Within booth to see what our old friend Tony Kim, aka Crazy4ComicCon, is up to!
We were able to walk pretty much the entire Exhibit Hall floor, with the exception of a couple of portions of aisles we skipped due to congestion, and make it back to the Arena just in time for the Quantum Leap panel!
NBC’s Quantum Leap
Having been huge fans of the original Quantum Leap series growing up, we’ve been watching and enjoying the new reboot, so we were very much looking forward to this panel. At this point in time, there were two episodes left in the season, and we got to watch the first seven minutes of the season’s upcoming penultimate episode, so that was a fun way to start the panel.
After the clip, the moderator brought out the panelists, which included included Executive Producers Dean Georgaris and Deborah Pratt, as well as cast members Ernie Hudson (Magic), Raymond Lee (Ben), Caitlin Bassett (Addison), Nanrisa Lee (Jenn), and Mason Alexander Park (Ian) — so basically, the whole team was there!
Dean and Deborah talked about how it was important for the show to lean into the original series rather than shying away from it. Dean commented that way they approached the show was that “2022 needs Quantum Leap.” He went on to say that the core of the show has not changed and will not change. Deborah, who was a producer on the original series, added “If any time in history we need hope, it’s now,” as she has felt that the show has always represented hope, and that we need to understand and walk in each others’ shoes, and become better people. She mentioned that this is why it was important to her to not bring Sam home, so that people could have the hope that he would leap into their lives and make it better. Deborah still gets letters from people that say, “I keep waiting for Sam to leap into my life.” They want to maintain the core value of the show so that it will always be entertaining, heartfelt, reflect on history, and make us better people. Dean chimed in that Deborah reminded them that “you don’t need a cape and super powers to be a superhero.” Rather, you just need to be a good person who cares about someone else.
Ernie Hudson talked about getting the call to be on the show to play a character, Magic, who had appeared on the original show 30 years ago as someone who Sam had leapt into (though he clarified that he hadn’t played the original character). He was excited, as he had watched the original show. Ernie spoke about his character fulfilling a responsibility to Sam, who had saved Magic’s life. What most excites him about the role is the realization that so much is riding on our choices, and that it opens the door that we can make other choices.
Raymond Lee spoke about the challenges of playing various different characters on the show, which involves various different wardrobes — and heel sizes!
Mason Alexander Park talked about the episode titled Let Them Play, which addressed transgender rights, and how much the episode meant to them as a non-binary person. They said that the episode did a good job at humanizing and contextualizing an experience that many people otherwise would not have access to. Although they did not discuss their own background with Shakina, who wrote and directed the episode, it still ended up mirroring their own experience, as well as Shakina’s. Mason said that they hope this episode saves lives and that they are really proud of it. Deborah added that one thing they always try to do on Quantum Leap is to show all sides to a story, and it’s ultimately up to you to decide where you stand. Here, you get to hear the other side, whereas in real life, oftentimes you don’t.
When the moderator asked the cast members what they might like to see for their characters going forward, Mason answered that they would like to see Ian get a hobby and do something artistic for a change. We also learned that the person who played Ian’s ex on the show was actually Mason’s real life partner! Nanrisa is curious to see what the writers think Jenn’s life is like outside of the program. Caitlin said she would like to see Addison a bit unleashed, while Ray said he likes being pleasantly surprised, so he’s fine leaving it up to the writers. As for Ernie, he joked, “I would like to see Magic figure something out!” and Mason agreed, pointing out that Magic often has the line “My head hurts” in response to anything complicated.
Dean confirmed that they were lucky to get an early renewal for Season 2, which gave them time to think about what stories could be told beyond revealing the answer of why Ben leapt. He teased that in Season 2, we’ll get to see all of the cast play a much larger range of emotions.
Audience members were also given the chance to line up and ask questions.
One question was posed to Mason, which was what is it like to play Ian? Mason responded, “Not too different from playing Mason!” They added that it was fun, and kind of an alternate universe version of themself living a different dream.
Another question was about the decision not to include Ziggy’s speaking voice in the new series. It turns out that Deborah herself was actually the voice of Ziggy! Deborah answered that she believes that there’s a connection between Mason and Ziggy, and teased, “When Ziggy talks, she’ll have a lot to say!” She also added that Star Trek has had nine spin-offs and said that “This is just the beginning of Quantum Leap coming home.”
Of course, the question we all had on our minds came up: What are the chances of Ben meeting Sam? Dean answered, “There’s a good chance.” However, he clarified that it would need to be done in a way that the other Quantum Leap did not betray what it’s been, and that he would not want Scott Bakula to do it unless he felt great about doing it. Deborah added that “Anything is possible” and that “The power is with the fans.”
That’s definitely something that I would like to see! Only time will tell. Looking forward to seeing what happens in Season 2!
With that, our time at WonderCon 2023 came to a close. You can view more of our WonderCon 2023 photos in the gallery below.
WonderCon 2023 Gallery
