By Kayla Nwaki
(Also available on London Now as part of the Young Reporter scheme)
MCM Comic Con London returned this autumn for the weekend, welcoming thousands of cosplayers, creatives, and high-intensity enthusiasts into the ExCel Centre’s halls at 9:00am on Friday the 23rd of October, 2026.
Being completely sold out from Friday to Sunday this year, it’s clear that Comic Con London is an event that’s been loved since 2001 for multiple reasons – and that just points to how fan culture is becoming more popular than ever.
A short guide to MCM London
MCM Comic Con London – being run by the global events company ReedPop – attracts all sorts of people who want to visit a sanctuary of interests and opportunities to bond with other people who are alike to them.
Having an attendance of a faithful 100,000-130,000 people each year on average according to their own website’s statistics, the 3-day event invites people with varying interests to come and enjoy pop culture.
Interests could be anything from manga, comics that originate from Japan, to certain music genres like J-pop, K-pop and video game music which are specifically popular there.
In October 2025, MCM London gained more than 2 million app views, had around than 430 artists working in their Artist Alley, and supported over 560 panels and workshops.
The demographics that MCM London invites are quite varied as well – with 53% of attendees being Generation-Z, and around one third of the other attendees being Millennials and Generation-X.
This year there was an apparent rise in not just the younger Generation Alpha attendees, but a larger amount of people, with a Bleeding Cool News article recording a weekend attendance of over 165,000.
The Critical Role Cast and Their Media Presence
The Critical Role cast’s impact in London alone is clearly noticeable, as a Business Insider Article states that they sold out Wembley Arena – which has a capacity of 12,500 – and on top of that, a Strand Magazine article reports that they sold out the venue in a staggering three minutes.
Many queued on the Friday of MCM London to get photos, autographs, or selfies taken with the cast members of the Dungeons and Dragons web-series.
The YouTube channel that they started as an outlet to show their creative storytelling hobbies in 2012 has now grown into a famous media giant that is clearly no stranger to attracting London-based fans.
Critical Role also had a panel on Friday at 11:00 am on the centre’s ‘Main Stage’, the biggest stage at the event.
The Sense of Community at MCM London
College student Anas Elsayeb, who attended Comic Con as a result of his college offering it to students, said, “I wanna see other cosplayers, the amazing Ralsei cosplayers, all the amazing Deku cosplayers, they’re all amazing!”
When asked if he feels like he can bring out his interests more at MCM London, Elsayeb agreed, saying: “Yes, for sure. This way, you can see people of the same interests before having to guess and going to have to talk with them.”
Having people around you in a place who have similar passions and personalities to you can definitely make people feel more comfortable around others.
Having numerous people from different backgrounds, the desire for community, the love for cosplay, and the idea of individuality that grows there is what makes MCM London a unique experience.