Fan Expo Chicago 2026 Photos, Part 2 of 5: Slightly More Cosplay!

Fan in Ghostbuster jumpsuit and Admiral Ackbar mask holds up a ghost trap.

A Mon Calamari Ghostbuster confirms, “IT’S A TRAP!”

[Content warning! The following entry is rated ‘S’ for spoilers for season two of X-Men ’97, which just concluded August 12th. Reader discretion is advised.]

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

It’s that time again! This weekend my wife Anne and I attended the fifth edition of Fan Expo Chicago at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in the suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. In 2022 they arose from the ashes of the late Wizard World Chicago, which we attended eleven times, and have expended tremendous efforts to maintain the previous showrunners’ geek-marketed traditions to keep luring in longtime fans and newcomers alike.

As is the MCC procedure, let’s start with mandatory cosplay photos! The humble duo here at MCC enjoys the panoply of costumes, and appreciates the makers and wearers who enliven every comic-con with their talents and their exaltation of various fandoms. We regret we can only represent a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the total cosplay wonderment that was on display this weekend, especially from cons like this where we spent far more time waiting in lengthy lines that ate up precious time we could’ve spent taking more pics. We’re just an aging couple doing what we can for happy sharing fun…

…so here’re all the cosplayers we photographed on Saturday when we weren’t trapped in lines, crushed in crowds, or fussing with two straight days of catastrophic photo-op failure. (More on that next time.) Enjoy again!


Jawa cosplayer sitting in a sand-colored tent with a sign: "Open for Trading".

Trader Jawa! Stationed at the 501st Legion’s Midwest Garrison area, exchanging trinkets for charitable donations. Anne won a Sorting Hat pin.

A Mandalorian cosplayer, gray and sea blue.

Mandatory Mandalorian.

Female purple and black Sith Lord costume with hood covering her eyes and a red lightsaber.

Visas Marr from the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II game.

green and white Clonetrooper armor, with medium space gun.

Green Clonetrooper.

three Star Trek cosplayers, refer to caption

Spock, Number One and Carol Marcus from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Sallah cosplayer, holding his red fez on with one hand and waving hi with the other.

Indiana Jones’ pal Sallah.

female Barf cosplayer giving thumbs-up.

Barf from Spaceballs.

Gambit costume from X-Men '97, all black and white and with bo staff.

Dark Gambit, as resurrected by Apocalypse in the X-Men ’97 animated series just a few weeks ago. As cosplay of new characters goes, this was a really quick turnaround time.

Cosplay of the Number Five robot from the two 1980s "Short Circuit" movies.

Dark Number Five from a potentially gritty Short Circuit reboot.

Howard the Duck in martial arts fighting pose.

Howard the Duck, ready for ACTION.

Oscar the Grouch cosplayer, green fuzzy suit inside a trash can atop a mobile platform, frowning hard.

Oscar the Grouch! Anyone stuck in lines for hours could relate.

The Dude cosplay from "The Big Lebowski"

The Dude wishes there were a rug big enough to tie all these concrete halls together.

Guy in Santa Claus suit with attacking Gremlin puppets attached all over him.

Poor Santa from Gremlins.

Colonial Marines from the Aliens movies, one with a xenomorph puppet riding on her back.

Colonial Marines and their pet xenomorph.

Absolute Flash costume based on comics drawn by Nick Robles.

DC’s Absolute Flash!

Two guys in firefighter costumes in a comic-con exhibit hall.

Firemen from the 1991 film Backdraft, here to meet its stars Kurt Russell and William Baldwin.

Cosplayer dressed as Sauron's tower in Mordor, with red and yellow eye globe in her spired hat.

The Eye of Sauron, obviously here to stop the con’s 25th-anniversary celebration of The Fellowship of the Ring from happening!

To be continued!


Discover more from Midlife Crisis Crossover!

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

What do you, The Viewers at Home, think?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.