Wizard World day four

For such a short day, the last day of the convention was packed with an unexpectedly large amount of high-caliber programming . As soon as the con opened up to the public, people began lining up for the day’s panels. The ones that were scheduled to attract the most fans included “Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey with Arthur Darvill,” “Michael Rooker vs. the Audience,” and “Taking Aim: Jeremy Renner,” to name a few.

All of the above-mentioned panels were planned to be held in the same room, which was coincidentally the same room that the Cosplay Contest was shown the night before. I had missed the Deadpool program that I wanted to attend on Saturday, so I was set on making it to all of these. My mom and sister were on board as well, so we set off as early as possible to get a good spot in line.

When we reached the room where the main panels were being held, we found that the line was already snaking its way down the hall and around the corner. And, as we got in line, we overheard the people in front of us lamenting over the fact that Arthur Darvill, the actor from BBC’s Doctor Who ,” who was supposed to front the first panel, couldn’t make it.

So, even though the first panel- which was scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. – had been cancelled, people were still waiting in line for the following program with Michael Rooker, which was set to start an hour later. To give a sense of how crowded it was, even though I arrived two hours early for the panel, I was around the hundredth person in line.

My mom volunteered to hold my spot in line for a while to let my sister and I go off and explore the show floor even more. My sister declined, so I set off on my own to go make sure that I had done everything I had hoped to over the weekend. I really only had one thing left that I really wanted to do- explore the second floor.

The majority of the convention was fun for all ages, but the second floor had something that the faint of heart wouldn’t enjoy- zombies. There was a shooting range with zombie targets, random people dressed as the undead scaring people, and something like a haunted house. I had done the shooting range before, so I decided to try the haunted house this year.

It definitely was not your typical haunted house. Each person who went through received a laser gun and would be able to shoot zombies. There was a mix of both dummies and living actors, so it was hard to tell where any jump scares could come from. If a con-goer hit one of the lights that were placed on a zombie’s head, the dummy would deactivate or the actor would fall down. I’m going to be honest, I was terrified at first, but I came out feeling confident that I would survive the inevitable zombie apocalypse when it arrives!

After I had brushed up on my zombie-killing skills, I headed back over to wait more with my mom. We still had another hour or so, but it was nice just to sit down and take a break. I even got to finish one graphic novel that I had bought: “Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe .” It was a great read, but very depressing as one can probably tell by the title.

Michael Rooker’s panel began a little bit behind schedule, but that was no matter, as my family had gotten the best seats possible apart from those who got the VIP ticket seats.  Rooker was hilarious.  He recounted his time on “The Walking Dead” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” in a comical way that never actually answered any of the fans’ questions. When one of the volunteers reminded him that there were five minutes left, he jokingly flicked off the poor guy and then ran into the audience to do a speed round. I was able to get some of his best moments on video, which you can see right here.

Once Rooker’s panel had ended, one about the show “Gotham” started. I initially got into the show when it premiered last year, but I didn’t get the chance to get caught up on it. To make sure I didn’t hear any big spoilers, my mom offered to hold my seat and let me run around the show floor some more. She also let me buy a ticket for a photo op with Rooker, scheduled to start after Renner’s panel. I was on cloud nine.

I returned from the photo op ticket booth just in time for Renner’s panel to start. The whole thing was really adorable to watch, mostly because this was Renner’s first convention and it was very obvious that he loved every moment of it. He also answered a few questions from little kids from the audience while trying to restrain his giggles. It was one of the best things that I ever witnessed. It was fascinating to see his outlook on his own movies and get a little inside information on the next movie that he will be in, “Captain America: Civil War.” Here are some of the questions that he answered.

With two hours left in the convention after Renner’s panel concluded, my sister and I rushed over to wait in the photo ops line to meet Rooker. We both love “Guardians of the Galaxy” and our dad is the biggest “Walking Dead” fan, so this was a big moment for us. In photo ops, the general rule is that you aren’t allowed to start a conversation with the celebrity, as the goal is to go as fast as possible to fit every fan in the time schedule. Therefore, a lot of photo ops, while still amazing, are not personal or unique.

My sister and I decided to do something memorable, then, in order to turn this photo into an experience. When we got to the front of the line, we greeted Rooker by asking him to put me in a headlock for the picture while my sister posed as though she were laughing at the predicament I was in. He loved it. The photographer was laughing, the other people in line were laughing, and Rooker was cracking up. He stopped me after the photo op to say that our picture would be a great one and then gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

I couldn’t think of a better way to end such a perfect convention if I tried.