|
Sep 04, 2017
|
The world’s most beloved mutant superhero team has received its fair share of love over the years, from movies and TV series to action figures and cartoons. If you’re enjoying Hollywood’s current superhero movie golden age, you should know none of that would exist without the X-Men movies, which remains the longest running superhero franchise still releasing new movies in theaters. In fact, there are a few new X-Men movies coming down the line, including New Mutants and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. But even before the movies — during the original Stan Lee and Jack Kirby comic book days but more once Chris Claremont took over the X-Men line for Marvel — these mutants started enjoying a huge fan following.
RELATED: Who Wore It Better: 25 Cosplayers Vs. Their Comic Book Counterparts
On top of all of the screen adaptations, toys and merchandise, there’s one impressive sector of X-Men fandom that’s completely run by the fans, for the fans: cosplay. Some of the most creative talents in the cosplay community have tackled the X-Men characters, creating their own takes on costumes and looks. If you’ve spent any time in the halls of a Comic Con, you’ve undoubtedly seen some very cool X-Men cosplay over the years. CBR has picked 15 of the most smokin’ X-Men cosplays ever documented on camera. These particular cosplayers are too talented to miss!
15. ROGUE
Many of the cosplayers on this list have been doing this for a very long time. Jessica Nigri, for example, has been cosplaying since 2009. In fact, she’s a bit of a celebrity within cosplay circles and the convention circuit. She first came to prominence when her Pikachu cosplay went viral. That single costume, which is a smokin’ take on the yellow Pokemon, launched Nigri’s career as a celebrity cosplayer.
In terms of X-Men cosplay, Nigri will totally steal your powers and your heart with her Rogue cosplay, which she’s pretty much fashioned into beachwear. It’s definitely an interesting take on the character that we’ve never seen before. Nigri has also dressed up as a pretty wicked Sith, in case there are any Star Wars fans reading this.
Above is the wonderful Cendrillon dressed as the mighty Colossus. Once again, here is a take that’s perfect for the pool or beach, although the body paint Cendrillon used to create her metallic look might not fare well in all of that chlorine. We assume she didn’t dunk in that pool. Instead, Colossus probably got her tan on.
Cendrillon started going to cons in 2009. Her first was Otakon, and she’s been attending shows ever since, learning more and more ways to adapt popular characters into her own unique costumes. In this case, she’s taken Colossus’ red and yellow leotard-like jumpsuit and turned it into a very convenient garment for some fun in the sun. And her pose says she’s as tough as her comic book counterpart.
Nadya Anton, better known as the cosplayer Nadyasonika, has tackled tons of classic comic book and video game characters over the years. Hailing from Mexico, she’s become an international staple of cosplay events around the world. While she’s also dressed up as Gambit, Cyclops, and a few other X-Men characters, we have to call attention to her Psylocke cosplay, which features a crazy attention to detail, all the way down to the purple hair. This Psylocke even comes complete with her psychic katana — not so telekinetic in this case, but you get the picture.
When Nadya isn’t dressing up as X-Men characters, she’s the Spanish community manager for CD Projekt Red, the studio behind The Witcher games. In fact, Nadya describes herself as a gamer. You best believe she’s dressed up as quite a few video game characters over the years. Her Cammy from Street Fighter is particularly awesome.
Sinfonie hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia in Canada. Her first taste of cosplay was at Calgary Expo, where she and a friend went as Loki and Thor. She had so much fun the first time out that she’s been cosplaying ever since. In fact, one of her favorite costumes of all time was a gender-swapped Cyclops suit she wore a few years back. She told Word of the Nerd that her Cyclops costume was the first time she’d experimented with making something out of spandex.
Above is her Phoenix costume, which was actually a gift from a friend. She wore this particular costume during Katsucon 2016, which was held in Washington D.C. Sinfonie also has a wicked Captain Marvel costume that you need to check out.
Believe it or not, Cyclops is a really popular X-Men character among female fans, who love to create gender-swapped versions of the mutant for their cosplay. Many of the cosplayers on this list have taken a stab at Cyclops. Nadyasonika and Sinfonie come to mind, and then there’s Kiki, who rocked this Cyclops cosplay at Katsucon last year. This is actually the same spandex X-Men: The Animated Series costume created by Sinfonie. Kiki tried it on for size for this particular con.
One of the things this particular cosplay proves is that the costume design on that animated series has stayed in the public consciousness so many years later. Cyclops’ suit is especially awesome. Thanks to Sinfonie and Kiki for keeping this version of Cyclops alive.
While most of the cosplay on this list has favored the comic books or the animated series so far, BlackKrystel decided to show the movies some love with this Halle Berry-inspired Storm cosplay. This film version of the character has always favored the color black for her costume, despite the fact that her white costume in the ’90s animated series is probably her most famous. BlackKrystel pays tribute to the movie version’s sleek and leathery getup.
BlackKrystel has also donned a couple of other comic book character costumes that you might love. She’s done a wicked Zatanna, as well as Black Cat. One of her coolest cosplays is as a steampunk-like female Joker. Her nose ring is a particularly nice touch for the latter.
Kudrel shows off the elegant white costume of Emma Frost in the picture above. This cosplay is inspired by the comic book version of the character and not the movie version portrayed by January Jones. Let’s face it: Emma Frost’s X-Men: First Class costume is really underwhelming, pretty much made up of a bra and a bit of fur.
It’s nowhere near as cool as Kudrel’s take. Her piercing blue eyes are an especially nice touch. Those are contacts by the way. Nobody’s eyes are that blue. When she’s not dressed up as Emma Frost, she’s doing a bit of Destiny cosplay. She’s cosplayed as both a Guardian and the Queen of the Reef. The latter is one of her coolest costumes thus far.
