Mike Tyson, coming to Wizard World Austin this Halloween

There are few more surreal figures on the cultural landscape than Mike Tyson. Boxing hall of famer. Convicted felon. Two-time Olympic gold medal winner. Self-satirist. Cartoon character. Austin will get a chance to see the modern icon when he headlines this year’s Wizard World Austin across Halloween weekend.

Mike Tyson, coming to Wizard World Austin this Halloween

The traveling fandom-friendly show confirmed today that Tyson will take part in what promises to be one of the most fascinating Q&As in the convention’s five-year history in Austin. Tyson will also be available for meet-and-greets and photo ops.

The man known as Iron Mike was last seen in Austin at SXSW 2011, promoting his iPad boxing game Mike Tyson’s Main Event, and his unexpected appearance drew a huge crowd. It’s no surprise: For every moment of scandal, controversy, or just plain weirdness (remember how that face tattoo rocked the world’s gossip pages?), he’ll still go down as one of the greatest boxers of all time. It’s that seeming web of contradictions that has kept eyes on him for three decades in a sport that burns through main eventers like paper.

Ever since his cameo in The Hangover, he’s entered a knowingly self-referential era in his career. That’s seemingly culminating in his (no, really) animated series for Adult Swim, the Scooby-Doo spoofing Mike Tyson Mysteries. If there are stranger times than those in which the youngest fighter to hold the WBC, WBA, and IBF heavyweight titles swaps banter with SNL alum Norm McDonald as a stoned pigeon and Oscar-winner Jim Rash as the ghost of the Marquess of Queensberry, we have yet to live in them.

Tyson joins an already loaded card, alongside a mini-The Nightmare Before Christmas reunion with Chris Sarandon (Jack Skellington) and Ken Page (Oogie-Boogie), Firefly‘s Morena Baccarin, True Blood star Kristin Bauer, the original Robocop Peter Weller, and the man inside the yellow feathered suit, Big Bird himself, Carol Spinney

Wizard World Austin runs Oct. 30-31 at the Austin Convention Center, 500 E. Cesar Chavez. Tickets and info at www.wizardworld.com.

This article appears in August 28 • 2015.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.