“Lord of the Rings” hobbit reunion, Jay and Silent Bob join Denver Fan Expo as celebrity guests

Denver’s first large-scale, in-person pop culture convention since the pandemic started will now feature a hobbit cast reunion from “Lord of the Rings” and cult director Kevin Smith.

Cast members from Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” adaptations scheduled for the July 1-3 event include Elijah Wood (who played the hobbit Frodo Baggins), Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee), Billy Boyd (Peregrin “Pippen” Took) and Dominic Monaghan (Meriadoc “Merry” Brandybuck).

Director Kevin Smith (“Clerks,” “Mallrates”) also will appear as his long-running character Silent Bob, along with Jason Mewes playing Jay (the other half of the duo). They join other “Clerks” cast members including Brian O’Halloran, Trevor Fehrman and Jeff Anderson.

Just as big, and already on the roster: Ming-Na Wen (Fennec Shand from “The Book of Boba Fett” and “The Mandalorian,” as well as the voice of the animated “Mulan”).

Taking place at the Colorado Convention Center, Fan Expo Denver is the rebuilt Denver Pop Culture Con (formerly Denver Comic Con). As of March 2021, it’s now owned by the Fan Expo company, which bills itself as the largest comic-convention outfit in North America. It includes authors, comics creators, cosplayers, tabletop and video gaming, and all manner of sci-fi, fantasy, horror and other genre-based merch.