Marvel's eclectic cast of characters and their iconic designs never cease to capture the hearts and minds of fans, creators and of course cosplayers. Now that convention season is coming to a close, we're dreading the long wait until we're back on the show floor, checking out panels and snapping pictures of all of the amazing costume work on display. Thankfully, there's no shortage of talented cosplayers for you to follow after the con is over, and we're here to help.
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These lovely ladies are pros at everything, from sewing to armor crafting, and we're so glad that they've decided to put their diverse range of skills to use, painstakingly recreating all of our favorite characters' signature looks. Even though we're fans of quality cosplay from every corner of fandom, today we decided to focus on costumes that honor some of our favorite characters from all across the Marvel Multiverse. Marvel certainly has its fair share of beloved female heroines and villainesses, but just for fun, we've decided to open this list up to include some of our favorite gender-bent cosplays, too. Be they heroes, villains or somewhere in between these 15 Marvelous cosplays are certain to make your heart melt.
15 ELEKTRA - IVY COSPLAY
Starting things off strong, we have Spanish cosplayer Ivette Puig a.k.a. Ivy Cosplay's take on Daredevil's on-again off-again girlfriend, Elektra. Ivette generally tends to cosplay characters from Japanese video games and anime, but of the handful of times she's appeared as an American superhero, her Elektra is easily our favorite.
Casual audiences are probably more familiar with Elektra's more toned down look from Marvel's Netflix offerings at this point, but Ivette's costume is based on creator Frank Miller's original design for the character. There's not much to it, but this design has stood the test of time for good reason. Even though Ivette's costume is a lot shinier than Elektra's, her cosplay perfectly captures all of the most important design elements associated with the character.
14 GWENOM - KAYYYBEAR
You might not want to be caught browsing cosplayer Kayyybear's instagram while you're killing time at work, but her cosplay skills are no joke. Like many of the cosplayers featured on this list Kayyybear tends to gravitate more toward anime and video game themed cosplay, but we dug her Gwenom so much we had to include it.
The jumpsuit is obviously doing a lot of the heavy lifting here, but the subtle use of makeup, colored lenses and a platinum blonde wig really pull the look together. We've seen a lot Gwen Stacy-centric cosplay pop up since the character's boom in popularity following the debut of Spider-Gwen, but Kayyybear's Gwenom earns its spot for being one of the few that really left a lasting impression on us.
13 PSYLOCKE - OKI-COSPI
Despite waning in popularity since her heyday back in the '90s, the X-Men's Psylocke has remained a prominent character among cosplayers (several of the women on this list even have their own cosplays of the character). Thanks to her vibrant purple hair and an immediately recognizable, but fairly simple costume, it makes sense that Psylocke has been a consistent mainstay for cosplayers over the years.
Cosplayer Oki-Cospi's take on the character hits all the right notes and she seems to be pretty fond of her work on the character, considering it made the cut for the banner on her Facebook page. Despite that the fact that, when it comes to her comic book cosplays, Oki-Cospi tends to lean more toward DC's stable of characters, her Psylocke is always in pretty heavy rotation.
12 STORM - RINECOS
Though she doesn't have quite as many looks under her belt as some of the other entries on this list, if you browse through Brazilian cosplayer Rinecos' Instagram for just a few minutes, you'll quickly see that she seems to strike a pretty even balance between cosplays for video games, animation and of course, comics. The irony there though is that her cosplay of X-Men's Storm seems to pop up more than almost any other outfit in her portfolio.
Considering how well she embodies the role, it should really come as no surprise that she enjoys showing it off. The costume is based on some of the more modern takes on Storm's original costume designed by artist Dave Cockrum. When she adds effects to her images after the fact, like in the picture above, the transformation is pretty... uncanny.
11 SILK - RIAN SYNNTH
Another new Spidey character to burst on to the cosplay scene in recent years is Cindy Moon, a.k.a. Silk. Seeing as Marvel has very few Asian American leads to choose from, Silk has obviously been a breath of fresh air for cosplayers like Rian Synnth. Her Instagram shows a truly impressive range of characters pulling from nearly every corner of pop culture, but Silk is a character Rian keeps coming back to.
The photo above is showing off her standard Silk look, but she's also taken to adding elements of Punk Rock fashion to the cosplay for a costume she calls "Punk Silk" (which has also been paired on occasion with another entry later on our list). Though Rian has produced far more impressive costumes, this cosplay is so quality, it's understandable that she's continued to return to the character.
10 BLACK CAT - KATIE GEORGE
One of the biggest names on this list, cosplayer Katie George has been on the scene since 2004 and has an impressive portfolio to show for it. However, in her 13 years creating costumes, she's only ever portrayed one character from Marvel's camp: Spider-Man's wildfire love interest, Felicia Hardy, a.k.a. Black Cat.
Though Black Cat is a fairly popular choice for cosplayers, Katie's version of the character takes the spot on this list because she went to the trouble of designing her own version of Felicia's costume, because according to her website, "...if I was going to do a completely overdone comic book costume, I was going to do it different, and make the design my own." Using her design experience and collaborating with fellow cosplayer Riki "Riddle" Lecotey, Katie delivered a fresh take on Black Cat's look that's sure to turn heads.
9 MARY JANE - ARACHNOBITE
As her name suggests, cosplayer arachnobite's current focus is primarily on Jessica Drew, a.k.a. Spider-Woman, and characters from the world of your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. However, archnobite has been active in the cosplay community for 11 years and a quick glance at the rest of her Instagram offerings will show you just how much range she has. Not only will you see heroines from the DCU, but scroll far back enough and you'll get to some of the finest Clint Barton/Hawkeye cosplay we've ever seen.
