Two cast members of The Goonies took the stage to answer fan questions and reminisce of their childhood filming experience 37 years prior. Corey Feldman and Kerri Green–Mouth and Andy on The Goonies. It’s too bad Sean Astin didn’t join this panel, though the actor did join the extra-ticket only reunion of the Hobbits from The Lord of the Rings. But the dynamic between Feldman and Green was unexpected, and they interacted with each other like they were old childhood friends.
And it sounds like they had a blast filming The Goonies all of those years ago, though there seems to be a bit of a sore spot in regards to the waterslide set. Feldman and Green remembered watching them working on that set for months, always asking when they would have a chance to go down it. And when they finally got the chance, it was only “one time” both Green and Feldman said in bitter unison.
Goonies never say die though, and neither does the franchise. There have been rumblings of new Goonies projects for years, and it looks like they’ll come to fruition in the form of a new Disney+ show that follows a group of friends as they film a shot-for-shot remake of The Goonies film. So it won’t really be a remake, nor just The Goonies–but it’s something.
After three seasons of Stargirl, the DC show has built a pretty sizeable fan base, and the panel for the show, moderated by Joel McHale, was a great look at how excited the fan base was to hear more.
And, let's face it, if you were going to have someone moderate a panel in which they were also a legitimate guest, you'd have to find the perfect host. Enter Joel McHale, one of our all-time favorite hosts of, well, many things. He expertly handled the line between guest and moderator and made sure fans got what they came for, even if he forgot about the trailer for a while.
The Stargirl panel consisted of McHale, of course, who has an even larger role in the upcoming season, as well as creator Geoff Johns, star Brec Bassinger and costar Yvette Monreal. This foursome obviously shared mutual love and respect for each other which is often a secret sauce to making a show and a panel work.
Though some fans may know this, Johns' characterization of Stargirl has a lot to do with his beloved late sister, who tragically died in a plane crash. Johns spoke about how exuberant and full of life she was and how it translated into the character of Stargirl, as well as how well Brec Bassinger would come to embody what was such a special role for him. "She was funny and strong and powerful and dramatic. She had everything, and I watched her audition tape. I was like 'this is her' like 20 times in a row. And that's it. It was over. She embodies everything great about a superhero."
Johns also talked a lot about some of his influences for the feel of the show, including films like Back to the Future and Nightmare on Elm Street, and the arcs of the various seasons as the story changed from season one's classic DC superhero coming of age story to season three which was largely inspired by Knives Out and Clue.
What's clear no matter what season is the mutual respect the cast has for each other and their excitement at what's to come. We hope fans will tune in to see all the twists and turns. And as for Joel McHale, he hopes you tune in for "the mayhem grocery scene" which he couldn't say too much about aside from explaining excitedly how they got to tear apart and blow up a store in rural Georgia for "about 80 bucks."
We got a chance to see Will Friedle and Christy Romano at the Kim Possible panel, which was a bit of a miracle, considering both Romano and Friedle were stuck in an elevator and had to have the fire department help them out. Romano joked that she was okay with it “for about 30 seconds before panic started to set in.” Despite Romano and Friedle voicing characters that are capable of saving the world, they couldn’t do it in real life. “If this is how we act in a crisis, we won’t be saving the world,” joked Friedle.
Despite experiencing a harrowing ordeal, Friedle and Romano were all laughs, with Friedle stealing the show–as he always does. The conversation veered a bit into Boys Meets World territory, though Friedle said early on that he refuses to do the Feeney call. They talked about the now ongoing Boy Meets Pod podcast and the four Boy Meets World episodes that didn’t make it to Disney+ because of their content, including two episodes that involved drinking. “Stuff that wouldn’t make it to air today” Friedle explained.
We were excited to see the famous Billy West, one of the giants of voice acting. He regaled the crowd with his many voices, and his acerbic wit. West is a treasure, and voices a whole trove of voices, but people would probably know him best for his work on Futurama where he voiced Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth and Zoidberg–among others.
West’s conversation was surprisingly personal. He talked about his often difficult childhood being on the spectrum before autism spectrum disorders were really known about. He had a lonely childhood, and would create his own worlds to escape into–and created the voices to go along with those worlds. And Billy West is a true masterclass in voice acting. When he came up on stage his speaking voice was a little meek and gravelly, but he breaks into iconic characters with no issue.
When West was asked about how much improv he’s allowed to do in the booth, or how much input he has on his characters, he explained that sometimes stuff they add gets in–and in surprising ways. When going to a table read with the writers, West once picked up his name ta and said “Billy West, that sounds like a made up name” and the writers thought that was funny and inserted it into an episode of Futurama.
Fan Expo Chicago continues through Sunday afternoon.
Contributing author: Marielle Bokor