Andy Serkis to headline Comic Con Astana 2025
By ForGeeks The organizers of Comic Con Astana have announced the first headliner of the festival. It was the famous British actor, director and master of motion capture technology – Andy Serkis, who forever changed the idea of digital characters in movies.
Fans will recognize him from his roles as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Caesar in Planet of the Apes, Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars, and Alfred in 2022’s Batman. Serkis has also embodied the onscreen persona of King Kong in Peter Jackson’s “Peter Jackson,” played Kino Loy in the “Andor” series and Ulysses Clo in the Marvel movie universe.
Interesting fact: Andy Serkis has Armenian roots. His real last name is Serkisian, which the family later shortened for convenience. The actor’s father was an Armenian born in Iraq, and Andy himself proudly recalls his origins, noting the influence of Armenian culture on his worldview and creativity.
In the film industry, Andy Serkis is considered a pioneer of motion capture technology. He has been recognized for his contributions to digital filmmaking with a BAFTA, MTV Movie Awards, Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. His achievements have made him one of the key figures in modern filmmaking.
It’s worth noting that Serkis has had success as a director as well. He has directed Venom 2, Mowgli and the drama Breathe For Us. Moreover, in 2027 is expected to premiere a new tape “The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum”, where he will again play the iconic character and act as a director. His studio, The Imaginarium, was one of the first to specialize in CGI character development and motion capture technology.
Comic Con Astana remains the largest geek culture festival in Central Asia. It brings together movies, comics, anime, video games, cosplay and fan content. This year’s event will be held from July 9 to 13 at two venues – Astana Arena and Barys Arena. It will be the largest festival in the history of Comic Con Astana.
For reference: in 2024, the festival’s headliners were Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal, Dr. Strange, Star Wars) and Percy Hines White (Wansday, The Gifted). Previous appearances at the festival have included Pilu Asbæk, Sean Gunn and Michael Rooker. Since its inception in 2019, Comic Con Astana has gone from a three-day event to a full-fledged five-day international event.
Comic Con Astana has grown from a three-day event to a full-fledged five-day international event.
This year’s visitors are expected to attend autograph sessions and meetings with Hollywood stars, exclusive trailers, presentations from international studios and the largest cosplay contest in the CIS with a prize fund of 15 million tenge. Moreover, Qewbite, a popular YouTube-blogger whose videos gather millions of views, will perform at the festival.
Meetings with the creators of the Metal Family animated web series Alina Kovalyova and Dmitry Vdovenko are also expected. The organizers promise that there will be many more high-profile announcements to come.
The Andy Serkis will headline Comic Con Astana 2025 was first published at ITZine.ru.
