Planet Comicon Kansas City marked its 26th year celebrating fandom in all forms during its 2025 event. Thousands of fans packed Bartle Hall March 21st through 23rd.

Planet opted to start with a bang this year, putting VIP guest David Tenant on the Main Stage right off the bat. Convention owner Chris Jackson was spotted holding the door for those lucky enough to snag those limited Tenant VIP badges, welcoming con-goers into one of the biggest panels of the weekend.

Tenant did not disappoint the packed room, starting with ditching his shoes, showing off his prawn socks, and folding his legs up into the chair to get cozy. The sock humor continued during audience Q&A as one fan mentioned their “guess what? Chicken butt” socks, which confused Tenant so much, he ran off-stage to get a look for himself… and was still confused by the classic American joke.

Friday’s main stage line-up stayed strong, with Tenant’s Dr. Who co-star Alex Kingston cracking jokes, including answering a fan question about who would get the honor of dropping an f-bomb if the show was allowed to sneak one into the series. Andy Serkis then took the stage for a Lord of the Rings and 13 Going on 30 Q&A, followed by Supernatural stars Jim Beaver and Richard Speight Jr. Speigh also shared memories of his previous time in the Kansas City area filming the independent film Three Blind Saints.

Saturday brought another solid line-up in the Grand Ballroom. After the animation panel, the voice cast of Rick and Morty took the stage, followed by AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys singing a few lines between questions. Evil stars Mike Coulter and Aasif Mandvi took the stage withough Katja Herbers, who canceled due to sickness. C3PO briefly joined Katee Sackhoff on stage before Chris Bartlett called out the impostor and took a seat to answer Star Wars questions. Lord of the Rings star John Rhys-Davis held a solo panel, followed by the women of The Watchmen, Carla Gugino and Malin Ackerman. The night wrapped up with the epic Cosplay Contest.

Sunday started out with lots of laughter as Brian Austin Green and Tori Spelling shared memories from the set of Beverly Hills 90210, including that the late Luke Perry liked to set his farts on fire. Both Saved By The Bell stars canceled their appearance, giving attendees an hour to explore other parts of the convention before returning to the Grand Ballroom for The Walking Dead. Ross Marquand and Tom Payne talked about their experiences joining the cast after the series was established, as well as their other projects from Marvel, X-Men, and Prodigal Son.

Planet Comicon bookended the event by wrapping up the main stage sessions with a packed house celebrating SCREAM. Matthew Lillard and Skeet Ulrich were part of the 2024 line-up and drew such big crowds, they couldn’t get through the long lines. Fans begged PCKC for another chance to meet the pair, so they returned for 2025.

Due to the crowds, Matt and Skeet were delayed getting to the stage. However, after walking out and seeing how much time was left on the panel countdown clock, Lillard proclaimed that they would be staying longer, to loud cheers from fans. The pair is a bit chaotic and promptly jumped off the stage to get up close and personal with people asking questions. One of those questions about a project featuring a suicide storyline brough Lillard to tears, which Ulrich promptly whipped out his phone to film. As promised, they went over their allotted time and proclaimed that KC asks great questions.

There’s much more to PCKC than the main stage. Bartle Hall offers a massive showroom space, and Planet takes advantage of every bit of it. From artist alley to comic creators, authors to lightsabers, games and collectibles, cosplay and photo ops, there’s something for everyone. I’d personally love to see more fresh blood and not the same booths in the same place every year, but that’s my opinion.

There is an area at one end of the show floor called the Planet Entertainment Zone, which features interactive booths from sponsors, like beer tasting from Boulevard, gaming with Main Event, and a mini arcade. I do love that down one floor on the way to the Grand Ballroom, you’ll find tables from community organizations offering resources including mental health support, and my favorite, Girl Scout cookies.

Overall, 2025 proved to be a solid year for PCKC. Look for videos to come giving you an inside look at all the fun.