Fan Expo Philadelphia 2025, Part 2: Thirteen, Superman, Lois, Lex, & Finn

A variety of guests appeared at Fan Expo Philadelphia this past weekend to answer questions about their respective projects.

Fan Expo Philadelphia 2025 featured many guests this past weekend, ranging from wrestler/actor John Cena to the dog from Deadpool & Wolverine. There were plenty of celebrity panels to choose from, and the ones that I got to attend were both fun and insightful. Even though the guests only answered pre-submitted questions at the panels that I attended, there were still a lot of great moments.

The first panel that I attended was of Jodie Whittaker, also known as the Thirteenth Doctor. Whittaker admitted that she didn’t start watching Doctor Who, despite being aware of its massive pop culture presence in England, until the series’ revival. She described the audition process for Thirteen and explained that she previously worked with showrunner Chris Chibnall and previous doctor David Tennant on the series Broadchurch.

When asked about her favorite location both to shoot and in the Doctor Who universe, Whittaker shared that she loved filming in Spain, and the locations were used to recreate the Partition of India. She shared her love of the episode and enjoyed how it shined a light on a not as well-known historical event. Whittaker confessed that the most emotional scenes that she filmed for Doctor Who were her goodbye scene with Mandip Gill (Yasmin) and her death scene.

Next up was the panel for Superman & Lois with stars Tyler Hoechlin (Superman/Clark Kent), Bitsie Tulloch (Lois Lane), and Michael Cudlitz (Lex Luthor). All three discussed how they liked the grounded nature of the series, which wasn’t afraid to tackle serious topics with its super family dynamics. Though all three stars were pleased with how the series ended, they shared that the series had future plans to include classic Superman villain Brainiac if they had more time.

Hoechlin and Tulloch discussed their close dynamic while filming the series and how they would prank each other on set. Tulloch told a story of having the makeup artist tell Hoechlin that he would have to stay even longer in the makeup chair and filming his reaction. Hoechlin told a story of the time that he grabbed a prop rat and slipped it in Tulloch’s bag. Both actors were complimentary of the dynamics between the cast and crew from beginning to the end of the series.

Cudlitz discussed joining an already established series and was initially unsure of how his interpretation of Lex Luthor would be received compared to previous iterations. He admitted that he was pleased by the fan reception and enjoyed his time on the series. Cudlitz also provided valuable insight into directing an episode of the series, stating his opinion that directors who are well-versed in the series and the characters are more successful than those who come in and simply direct from the script.

Finally, Star Wars actor John Boyega took the stage for a panel on Sunday. He expressed his excitement for finally beginning production on a sequel to 2011’s Attack the Block that he is producing with his production company. He also spoke highly of his time on Pacific Rim: Uprising, confessing that he asked costar Scott Eastwood a lot of questions about his famous father.

Boyega then discussed his lifelong love of Star Wars and his long and secretive audition process for the franchise. During the process, he screen-tested with both Daisy Ridley, who had been cast before him, and Oscar Isaac, and that he knew that Isaac would eventually get the role due to their chemistry. In terms of the legacy actors, he had a great relationship with Carrie Fisher and was in awe of Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill. He even confessed that he needed a moment to process things when R2-D2 and Chewbacca joined him for a screen test.

Though Boyega has previously been honest about his negative experiences in filming the sequel trilogy, he spoke highly of both directors JJ Abrams and Rian Johnson. Though he wished that things were better for him and his character, he didn’t completely shut the door on returning to Star Wars. Indicating that he still loves Star Wars, he stated that The Mandalorian is his current favorite of the newer entries of the series.

While there were many panels to enjoy at Fan Expo Philadelphia. The ones that I got the opportunity to attend were both fun and informative. Hopefully, the convention will continue its trend of having a wide variety of guests (though hopefully without the inclusion of more controversial ones) when the convention returns to Philadelphia next May.

Author: Jessica Wolff

Jessica Wolff is a graduate of Drexel University with a BS in Film/Video. She has a passion for entertainment and representation in entertainment. She currently resides outside of Washington, DC.

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