Highlights
- MEFCC 2026 brings John Cena together with stars from KPop Demon Hunters, One Piece, Marvel, and Star Wars.
- The Abu Dhabi convention expands with gaming, anime, collectibles, and local creators.
- MEFCC's Short Film Competition grew from 60 entries last year to 83 this year.
One Piece, Marvel, and KPop Demon Hunters will feature prominently at Middle East Film & Comic Con (MEFCC) 2026 in Abu Dhabi, with Mackenyu, Pom Klementieff, and Arden Cho among the announced guests. John Cena, Joonas Suotamo, and Jacob Romero will also feature as part of the lineup for the Sep 11-13 event at ADNEC.
The convention will return for its 14th edition in 2026 after its original April dates were postponed because of regional conflict. Mackenyu and Romero will attend the event as the actors behind Roronoa Zoro and Usopp in Netflix's live-action One Piece, while Klementieff returns to the Marvel connection through her role as Mantis, and Cho joins as the voice of Rumi in KPop Demon Hunters.
Cena, a retired WWE star and actor, has previously appeared at San Diego Comic-Con in 2018 to promote Bumblebee. He retired from in-ring competition in 2025 after more than two decades with WWE and has continued his film career with credits including F9: The Fast Saga, The Suicide Squad, and Blockers, alongside Bumblebee.
Ayman Akaily, content manager at MEFCC, said the postponement gave organizers additional time to incorporate newer releases and adjust sessions around current fan interests. He also noted that audiences increasingly move between Hollywood, anime, gaming, and other fandoms rather than staying within one genre.
MEFCC 2026 Expands Beyond Celebrity Appearances
The celebrity lineup is part of a broader expansion for MEFCC. The 2025 edition drew more than 46K visitors, a 24% increase from 2022, according to the show director of the MEFCC, Loy Pinheiro.
Pinheiro told The National that MEFCC's growth is intended to preserve its community-driven identity, arguing that the event's expanding scale should complement rather than overshadow the fans who attend.
MEFCC now includes Artist Alley, TCG Arena, Otaku District, Bookworm Lounge, and Collector's Gallery, alongside short film and student art competitions. The Otaku District focuses on manga, anime, and Japanese pop culture through cosplay, quizzes, karaoke, live performances, and K-pop programming.
Meanwhile, the TCG Arena has also added organized competitions for Pokémon, the One Piece Card Game, and Magic: The Gathering. Artist Alley gives independent creators space to sell original work, self-published comics, and merchandise directly to visitors.
MEFCC/Official Site
Local Creators Find a Platform at MEFCC
That creator focus has produced examples such as Yasser Alireza and Zaid Hamzeh, who appeared at Artist Alley before publishing Wayl, an original graphic novel from the UAE.
The convention's Short Film Competition is also growing, with 83 entries this year compared with 60 submissions for its inaugural edition last year. Nine finalists will have their films screened during the September 2026 event.
Tickets for MEFCC 2026 start at AED 160 (~$44 USD), with standard tickets currently offering a 20% discount for early purchases. VIP tickets are sold out. Children aged 6 and under can enter for free, while attendees aged 7 to 11 can purchase tickets at the door for AED 50 (~$14).
Ultimately, MEFCC 2026's mix of global franchises, anime, gaming, and local creators shows how Middle Eastern fandom is becoming a broader pop-culture ecosystem.
