On Sunday February 28, actress Ming-Na Wen from Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. met with fans for autographs and photos at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention. Compared to what you might consider a typical convention, LACBSFC is much smaller. But that’s great for fans who want to get up close and personal with celebrities.
In addition to Ming-Na Wen, Katrina Law (Arrow) and Helen Slater (the original Supergirl) were also in attendance, but we were there as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and excited to meet Ming-Na! Marvel Reporters Julie, Gavin and Shawn hopped in line and waited excitedly.
The line moved pretty slowly – this was not a rush job like you get at bigger cons. Ming-Na took her time with each and every fan. Autographs were $50, photos $30 or you could do both for $70. It seemed like everyone in line got a photo with her, so she was constantly up and down from the table taking photos, shaking hands and hugging fans.
Julie was cosplaying as Simmons and decided to go with a hilarious photo of Simmons being super excited about science, and Agent May not caring one single bit. I’m sure May would just rather kick butt.
Gavin and Shawn were in their S3 Coulson and S.H.I.E.L.D. Captain America costumes. Ming-Na immediately recognized Kid Coulson and said “GAVVIIINNN!!” when we got up to the table. Gavin gave her a piece of jewelry that he’d made for her, which she quickly turned into a weapon. I imagined her strangling Ward with it.
Speaking of Ward, Ming-Na autographed this large, metal print that we made (with Kid Coulson craftily Photoshopped in). As she was signing, I told her that we were going to have Brett Dalton and Elizabeth Henstridge autograph it in a couple of weeks at Wizard World Las Vegas. So she personalized it accordingly. LOL! I can’t wait for Brett to see this.
We then stuck around and did a little shopping while other fans had their chance to get photos and autographs. We came back a little later and waited until the line was almost gone (even though her scheduled time was 11:00 am – 1:00 pm, she ended up staying past 1:30, making sure to spend time with every fan who came). We had wanted to ask if we could interview her and ask her a few questions, but knowing that she was running behind, we asked if we could do a brief interview with just one question. She agreed.
Afterwards, we asked other fans to send in their memories and photos from the day so that we could share them on The Marvel Report.
Ian (@eeyan75) reported that “Made Ming-Na gulp, shout and giggle (with me laughing hysterically) when I asked her to inscribe my item this way… haha! Just an inside joke… only real fans who follow her know what her dream role is in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Well, now everyone does… LOL! Then to cap it all off, Mia made a short note for her which she read while I recorded everything on video- very cool for her to respond and say hi to the kids!”
Ron (@raspiras8) said “Ming-Na was much like the way she portrays herself, bright, gorgeous, and excited to meet her fa– I mean #Mingalings. I was already excited as I enjoyed watching from her days as Chun-Li, an actress on the book-to-film “The Joy Luck Club,” the voice of Disney’s Mulan, and currently, the kickass Agent Melinda May on Agents of SHIELD. With that said, upon my time to greet Ming-Na I shook her hand with a smile on my face and broke out in song singing, Disney’s “Reflection” from the movie Mulan with the chorus, “Who Is that Girl I see”….She then joined in, “Staring straight back at me.” That moment…..GOLDEN. I asked her to sign her Agent May Funko Pop doll where she wrote in her name and “May” in a silver sharpie on her hair on the doll. I also asked her to sign the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. issue #1 comic written by Marc Guggenheim. I was especially pleased to get a kiss from her!!! Ok, not really, she was giving away Hersheys kisses and other candy to her Mingalings, but hey, I can dream right? Overall, I’m glad that she came out and was able to greet her fans and take personal pictures with them, and I’m glad to have met such a wonderful, powerful woman and human being.”
Johannah (@ladytian) recounts “Ming-Na was an amazing woman to meet. She greeted everyone with a smile. I walked up to her and said “Hello, I’m one of your Mingalings,” and she stepped right up an have me a hug.
After that quick exchange, I got this great picture with her. She’s definitely not afraid to get close to her fans, she put her arm around me and smiled as one of her people took a picture. She checked our picture on my phone and said it turned out great. She thanked me for coming out and offered me chocolates.
It was very brief and I am sure I was nervous. She was one of the few Asian actresses, when I was growing up, that I had a chance to look up to. We had to read and watch Joy Luck Club my junior year of high school. It was 1993 and she was Asian in a big movie playing a Chinese-American, it was amazing. That was a rare and precious thing. I’m happy to have finally met her.”
Lisa (@ralkana47) “I was happy to see that she was introducing herself and chatting with each fan, which always makes for a fun experience. I had her sign an Agents of SHIELD/Agent Carter poster that I’ve been collecting cast & crew autographs on. She was impressed by the number of autographs I already had, and signed it to “Agent Lisa”, since she said I was showing a SHIELD agent’s dedication to collecting autographs. We took a picture together, and she gave me a moment to make sure I was satisfied with the picture, and then she offered me candy and thanked me again for coming. Short, but sweet, and very memorable! “
All in all it sounds like a lot of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Mingalings had a great time hanging out with Ming-Na Wen / Agent Melinda May. As fans (and reporters) we had a fantastic time. Now that Hayley Atwell and Ming-Na Wen have appeared at the Los Angeles Comic Book and Science Fiction Convention, hopefully there will be more Marvel guests in the future!