Long before there was ever a Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2, there was a Nintendo Wii U. Commercially, it was a failure, and yet, it had such a fantastic line-up of first and third-party games that, despite three adults being in their 20s, it would help to keep them cemented together thanks to the likes of Call of Duty: Black Ops II and Mass Effect 3.
Not only was Mass Effect an already amazing game that my siblings and I played through numerous times, but we were also obsessed with the game’s multiplayer. You didn’t have as big a selection of playable characters in the Wii U version, but Mass Effect 3 gave us plenty of joy. If we weren’t playing online together, we were playing with others, making friends with people we’d still be in touch with, years after the fact. But what’s the relevance of this?
Well, the game that kept my siblings and me bonded a decade ago would do the same again, all thanks to a little thing called MCM London Comic Con. Having missed out on attending the show back in May 2025, there was no way I was going to miss it twice in the same year. Months in advance, I already planned on attending twice, but it would be my sister who would fork out twice for a ticket, the moment she found out there would be a Mass Effect panel and that multiple voice actors would be in attendance.
Out of herself, Mike and I, she’s the true Mass Effect fan. She purchased the Legendary Edition, imported it from America and on Saturday, (October 25th, 2025), in between doing other things, I got to watch her spend hours queuing up to get Mark Meer, Jennifer Hale, Ali Hillis and Alix Wilton Regan, all to sign her wearable N7 helmet. But with the Mass Effect panel happening on the following day, there was no way she was going to miss it and nor were Mike and I, and we’re glad we didn’t.
Not only was it completely hilarious and brilliant to see Jennifer, Ali and Alix all team up against Mark in terms of banter (Alix gave it to him the best, but that’s Samantha Traynor for you), but it was a wholesome moment as it was a great way to tie together the bonds of friendships and memories Mass Effect has given us over the years.
Of course, it was also funny, that when first queuing up to attend the panel, we actually got separated, with myself further forward in the queue and Mike and Ash further behind, leading to me speedwalking to get us the best seats closest to the stage and then manspreading across multiple seats to secure them a spot, only to have Mike come in a few minutes behind, laughing about the fact that I’d probably manspread to keep the seats. I guess I’m getting a little predictable in my 30s, but it happens to the best of us.
Nevertheless, we came for Mass Effect and Mass Effect absolutely delivered. The chemistry between the voice cast was as electric as ever, and it was a blessed moment to be able to experience it with my siblings, given everything Mass Effect has given us in the last decade, but since I did go to MCM London Comic Con for more than just the one panel, it’s only fair to talk about two of the other panels I attended.
Before the Mass Effect panel, Mike and I actually sat through The Boys panel and for the sake of spoilers, Billy Butcher swore a whole lot less than the Mass Effect cast did. Shocking, right? Maybe he’s finally taking Mother’s Milk’s advice after all. Nevertheless, the true highlight of the panel was something that happened near the end of the panel, as cast members Karl Urban, Karen Fukuhara, Laz Alonso and Tomer Capone were surprised with two Guinness World Records, due to The Boys being the Most In-Demand Action-Adventure TV Show, and Most In-Demand Superhero TV Show. Of course, hearing Karl Urban share the boat story and how he terrified “poor Hughie,” never gets old, no matter how many times I hear it.
Another panel that was well worth checking out, as the Gods of War panel, with Christopher Judge and Sunny Suljic in attendance, Christopher Judge potentially teasing a future God of War game, saying how he hopes it would cover the Egyptian pantheon:
Christopher Judge: “I became best known as Teal’c from Stargate, to go to Egypt would be a completion of my circle. But whatever is decided – wait… if there is another game, I have no doubt that no matter what pantheon it is, it will be great.”
Another worthwhile panel that I was able to attend on Saturday, was a Sonic the Hedgehog panel with Jason Griffith and Pete Capella. The behind-the-scenes stories they shared were a riot, especially when recalling one story on how the first time they met was when they were recording lines in a booth for NPCs arguing. Jason asked Pete if he was nice to him at the time, to which Pete playfully replied, “No, you were a ####!” and Jason answered, “Sounds about right.”
Panels aside, how was the rest of MCM London Comic Con, you might ask? Well, this year’s instalment was easily the biggest I’ve ever known it to be, especially with a reported 100,000+ people in attendance. Saturday was absolutely packed, so even though I normally go to Comic Con and photograph everything I possibly can, it was too busy to stop for a moment and pull my smaller camera out and take a snap, as the video camera had to be secured in my bag, to spare it from any unnecessary knocks.
And it wasn’t just the Saturday either, as even at 11:00 hours on Sunday, it was insanely busy then also. Until this weekend, I’d never seen ExCeL London look so lively, but it was a delight to see. Having made regular trips to ExCeL London in the last six years, it’s great to see what MCM Comic Con has become with ReedPop at the helm, especially now that more voice actors are attending and more representation for the gaming community. This could be in part due to the October Comic Con being a collaboration with EGX, but I’m glad it is, because the quality of panels and interviews we’ve had in recent years has been incredible, but there’s just one downside: EGX.
With fewer bigger publishers being present, the whole EGX side of Comic Con is starting to feel more like an EGX Rezzed event than a proper EGX. Once upon a time, there would be rows upon rows of booths and an entire huge area to games of all variety, but now, instead of drowning in discoveries about new upcoming titles that captivate our attention like we’d normally get, instead, it was either games that were already released, or decent games with an intriguing development story behind their creation, but the game is tucked away in a small booth that unless you turned there and then to give it the time of day to look at it, you’d walk right on past it, never knowing it was there.
Don’t get me wrong, MCM Comic Con is making some vast improvements, but it feels like those improvements are being done at the expense of EGX. By combining the two events to save on money, that can be invested in making the show grander than the year before, but it would be nice to see some of the EGX side of things become more impactful, especially when more gaming events the world over are getting cancelled. There is plenty of room for both events to thrive, and hopefully, next year’s rendition will be better, but so as not to end this article on a negative note, I do have one positive to end it on.
While Mass Effect is one video game series that I love, another is Assassin’s Creed, especially Black Flag and on the same Saturday that I got to see my sister interact with the voice cast behind Mass Effect, I got to meet Matt Ryan, aka Edward Kenway and John Constantine himself, in the flesh, and it was utterly brilliant. For a few years now, I’ve been hoping he might be one of the guests that would rock up to MCM Comic Con and this year, he didn’t disappoint. It was also nice that, before it was my turn to meet him, another fan was to get a selfie with Matt Ryan, and because no one else was available, I swiftly stepped up and made it happen and was thanked by both for my effort. (It’s the little things in life.) But thank you, MCM London Comic Con, you’ve allowed me to tick another thing off my list, and I look forward to what next year brings.
Thank you for reading, and until next time, keep on gaming!
