Arts and Culture

Days of conventions past: How a fan event captures why people love the X-Men

a large group of people dressed in superhero costumes smile for a group photo
Cosplayers pose for a group picture outside the Minneapolis Club on Saturday, July 12.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

The hallways of the Xavier Institute, the home of the comic book heroes known as the X-Men, bustled as students hurried from class to class.

But this wasn’t a scene from a cartoon or a page on a comic book — it was a real location in the heart of Minneapolis, and the mutants that populated it were real people. 

Lunch was taken in a grand dining hall with a fireplace and large windows. Between lectures, “gifted youngsters” gathered on the front lawn to take photos in costumes fit for fighting a Sentinel, the robots designed to destroy the Uncanny X-Men.

It was all part of a fan convention held over the weekend July 12 and 13, where celebrity guest panels and vendors met immersive storytelling to create “The Uncanny Experience.” 

two people dressed in cosplay pose as they get their photo taken
Michelle Waffle (left) and Nate Weir (right) pose for a picture outside of The Minneapolis Club in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 12.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

Welcome to the X-Mansion

“It's a whole weekend… we give people this experience and this break,” said Chandler Poling, a co-founder of the convention. The son of musician Chan Poling, he grew up in Minnesota and has been a long-time fan of the X-Men. 

“I was introduced to them back in the ‘90s, actually, late ‘80s, through comics and then ‘X-Men: The Animated Series,’” Poling said. “That animated series was just very monumental to me when I was a kid.”

Once he was introduced to the Minneapolis Club, Poling set out to develop a unique fan experience for X-Men lovers with his collaborators. The first was held in 2023, and since then, the community that has come out of “The Uncanny Experience" is something special, according to Poling.

“It is a homecoming for a lot of people,” he said. 

Early into my first day at the X-Mansion, I ran into some of the most recognizable X-Men. On the front lawn, I spoke to Cyclops and Jean Grey, Marvel comics' “it couple” and premier teachers at the Xavier Institute.

“I've been all three years,” said Michelle Waffle, a cosplay artist who was brought in from California by the organizers to portray Jean Grey. “I'm actually not a professional. I'm just a hobbyist. I have a real nine-to-five job, and this is just something that I enjoy doing.”

a radio reporter interviews a man in front of a wall of comics
MPR News reporter Jacob Aloi (left) talks with Benjamin Percy (right), a comic writer, at "The Uncanny Experience" in The Minneapolis Club in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 12.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

Why the X-Men still matter

Next to Waffle was Nate Weir, a Toronto-based cosplayer who played Cyclops over the weekend. 

“I always say that X-Men definitely has the best fan base, so — just excited to be a part of it,” Weir said. 

Other X-Men and related characters were found throughout the weekend, leading classes and roaming the halls.

It encouraged light role-play, but attendees chose their own level of engagement. Some donned elaborate costumes to portray characters from the comics and new mutant personas they created. 

“It's just cool to, you know, go get a coffee and you're bumping into Mystique or Cyclops or Jean Grey,” said Alex Segura, a writer who has worked on comics featuring the X-Men. “You're basically in the X-Mansion.” 

Segura was introduced to me by a familiar face, Benjamin Percy, a Minnesota-based comic book writer whom I’ve interviewed several times. 

"It's one big nerd fest," Percy quipped in his commanding baritone, which carried easily over the noise of the “mutant market,” where celebrity guests and vendors sold comic book merchandise.

Percy’s a veteran of the fan circuit, with plenty of appearances to his name.

“But there's something about the X-Men who, you know, represent the other, who represent the marginalized,” Percy told me. “I think there's something special about this community in particular, coming together and feeling celebrated.” 

a radio reporter interviews two people
MPR News reporter Jacob Aloi (right) talks with Jessica Shepherd (center) and Carla Hoffman (left) outside the Minneapolis Club in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 12.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

From online friends to found family

Percy’s sentiments were echoed throughout the weekend by attendees from across the country.

“I’m traveling from Michigan,” said Jessica Shepherd, who came to the event with her longtime friend Carla Hoffman, who lives in California. 

“We actually have been online friends for about 20-some years by now,” Hoffman said, admitting that last year’s “Uncanny Experience" was the first time they met in person. 

