New York Comic Con (NYCC) welcomed more than 250,000 attendees to the Javits Center from October 8 through October 11 to celebrate the best of fandom and pop culture for the event's 20th anniversary. With a star-studded lineup of your favorite celebrities, today's biggest comic creators, must-have merch, mind-blowing cosplay, and more, NYCC drew visitors from around the world, boosting New York City's economy by an estimated $91M, according to New York City Tourism + Conventions. What started in a single hall at the Javits Center overflowing with 33,000 attendees has grown into one of the world’s biggest pop culture events as NYCC brings together hundreds of thousands of fans annually for a four-day celebration of fandom and community.
Standout moments at this year’s show included a roster of star-studded panels packed with exciting announcements, exclusive previews, and highly anticipated trailer debuts from popular and anticipated series and films including Paramount+’s Dexter: Resurrection and Avatar: Seven Havens, Peacock’s Crystal Lake, ABC’s The Rookie, Disney+’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians, CBS’ Ghosts, Prime Video’s Blade Runner 2099, Paramount’s Children of Blood and Bone, and 20th Century Studios and Imagine Entertainment’s Whalefall, appearances by stars like Nicolas Cage, Paul Bettany, Lena Heady, Matt Smith, Hayden Christensen, and Ian McDiarmid, and iconic voice actors from beloved television series and video games like One Piece, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, and Naruto. NYCC also introduced its first Getty Portrait Studio, which was visited throughout the weekend by stars including Josh Brolin, Linda Cardellini, Alexandra Daddario, Carrie-Anne Moss, Norman Reedus, Gabourey Sidibe, and even a special surprise drop in by NFL star Rob Gronkowski, who was dressed in Doctor Doom cosplay.
This year’s event also featured a robust slate of professional programming across five days in the River Pavilion, and for the first time fans were invited to attend select Pro sessions as part of the newly introduced aspiring professionals program.
The show floor was the ultimate destination for interactive activations and the hottest merch, featuring over 650 top publishers, brands, and retailers like Bandai, Dark Horse, DC, Funko, Marvel, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, VIZ Media, and Webtoon, while over 500 Artist Alley participants filled the show floor, featuring fan favorites Alex Segura, Ben Percy, Chris Claremont, Denys Cowan, Frank Miller, Jim Lee, Katie Cook, Peach Momoko, Tom King, and many more.
The Northeast’s most talented cosplayers brought their best work to the Cosplay Central Crown Championships qualifier, presented by Krazy Glue, on October 10, putting a spotlight on creativity and craftsmanship. After a fierce competition, Silwen Cosplay took the crown as first-place winner and Regional Champion for their stunning Sakizo Giulietta cosplay, earning $1,000 and a trip to C2E2 2027 to compete in the National Finals of the Cosplay Central Crown Championship. Gillian Conahan took second place for their take on Lune from Clair Obscur Expedition 33, while Savant Celestial captured third place as Mother Miranda from Resident Evil. Rounding out the competition, Where You At At earned top honors in the Armor category as Ciri from The Witcher, Bombshell Beckie won the FX category with their X-Men’s Mystique/Gambit fusion cosplay, and Annieexmachina took the Needlework category with their Gideon the Ninth cosplay based on the character from the novel, Gideon the Ninth. The event was judged by an expert panel featuring Say No to Scrunchies, Dressesandcapes, and Akellyz, who evaluated each entry for excellence in design, detail, and performance, and featured a halftime show by Coney Island’s Sideshow performers. Building on NYCC’s Coney Island theme for 2026, attendees also enjoyed Sideshow performances on the Community Stage throughout the weekend.
“New York Comic Con would not be what it is today without our incredible community,” said Kristina Rogers, VP of ReedPop US Comics Portfolio, BookCon, and Star Wars Celebration. “We had a blast celebrating all weekend long with our fans, our team, and our amazing partners and can’t wait to find out together what the next 20 years of pop culture will bring.”
Fans who were not able to make it in person were able to experience the biggest moments from New York Comic Con’s Empire Stage and Main Stage via live stream each day across NYCC social channels and the Popverse YouTube Channel.
NYCC will return to the Javits Center next year on October 7-10, 2027. You can stay up to date on the latest New York Comic Con news at NewYorkComicCon.com and on Facebook, X, and Instagram.