Before she began cosplaying, Jessie Pridemore aka RuffleButt wanted to be a painter. It’s clear that her knack for art has translated into her work on the various costumes she’s worn over her 16 years as part of the cosplay community. She’s also a classically trained singer. In fact, you might find her performing in an elven choir, which is a pretty nice addition to her already considerable nerd resume. But she is best known for her cosplay.
In this case, she’s dressed as the colorfully named Negasonic Teenage Warhead, which you might have first met in 2016’s Deadpool. Jessie plays a slightly older version of the character, but still really nails the look of the mutant’s simple jumpsuit, which undoubtedly took a lot of time and effort to create.
While the Kitty Pryde you’re probably used to is the yellow and blue jumpsuit-wearing version from the comics, Yashuntafun decided to go with the Ultimate X-Men version, which actually looks a bit more retro. This costume turns Kitty’s outfit into more of a dress. It’s a really good reminder of how versatile the costume design for Kitty has been over the years. We almost never see anyone wearing bright colors in the X-Men movies, which means that something is lost every time Kitty appears on screen in a black jumpsuit.
Yashuntafun began cosplaying in 2003 with her husband at Anime Weekend Atlanta. They prepared Soul Calibur II costumes and got a warm reception despite the fact that they didn’t yet know how to use a sewing machine and lacked the skills to put something really killer together. Fortunately for X-Men fans, Yashuntafun has kept at it after all these years.
Nadyasonika’s X-Men cosplay is so impressive that we had to include her twice on this list. This time, she’s dressed as Gambit. As you can see, she knocked it out of the park. This gender-swapped take on the character works really well and is a good case for why there might one day be a female Gambit in the comics. Nadya has the look down, right down to the piercing red eyes.
The craftsmanship of the costume itself is the work of a veteran cosplayer. Nadya dons the iconic black, pink, and blue colors that are most emblematic of the X-Men: The Animated Series version of the character. She’s even got the long leather trench coat and a playing card to cut down anyone who would cross her.
Song Ja Park rocked this awesome Jubilee cosplay for Phoenix Comic Con. Park’s costume features the shorter jacket from X-Men: Apocalypse and captures the character’s more casual look. Jubilee’s never really been one to wear an intricate X-Men jumpsuit and instead embraces a more teeny-boppy look. Park recreates that look perfectly with the shorts, simple pink top, and high top sneakers. The pink sunglasses are a particularly nice touch for this cosplay.
If you’re interested in Park’s other cosplay, she’s also dressed up as Ghost in the Shell‘s Motoko Kusanagi as well as X-Men’s Blink. Actually, her Blink cosplay is crazy good, capturing her X-Men: Days of Future Past look perfectly. Maybe we should have picked that one…
Rebecca Lindsay’s Mystique cosplay was so impressive that it went absolutely viral after Mother Panic writer Jody Houser shared a picture of the costume on Instagram. Lindsay wore this unique costume at New York Comic Con 2016 and was immediately lauded for her creative approach. While most Mystique cosplay depicts the characters more form-fitting look, Lindsay captured the character mid-transformation.
To Lindsay’s mind, Mystique is about to transform into a military officer, undoubtedly in order to cause some mischief inside a military base or lab. Every detail, down to the way Mystique’s scaly flesh recedes to reveal a new form, is perfect. Even Linday’s hair is half orange and half platinum. This is just incredible. If you’re interested in more cosplay from her, she’s also done a really cool Catwoman from Batman Returns.
Okay, so we already had Phoenix, but who cares. Here’s Laura Mendivil in a very cool Jean Grey cosplay. She wore this costume for San Diego Comic-Con in 2015. Laura hails from Tijuana, Mexico and hasn’t done a lot of cosplay, based on her Facebook page. She’s also done a pretty great Daenerys Targaryen cosplay. For Jean Grey, she captured a classic comic book look, complete with headband and X-logo belt.
Unlike other cosplayers on this list, Mendivil didn’t design her own costume. Instead, she put it together from different designers. The bodysuit was created by Lindsay Jane Design, who specializes in “costume design and fabrication.” The wig was made by RockStar Wigs. You can find it in their Farrah collection. Mendivil’s awesome belt buckle is from Hoku Props.
Kitsune Kiddo dressed up as Domino for this awesome photoshoot in the snow. She’s even packing heat with the dual pistol combo. Kitsune Kiddo designed the entire outfit herself. She started off with the character’s signature black leather jumpsuit for enhanced mobility (after all, an assassin needs to be able to move in order to get her target) and then added the black and white face paint.
To top it all off, there’s the pitch black wig. The stark contrast between the black and white colors makes this picture in the frost of winter a spectacular image. Kudos to the photographer RonGejon! This cosplayer has also dressed up as a few other Marvel characters, including X-23, Black Widow, and Scarlet Witch. Speaking of Scarlet Witch…
Last but not least is MostFlogged as Scarlet Witch. MostFlogged is best known for her anime cosplay. She describes anime as her first love, but also loves “nerd shit,” as she puts it on her Facebook. She also describes having been raised on the ’90s X-Men: The Animated Series — which is honestly the only proper way to raise a child, if you ask us. In this photo, MostFlogged is showing some love to Scarlet Witch.
This is definitely not the version you’ve seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though. She took this look straight out of the comics, which have always featured Scarlet Witch in a more revealing getup. Most impressive is her pair of boots, which seem to be a combination of high heels and latex that run up past her knees.
Which other X-Men cosplays do you love? Share and share alike in the comments!
