Kate Beckinsale and Wallace Shawn highlight Tampa Bay Comic Con

Tampa Bay Comic Con always, or at least in recent years, attracts a lot of big-name mainstream movie and TV stars, in addition to the comic books writers and artists and the sci-fi and fantasy actors that only die-had fans of the genre get excited about.

This year is no exception. In fact, it may be one of the best years yet for celebrity sightings.

The convention’s set for this weekend at the Tampa Convention Center. Among the stars scheduled to attend on at least one of the three days are Wallace Shawn (“The Princess Bride”), Kate Beckinsale (“Underworld”), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura from the original “Star Trek”), Khary Payton (“The Walking Dead” and several DC comics-based films), Renee O’Connor (the sidekick from “Xena”), Allison Mack (“Smallville”), Austin St. John (a former Power Ranger), Sean Maguire (“Timeless”) and Michael Biehn (the hero in the original “The Terminator”). Val Kilmer (“Batman Forever”) was scheduled to attend but canceled this week citing a “family problem.”

There are lots of comic book artists and writers too — organizers strive to make sure that the convention stays grounded in comic book culture — and a costume contest with some truly spectacular entries.

Tampa Bay Comic Con is in its eighth year, but it’s already huge. Only about 600 people attended the first event, but in recent years about 60,000 people have attended.

Details: July 28-30, Tampa Convention Center, 333 S. Franklin St., Tampa. Noon-midnight Friday, 8 a.m.-midnight Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. $33.53 Friday or Sunday, $44.02 Saturday, $65.02 all three days. tampabaycomiccon.com.

This story was originally published July 26, 2017 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Kate Beckinsale and Wallace Shawn highlight Tampa Bay Comic Con."