JOHANNESBURG - A 16-year-old in a yellow spandex Wolverine suit, claws fashioned from plastic straws, squared off against a stockier Deadpool two years his junior at Comic Con Africa, the continent's largest pop culture gathering.
At this year's festival -- held at the same venue set to host G20 leaders in November -- the stars weren't on stage. They were the fans.
Thousands of self-professed nerds, comic book lovers, superhero fans and anime obsessives descended on the Johannesburg venue, undeterred by a noticeably slimmed-down celebrity lineup.
Highlights nonetheless included Dan Fogler, best known for playing Jacob Kowalski in the Harry Potter spin-off "Fantastic Beasts".
Around 70,000 people were expected to attend the convention, which runs from Thursday through Sunday.
Originally, Comic Con began as a grassroots event for comic books fans to meet but it has grown exponentially and is today used by studios to launch their latest blockbuster movies and TV shows.
At the Johannesburg event, competitors also battled it out in popular eSports games like "FIFA", with contests interspersed with music.
In another corner, rows of teenagers with headphones clamped to their ears gazed into curved screens, their gaming stage bathed in the pulsating glow of strobe lights.
"We are on par with Comic Con festivals in Europe and America," said exhibitor and former gaming champion Elias Machete. "People are trying to look at the numbers but the quality here is so beautiful."
Damian Wilson, a 31-year-old salesman who returned for the third year, agreed: "We are just here for the vibes."