A short time ago, in a galaxy not that far away – a new hope has risen for Vancouver Island's self-described nerds.

A trio of sponsors has teamed up to bring a major comic-con event to Victoria next year that's expected to rival similar conventions in Toronto and Seattle.

The Capital City Comic Con, a joint effort between Downtown Victoria, Tourism Victoria and the National Toy Museum of Canada, will take place March 16-18 at the Victoria Conference Centre and Crystal Garden.

"Victoria needs this. Victoria has been asking for this for quite some time," said organizer B. Woodward, co-owner of the National Toy Museum. "We are working on the biggest comic-con that Victoria has seen probably ever, and we're engulfing as many local businesses as we can."

The announcement was made at Cherry Bomb Toys Thursday morning to much fanfare, including people dressed as Spider-Man, Batman and Stormtroopers, but organizers say that's just a taste of what'll be on tap at the event.

The group says it expects tens of thousands of fans to arrive in the city to celebrate comics, toys, games and a chance to meet celebrities from their favourite sci-fi and fantasy shows and movies.

Celebrity guests haven't been announced yet, but organizer Candice Woodward said attendees will be impressed.

"People are going to see their favourite celebrities. We're in negotiations right now with some great talent to bring," she said. "We're going to have YouTube influencers, cosplay, gaming, panels and pretty much anything that we can possibly get our hands on."

Ticket prices are also yet to be determined, but officials in Victoria hope the excitement will be an economic driver to the city.

"This will bring people to the hotels and to the restaurants and walking around and shopping in downtown, which is what we want," said DVBA President Kerri Milton.

"A lot of guys my age, we now have money to buy all those toys back that we had when we were kids," said one man at the event, dressed as a Stormtrooper.

The organization says it expects to release more details about the event in December.