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Somehow, it's all over. After three fun-filled days, this year's C2E2 is already in the rear-view mirror, even though it feels like we just got started. 

Over the past three days, something in the region of 100,000 fans made it to McCormick Place in the literally Windy City that is Chicago, Illinois to meet, greet, and celebrate their very favorite pop culture creators, writers, artists, actors, and celebrities. This year's show ran March 27 through March 29, celebrating all things good and great in pop culture for those in and around our favorite city in the Midwest, and once again, Popverse was right there in the middle of it, sharing what was happening as it happened, no matter where you happened to be.

On day one, fans got to enjoy the voice cast of Uncharted telling stories about the making of that iconic game series, and the queen of everything from Beetlejuice and Thelma & Louise to Commander in Chief and the Geena Davis Institute, Geena Davis herself, answering questions and making dreams come true live from the main stage - both of which were streamed on Popverse and will soon be available on demand. (You do remember that we’re live-streaming the biggest panels from C2E2 2026 all weekend long, I hope.)

Does that mean that we collectively discovered that Dustin Hoffman accidentally stood in the way of a Geena Davis/Jack Nicholson date, or that Davis wants to be part of the MCU? It surely does, just as much as it means that we got to find out what makes the Uncharted game franchise different from, say, the Mario games. (No, it's not the lack of mushrooms in the former.) 

But that was only day one! Saturday brought appearances from the cast of Marvel’s Daredevil: Born Again, and Doctor Who’s Christopher Eccleston, as well as Elizabeth Olsen, and the casts of Arrow and The West Wing. We learned that Martin Sheen doesn't understand why people care so much about Spider-Man's Uncle Ben, why Dulé Hill doesn't want to bring The West Wing back, that the Marvel Netflix cast were forbidden from referring to the Avengers by name, what it would take to bring the Ninth Doctor back to the screen, the surprising fact that Elizabeth Olsen didn't know what Marvel role she was auditioning for, and heard a pitch for what is already our next big MCU project, courtesy of Jessica Jones herself, Krysten Ritter. 

All this, and we saw the winner crowned for the Cosplay Central Regional Qualifier and U.S. Finals! (You can find out who it was right here.)

The third and final day of the show brought icons from Jurassic Park (life found a way to make it happen, what can we say?), stars from Superman & Lois, and the Thing and Mr. Fantastic from the 2000s Fantastic Four movies reuniting on stage, too. (Don't worry; the only thing that got clobbered were fan questions.) 

If you want to take a brief break from Chicago, we recommend checking out our preview of this week's episode of Apple TV's Monarch: Legacy of Monsters - especially because Apple is offering a month's free trial to Apple TV for Popverse readers. Click here for details. 

There's more to C2E2 than the big name panels, of course — there’s also Artist’s Alley, a filled-to-the-brim show floor with dealers, and in-person experiences from LARPing to hanging out with fellow fans at any one of the countless meet-ups across the weekend... and, of course, the chance to dance your heart out at the DJ booth, because what kind of weekend would it be without music?

What's that? You want even more? We should definitely shout out the great cosplay from the show, which we can do courtesy our galleries of some of our favorite looks all weekend. (Yes, the galleries are still being updated even though the show is over; keep your eyes out for updates as they come in.)

For those who couldn't make it in person, they could still be part of the show thanks to our weekend-long live-stream of the Main Stage panels from C2E2 2026. Even though the show is now over, panels from the Main Stage will live on in our hearts and on our site as we upload individual panels as their own videos, and you can find the details about that right here. Panels are already available for Popverse Members (Hey, that could be you!), but they'll be rolled out to all fans over the next few weeks.

That same livestream we mentioned also included some exclusive interviews straight from Popverse's Pop Spot studio on the show floor, including Steve Burns from Blue's Clues, comic book writer of Exquisite Corpses and Something is Killing the Children James Tynion IV, Daredevil: Born Again's Elden Henson, author Veronica Roth, and more. If you missed 'em, don't worry; these interviews and more will be showing up on Popverse over the next few weeks, as well. Keep your eyes peeled to our C2E2 2026 hub for more details, which will be adding a lot more coverage in the near future. (We just need a chance to catch our breaths first.)

At this point, we should probably call out Signet Collectibles, who graciously supported all of the C2E2 2026 coverage, whether panels, articles, or videos. Signet is the go-to place for authentic autographed items, and they're here as well, getting some choice sigs that you will be able to order from home.

But, yes, for now, the party's over. McCormick Place has closed its doors, and everyone is considering the long journey home. Well, that's one of the things they're considering. The other thing, is of course, how long until we can do it again next year? (We have the answer for that, too.)