Starting tomorrow (October 8), New York Comic Con and MCM London Comic Con will unveil the Metaverse, which features a ton of virtual panels with some of the biggest names in pop culture. We look at five panels worth catching during the four-day convention, which concludes on Sunday, October 11. More information on the event can be found here.

Thursday, October 8

X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series (watch here)

1:45 p.m. EST/10:45 a.m. PST

Debuting in 1992, the X-Men animated series brought a ton of new eyes to the iconic Marvel Comics superhero team. X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at making the beloved cartoon. The creative team behind the series, including showrunner Eric Lewald and writer Julia Lewald, will be on hand to talk about their experiences. X-Men: The Art and Making of the Animated Series is available to purchase here.

Friday, October 9

Beyond the Binary - Trans & Nonbinary Narratives in Fiction (watch here)

12:25 p.m. EST/3:25 p.m. PST

From video games (Tell Me Why, The Last of Us Part II) to TV shows (Billions, Good Omens), trans and nonbinary characters in fictional stories have been on the rise. Vita Ayala (they/them, writer, Xena, Warrior Princess, Supergirl, The Wilds), Lilah Sturges (she/her, writer, Lumberjanes, The Magicians), and Jay Edidin (he/him, X-Men: Marvels Snapshot, Adventure Time, Thor: Metal Gods) will discuss what needs to be done to ensure more stories get told. The panel will be moderated by LGBT-HQ editor Jay Justice.

Saturday, October 10

A Celebration of Revolutionary Girl Utena (watch here)

9:30 a.m. EST/6:30 a.m. PST

Released in 1997, Revolutionary Girl Utena became one of the decade's most inspiring anime series. Manga writer Chiho Saito and show director Kunihiko Ikuhara discuss the show's influence on modern shows such as Steven Universe and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. The entire subbed series is available to watch for free on Nozomi Entertainment's YouTube channel.

Cosplay Central's Virtual Championships of Cosplay (watch here)

2:40 p.m. EST/11:40 a.m. PST

This year's NYCC cosplay competition goes virtual with a special contest sponsored by SyFy Wire. A slew of cosplayers from around the world will compete for cosplay supply vouchers. Jedimanda, Ginoza Costuming, Yaya Han, and Jackie Jennings will be the judges for this event. Former RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Jaremi Carey will be hosting the competition.

Sunday, October 11

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters Reunion 7:05 p.m. EST/4:05 p.m. PST (watch here)

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters helped the popular trading card game find an American audience upon its 2001 debut. Voice actors from the series will reunited to talk about their time on the show. Voice actor Sam Black, who is best known as Kal Kolter on Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS, will moderate the panel.