Sneaky Zebra, the British YouTube duo that specializes in slick cosplay music videos, traveled to Anaheim, California, for last weekend’s WonderCon, where they came across a number of costumers dressed up from films and television shows that were only just recently released.
The filmmakers have created many of these cosplay videos over the years — look no further than their work at conventions ranging from DragonCon to BlizzCon to San Diego Comic-Con. While their work frequently features a whole range of costumes, from classic characters to recent ones, I was struck at how many cosplayers were decked out in costumers from productions that were only just recently released.
This video includes the cast from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Dolores from Westworld, the Geisha from Ghost in the Shell, Rogue One’s Jyn Erso, John Wick, and quite a few others. There’s also some fantastic mash-ups, such as a Hydra-fied Captain America, a Joker dressed up as Nagen from The Walking Dead, and an Easter Bunny version of Logan.
This collection of costumes highlights one of the features of the community that I find most exciting: the speed at which you see people put together their outfits. Work on these projects would have begun months ago, especially for complicated outfits like the Geisha. What you’re seeing on display here is months of hard work and research, of people scanning over every screenshot and promotional photo to get their work ready for the big gathering, where they can show off their work to thousands of like-minded people.
The end result of all this is a gathering of enormously creative individuals, who literally wear their skills on their sleeves. I’m already looking forward to seeing what the next convention will bring.