Top Guests Press Release 2017 final (PDF Format)

STAN LEE AND GAME OF THRONES’ LENA HEADEY LEAD AN ALL STAR CAST OF

SUPERHEROES, CAPTAINS, CRIMEBUSTERS AND A COUPLE OF DOCTORS

Guests from Star Trek, Star Wars, Firefly, Guardians of the Galaxy, Game of Thrones, Dr. Who,

and other top television shows and movies will meet their fans at Dragon Con.

ATLANTA – July 25, 2017 – Stan Lee, creator of some of the best-known comic book superheroes, and Lena Headey, the icy Lannister queen from HBO’s Game of Thrones, lead a long list of celebrity guests headed to Dragon Con, Atlanta’s internationally known pop culture, fantasy, science fiction, and gaming convention, for Labor Day weekend.

Other top guests from television and movies including William Shatner, Karl Urban, Matt Smith, Ming-Na Wen, Alex Kingston, John Barrowman, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, and Peter Mayhew will be among the fan favorites on hand to lead discussions, talk with fans, and sign autographs during the four-day convention.

An estimated 82,000 people are expected to attend Dragon Con 2017, filling downtown Atlanta over the four-day Labor Day Weekend – Sept. 1 – Sept. 4 – with events and activities across AmericasMart Buildings #1 and #2 and five host hotels – Hyatt Regency Atlanta, Marriott Marquis, Hilton Atlanta, Westin Peachtree, and Sheraton Atlanta.

Muppeteer Martin P. Robinson, best known for performing Mr. Snuffleupagus, Telly Monster, and Slimey the Worm on Sesame Street since 1981, and Lisa Henson, chief executive of The Jim Henson Company, lead a strong cast of puppetry guests.

Star Trek fans will be able to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation with several of the show’s main characters including Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, and Marina Sirtis.

Jon Heder, from cult classic Napoleon Dynamite, and Michael Rosenbaum, Lex Luthor from television’s Smallville, will emcee The Chôsen costume competition at the Georgia Aquarium on Saturday, Sept. 2.

Shatner played Captain Kirk in the original Star Trek television series.  Urban plays Dr. “Bones” McCoy in the rebooted Star Trek movies.

Smith was the Eleventh Doctor in the long-running BBC series Doctor Who.  Other Doctor Who guests include companions John Barrowman, Alex Kingston, Karen Gillan, and Billie Piper.

Gillan also joins Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn representing the Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise.

Fillion is known for his role as Mal Reynolds from the cancelled-too-soon television series Firefly as well as the title character from ABC’s Castle.

Wen plays pilot and weapons expert Melinda May in Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  She is also a successful voice actress, best known as the speaking voice of Mulan in the Disney franchise.

Fans of the Star Wars franchise can meet Peter Mayhew, who created the role of Chewbacca for the 1977 film and has played the character in a total of five movies to date.

Celebrating 20 years of the movie Starship Troopers, the satirical science fiction action film, main cast members Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, and Patrick Muldoon will join fans at Dragon Con.

Representing classic science fiction from 1970s and 1980s, Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, and Felix Silla from NBC’s Buck Rogers in the 25^th Century will be on hand. This is the first time all three main cast members have appeared at Dragon Con together.

“We are delighted to have so many guests from so many of today’s most popular or, in the case of classic science fiction, best loved shows and movies to join us this year,” convention co-chair Rachel Reeves said. “Overall, we will have some 400 guests – actors, authors, artists and other creators and experts – from across science, science fiction, and fantasy worlds, in whatever medium.”

This year’s convention will also feature main cast members from some of the most popular television shows including Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D on ABC, CW’s “Arrow-verse” (Arrow, Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow), Fox’s Lucifer; Syfy’s Wynonna Earp, CW’s Reign, Syfy’s Ghost Hunters, and CW’s The 100.

Other classic science fiction and fantasy television is also well represented, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sailor Moon, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Gene Rodenberry’s Andromeda, and the Battlestar Galactica franchise.

About Dragon Con

Dragon Con is the internationally known pop culture convention held each Labor Day in Atlanta. Organized for fans, Dragon Con features more than 3,000 hours of comics, film, television, costuming, art, music, and gaming over four days. For more information, please visit www.dragoncon.org and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.