NYCC 2021 – Cosplay Roundup
After over a year away, fans are starting to come out in droves to their favorite conventions and events once again. But, after a year of quarantine and pandemic anxiety, what does it look like to return to these fan-driven spaces? And I mean “look” literally — what is everyone wearing??? What characters and costumes are we finally seeing now that pop culture savants are re-entering a sense of normal?
Here’s a roundup of cosplays and outfits I encountered at New York Comic Con 2021, highlighting some of the best and most interesting ‘fits at the con!
Lady Dimitrescu
Everyone’s favorite monster mother! Lady D (as her fans affectionately refer to her) swept the Internet like a storm earlier this year when Capcom released their interactive teaser for Resident Evil 8: Village. Gamers on TikTok and Twitter were enthralled by the gigantic vampire woman who attacks the player at the end of the teaser, and it didn’t take long for Lady D’s icon status to be cemented soon after.
There were quite a few cosplayers sporting Dimitrescu’s visage at NYCC this year, but the two above were my personal favorites. Like all iconic horror villains, Lady D’s silhouette is hard to miss in a crowd. If you’re on the lookout for Lady Dimitrescus this Halloween, watch out for their wide-brimmed black hats, elegant white gowns, black gloves, impossible height, and their deadly black talons!
(above: Lady Dimistrescu as she appears in Resident Evil 8: Village)
New MCU
During quarantine, several MCU projects dropped on Disney+ that held over Marvel fans while they were away from the theaters. New releases like WandaVision and Loki gave fans plenty of content to devour, and if their cosplay is anything to go by, I would say they were more than satisfied.
Above, you can see a couple cosplaying as the villainous Agatha Harkness (left) and the superhero Doctor Strange (right). Agatha became a fan-favorite character after practically stealing the screen in WandaVision. You can see her holding the Darkhold, an evil spell book that I can’t believe security let her walk into the convention with!
Loki (the mini-series) was a massive influence on cosplayers this year, proving that the God of Mischief still has a hold on fans’ hearts after all of these years. Dotted all over the ‘con were Time Variance Authority agents and dozens of Loki variations from the show (including plenty of Aligator-Lokis too!).
There were about as many different takes on Loki’s outfit as there are time variants of him, to the point where you could barely turn your head without seeing those familiar golden horns poking out above a crowd.
The May Queen (figure on left covered in flowers) and a loyal member of her cult new family made an appearance at NYCC too! Ari Aster’s Midsommar may not have been a product of quarantine, but I’m sure the pandemic made some people feel as feverish and disturbed as Midsommar’s characters were. The cosplayer’s dedication to this costume really makes the floral gown a sight to see, regardless of whether or not you’ve seen the film it’s inspired by.
The very elaborate
All cosplay asks for a certain level of commitment and creativity — but every convention has its share of cosplayers that go above and beyond in their craftsmanship.
Check out this kid’s Ghost Rider cosplay — seen speeding down the Exhibition Floor like a fiend! Okay, not really, but the amount of work that must have gone into this is mind-boggling. It definitely paid off. Him and his guardians could barely move an inch without getting stopped for pictures.
Timely
A group of plague doctors were spotted wandering the convention halls, probably on stand-by until the pandemic is over. I don’t know whether or not they can cure you of COVID-19 infection, but at least they brought a roll of toilet paper.
“Do you like scary movies?”
With the upcoming release of the fifth installment in the Scream franchise (which is simply, and confusingly, titled Scream) it makes sense that Ghostface would be making the rounds again! Here he is, recreating his first on-screen kill — the brutal and shocking murder of Drew Berrymore’s character, Casey.