The Fan-Industrial Complex (Live from Comic Con)

How Fandom Became Infrastructure—And Why IP Will Never Be the Same

Today, I had the immense honour of being invited as the opening keynote speaker at the Popcultr Marketing Summit at MCM Comic Con.

The UK’s premiere fandom gathering.
The epicentre of pop culture passion.
No pressure at all then.

Years ago, I penned “The New Fandom Formula”—an exploration of fandom as a rising cultural and commercial currency. Back then, it was still framed as fringe. Emotional. Excessive. A little unruly.

Fast forward to now, and it’s not just valid—it’s vital.

Fandom isn’t a sideshow.
It’s the scaffolding.
It’s not the marketing tail.
It’s the structural spine of modern narrative universes.

In my talk today—The Fandom Industrial Complex—I dove into what’s shifted, what’s broken, and what’s finally being rebuilt. Not by studios, but by the fans themselves. The ones generating lore faster than franchises can keep up. The ones modding content, rebooting cancelled shows, and challenging who gets to say what’s canon.

We’re witnessing a seismic flip:
IP is no longer a fortress. It’s becoming shared infrastructure.
Fandoms have gone from subcultures to just… culture.
Fans aren’t your audience anymore. They’re your collaborators. Your quality control. Your distribution. Your future.

And in a world where hashtags greenlight content, where mods outperform official dev teams, and where control is collapsing in real time, we don’t need tighter reins. We need elastic frameworks. Expansive definitions. Shared authorship.

Not fan service.
Fan structure.
Not reactive strategy.
Proactive symbiosis.

So if you’ve ever wondered how the tectonic plates beneath entertainment, marketing, and participatory culture are shifting, here it is.

My talk from Comic Con.
The Fandom Industrial Complex.
Buckle in.