CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — To 80s kids, he's Mikey, the leader of "The Goonies."
For 90s kids, he's "Rudy," Notre Dame's legendary walk-on football hero.
In the 2000s, his portrayal of Samwise "Sam" Gamgee in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy re-established him as a sci-fi/fantasy-genre star, which he used to add credibility to "Stranger Things" in the 2010s, and make it one of Netflix's first massive hit shows.
Other actors may have Sean Astin's career longevity, but not a lot of them can say they shared his level of success over the last 40 years.
And that success is one of the reasons Corpus Christi Comic Con co-owner Daniel Benavides said Astin has lived on organizers' wish list since the beginning.
"Sean has been someone we've wanted since our first show in 2017," he said.
Their patience seems to have paid off, because Astin is scheduled to appear at this year's con, which is set for July 28-30 at the American Bank Center.
"With any caliber name, demand is usually high," Benavides said via e-mail. "Fortunately we were able to make it happen for our fifth year and couldn't be more excited!"
And according to the social media response, they're not the only ones: In the five hours since the announcement was posted to the con's Facebook account, had more than 900 reactions and almost 400 shares.
Previous years have seen recognizable names such as Jon Heder, Mark-Paul Gosselar, DJ Qualls and Jason David Frank, Benavides said landing a name like Astin takes the con to a whole new level.
"Sean Astin is definitely a high profile name," he said. "We've been fortunate enough to have had great names every year but this one definitely is huge."
The con began in 2017, but like most events, it has to go on hiatus for a couple of years because of COVID-19.
But he says thankfully, the event has managed to grow every year. Its first year, the event brought in 7,000 people. Last year, it drew 14,000 to the ABC.
The convention also features artists and cosplayers, but Astin is the event's first guest announcement so far.
According to the event's website, "Gilmore Girls" Scott Patterson also will reportedly make an appearance at this year's con, but if there are any other big names headed this way, Benavides isn't telling -- yet.
"You'll have to wait and see!" he said, coyly.
On Wednesday, another big name was announced. Emily Swallow, known for roles in "The Mentalist," "Supernatural," "The Mandalorian," and "The Last of Us 2" video game will join Astin at the con.