“I managed to get tickets, and I'm like, ‘Would you go with me if I went? And she's like, ‘yes!’” Hoffman recalls. Shepherd and Hoffman both feel a connection to the X-Men as fellow misfits.

“We've all been weird kids,” Hoffman reflects. “The X-Men are like the weirdest kids, and all that weirdness goes towards positivity, and you can't not love it.”

“We’re celebrating the weirdness. We love the weirdness,” said Shepherd,

an actor reacts expressively to a staged mystery murder scene
Sean Beveridge (right) walks cosplayers and passersby through his murder mystery course for "The Uncanny Xperience" in The Minneapolis Club in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 12.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

A place for the weird kids

Leaning into the weirdness is at the core of what makes “the Uncanny Experience” fun.

At every turn, people asked to take photos with each other, or joined roleplaying games with fellow fans.

Late on Saturday night, a gentleman mistook my mustached face and reporter’s notebook for a “J. Jonah Jameson” cosplay, Spider-Man's ever-exasperated editor. 

I later learned his name was Sean Beveridge, and that the organizers brought him on to play Banshee, an Irish detective from the comics.

In the role, Beveridge leads attendees through an escape room murder mystery on the Mansion’s third floor. 

“I've already solved it, of course,” Beveridge said to me in character as the detective, using a rather convincing Irish dialect. “But this is a school in the first place, so I'm just teaching the students how to use their detective skills!”

Sean’s knowledge of the X-Men is extensive. After learning I was with MPR News, he noted that the X-Men have their own in-universe reporters. Like many others, Sean’s love for the X-Men began with the animated series in the 1990s when he was around 10.

“It changed my life forever,” Beveridge said about seeing the cartoon for the first time. “I got into comics hardcore. As a result, I've been collecting comics for 30 years now.” 

As a kid, the powers and abilities of the heroes captivated Beveridge. But he also appreciated the storytelling. 

“It’s the found family thing, too!” Beveridge said. He’s been coming for years and now sees many attendees as close friends. Found family aside, Beveridge’s actual family is also close at hand during the weekend. 

“Yep, that is my husband,” said Samantha Beveridge, who portrayed an eyepatch-wearing assassin named Callisto at the event. “[Sean and I] were both already in the cosplay community separately, and then when we met, we kind of just joined forces.”

a man dressed in cosplay getting special artwork signed by another man
A cosplayer waits to receive signed artwork by Larry Houston (right), producer and director of the animated series "X-Men" inside of The Minneapolis Club in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 12.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

No hierarchy, just heroes

Cosplaying has a deeper meaning for Samantha Beveridge — it’s a kind of exposure therapy. She has social anxiety, despite being outgoing and confident when in character. 

“Being able to step into a character feels like shedding my anxiety. It's my way of stepping away from everything that holds me back, and being able to be this other person allows me to express myself in ways that I normally wouldn't,” Samantha said. “I feel like the costume creates a bit of armor for me. So like, I shed my anxiety, and I put on the armor of the character that I'm portraying.”

On the final day of “the Uncanny Experience,” I shuffled along with my audio gear. I was still a bit tired from the previous night’s party, where I was inducted into the Hellfire Club (a clandestine private club in the comics) and played retro-looking arcade games late into the night.

I ran into Alex Segura again. His day was full of panel appearances. 

“As a writer, I'm still a fan,” Segura said, echoing what others had said about the immersive experience. “There's never a sense of a hierarchy or any structure, like everyone's together.”

Like many others at the event, Segura told me he first fell for the X-Men because they were outcasts—and as a bookish nerd, he felt seen. He said that X-Men fandom has a general feel of inclusivity.

“It's one of the best parts of the community,” Segura said. “It's something that I think we need now, especially with the world today, like this idea that there's a safe place for fans of any kind to be happy and enjoy this medium that we all love.” 

A woman dressed in cosplay poses as she gets her photo taken
Num Williamson poses for a picture outside of The Minneapolis Club in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 12.
Nikhil Kumaran | MPR News

Correction (July 18, 2025): A previous version of this article misstated the weekend the event took place.

This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment's Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.