John Cena will headline the 14th edition of Middle East Film and Comic Con when the convention opens at Adnec in Abu Dhabi on September 11, 2026, running through September 13. The former WWE champion, who retired from in-ring competition in 2025, brings a film career spanning The Suicide Squad, F9: The Fast Saga, Bumblebee and Blockers to a guest roster that now stretches well beyond traditional superhero territory.
The full lineup reflects how deliberately MEFCC has broadened its programming. Alongside Cena, attendees will meet Mackenyu and Jacob Romero from Netflix’s live-action One Piece adaptation, Marvel Cinematic Universe actress Pom Klementieff, voice actor Arden Cho from KPop Demon Hunters, and Joonas Suotamo, who has portrayed Chewbacca across multiple Star Wars productions. The range is intentional.
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This edition arrives later than planned. The convention’s original April dates were postponed due to regional conflict, and organisers used the additional months to recalibrate. According to Ayman Akaily, content manager at MEFCC, the delay created space to refine the guest lineup and develop sessions reflecting current fan conversation. The postponement also widened the submission window for the Short Film Competition, which drew 83 entries this year compared to 60 in its inaugural 2025 edition. Nine finalists are scheduled for screening during the September event.
The convention’s operational footprint has grown considerably. MEFCC welcomed more than 46,000 visitors in 2025, a 24 percent increase since 2022, according to show director Loy Pinheiro. The event now runs dedicated zones including Artist Alley, Otaku District, TCG Arena, Bookworm Lounge and Collector’s Gallery. The Otaku District serves anime, manga and Japanese pop culture through cosplay, karaoke, quizzes and live performances alongside K-pop programming. The TCG Arena hosts organised competitions for One Piece Card Game, Pokemon and Magic: The Gathering.
Pinheiro frames that growth as a product of community-led development rather than simple scale. “Scale and soul aren’t mutually exclusive; they’re symbiotic when you build with intention,” he told The National. “Numbers alone don’t define success; the heartbeat of this convention has always been the community that gathers under one roof to celebrate their passions without limits.”
Many of the newer features trace directly to visitor feedback. Artist Alley has become a meaningful platform for independent creators selling original work, self-published comics and handcrafted merchandise. Akaily points to UAE creators Yasser Alireza and Zaid Hamzeh, who started at Artist Alley before publishing Wayl, an original graphic novel. “What begins as a table showcasing a handful of prints often grows into an established creative business, with expanded product ranges, loyal customer bases and commissions from fans who discovered them at MEFCC,” Akaily says.
Meanwhile, the programming mix itself reflects a measurable shift in what Middle East audiences are actually watching and playing. Established Hollywood franchises remain central, but they no longer dominate the conversation. “Today’s fans don’t limit themselves to a single genre,” Akaily observes. “They’re just as likely to enjoy Star Wars and Marvel as they are One Piece, Demon Slayer, Final Fantasy or League of Legends.”
Tickets begin at Dh160. Whether the September dates hold, and whether the expanded guest slate translates into another attendance record, will be the cleaner test of how well the postponement period was used.