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SALT LAKE CITY — “Aquaman” actor Jason Momoa, former “Saturday Night Live” comedian Laraine Newman and a partnership with Evermore Park are the latest additions to the FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, which starts in less than a month.
Momoa will join his “Justice League” co-star Ben Affleck at the event, which takes place Sept. 6-8 at the Salt Palace Convention Center.
“We thought it would be great to team them up for photo ops and appearances,” said FanX Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Bryan Brandenburg. “He had a fantastic time when he was here last time and he wanted to come back.”
Momoa last appeared in Salt Lake City at FanX in March 2017. He won’t be doing any talks or panels, but he will be available for autographs, according to Brandenburg.
Also joining the star-studded lineup for next month’s event is “Saturday Night Live” original cast member Laraine Newman, FanX officials announced Friday. The event will also include David Tennant, Tim Curry, Dick Van Dyke, Evangeline Lillyand many others.
FanX officials have yet to announce the final nine or ten guests that will appear at this year’s event, Brandenburg said.
He said FanX employees like to compete with themselves when they’re putting together lineups.
“We really feel like we’ve got the best lineup we’ve ever had, but also one of the best guest rosters of any convention anywhere in the country,” he said.
The closing party for FanX this year will be held at Evermore Park, and will double as a grand opening event for the park.
Evermore Park, in Pleasant Grove, is billed as a “fully immersive theatrical experience park,” according to its website.
The party, titled LORE, will take place from 7 p.m. to midnight on Sept. 8 and will transport attendees into a tale of ancient Celtic lore, according to a news release from FanX representatives.
Tickets are available at Evermore’s website.
FanX co-founder returns after leave of absence, promises improved harassment policy
FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention co-founder Bryan Brandenburg has returned to the organization after a brief leave of absence that he says provided him a “great opportunity” to improve the harassment policies at the event.FanX officials also announced Friday that Evermore Park will be the title sponsor for this year’s event, and park officials will be operating an interactive pavilion during FanX. Evermore will continue supporting FanX through at least 2020, officials said.
Brandenburg said he and FanX Co-Founder Dan Farr have known the people involved with Evermore Park for years and are happy to partner with them.
“It’s one thing for our fans to celebrate their fandom by watching the shows and coming and meeting the stars,” Brandenburg said, “but this allows them to be in a completely story-driven immersive environment right here in Utah.”
FanX organizers always design the events to be more than any single person could handle, Brandenburg said. So he recommended being prepared before going to the event to maximize your time there.
He suggests downloading the FanX app, planning ahead and finding specific things you're a fan of before you get to the event.
“We always feel like our goal is to have our best event ever,” Brandenburg said. “We feel like we’ve done that.”