Any of arachnobite's Marvel cosplays would have been a worthy addition to this list, but ultimately we had to choose her version of Mary Jane Watson-Parker from the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #601 by J. Scott Campbell. This particular look for Mary Jane has been done to death, but unlike so many other cosplayers who have taken a shot at the look, arachnobite nailed one important detail: the freckles. Sometimes, it's the little details that really make a cosplay stand out, and that's certainly the case here.
8 GAMBIT - NADYA SONIKA
Mexican cosplayer/host Nadya Sonika is yet another of the creators on this list who could have easily had several of her Marvel costumes make the cut. However, after seeing her gender-bent Gambit cosplay, we knew it was truly the only choice. Though her version of Gambit shows a little more skin than the original, the costume is an otherwise flawless take on the fan favorite character, made even better by the use of those terrifying red contacts.
In addition to her fantastic work with Marvel's cast of characters, Nadya can be found cosplaying as characters from all over the pop culture map. When she isn't cosplaying, Nadya can be found hosting the television show GamerTag, streaming video games and cosplay tutorials on her Twitch channel, and acting as the Community Manager for game developer CD Projekt Red's Spanish speaking audience.
7 SPIDER-GWEN - MAID OF MIGHT
As we mentioned above, ever since the character's first appearance in Edge of Spider-Verse #2 by writer Jason Latour and the art team of Robbi Rodriguez and Rico Renzi, Gwen Stacy has exploded in popularity. As a result, Gwen Stacy cosplays have become a staple at modern conventions, but no other cosplayer can hold a candle to Maid of Might's Gwen.
What cements her as the all-time great Gwen Stacy cosplayer is not just how much she looks the part, but how many different versions of the character she has at her disposal. In addition to to her "Punk Gwen Stacy" pictured above, she also has a more standard Spider-Gwen, a few street clothes versions of the character and of course Classic Gwen Stacy. Despite the fact that Gwen is without question her most explored subject, anyone who checks out Maid of Might on Instagram will be in for a treat.
6 MAGNETO - JESSICA NIGRI
If you're at all familiar with the world of cosplay, you've almost certainly seen some of Jessica Nigri's work. Though she's arguably best known for her video game cosplay, Jessica is no stranger to portraying Marvel characters; having worked on the likes of Black Cat, Rogue and even Deadpool. However, for this list, we chose the Magneto costume she debuted back in 2014, following the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Jessica has a history of genderbending popular male characters so it should probably come as no surprise that she chose Magneto's iconic look to honor the film. Jessica is an expert at crafting intricate armor sets and she does a great job here of adapting the most important parts of Magneto's look for her spin on the character.
5 INVISIBLE WOMAN - CALLIE COSPLAY
For fans of the Fantastic Four, cosplays like this one from Leah Burroughs, a.k.a Callie Cosplay, is currently the only place to see Sue Storm, a.k.a. the Invisible Woman. Though Leah is the one modeling the costume, it was actually created by fellow cosplayer Uncanny Megan (who just so happens to have a few killer X-Men cosplays under belt). Despite this fact, we chose to include it because, frankly, Fantastic Four fans need all the fan-service they can get right now!
The low cut nature of the suit is likely inspired by Jessica Alba's look in Fox's first two Fantastic Four movies, as in the comics Sue's chest is rarely so exposed. Callie seems to be spending most of her time streaming video games on her Twitch channel these days rather than cosplaying, but her Invisible Woman is still worthy of a spot on this list.
4 SCARLET WITCH - YAYA HAN
Cosplay superstar Yaya Han has nailed so many Marvel characters' looks over the years that choosing just one of her cosplays was truly a challenge, but her portrayal of Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch, is absolutely flawless. She's actually such a fan of the character's design that she reprised the role when Marvel redesigned Wanda for her own miniseries in 2016.
However, for this list we went with her original costume for Scarlet Witch; which she created after being inspired by the Sideshow Collectibles statue of Wanda, which was itself based on the artwork of Mark Brooks. For those interested in learning more about cosplay, Yaya offers fairly detailed breakdowns on her website of just what went into the design of each of her costumes including what motivated her to design the costume in the first place.
3 BLACK WIDOW - LINDSAY ELYSE
Marvel's greatest femme fatale, Natasha Romanova, a.k.a. the Black Widow, has become a mainstay in cosplay ever since her appearances in Iron Man 2 and The Avengers made her a household name to people all around the world. Though her costume isn't as distinct as some of the other heroines to come out of Marvel, it's no wonder that Black Widow's character has made her a popular choice for cosplayers.
Cosplayer/Twitch streamer Lindsay Elyse has been active in the cosplay community for over a decade, so she's obviously got a pretty hefty portfolio, but her Black Widow is without question one of her most memorable cosplays. Though she spends a lot of her time now streaming video games on her Twitch channel for Counter Logic Gaming, Lindsay continues to cosplay and often streams sessions of her working on costumes for those looking to learn her tricks of the trade.
2 TIGRA - KILLERGIO
Tigra, one of the most obscure Marvel characters to ever bare the title of Avenger, is truly a rarity on the cosplay circuit, likely for a number of reasons. For starters, Tigra's orange skin and black stripes require massive amounts of body paint to pull off the look effectively. The kicker, though, is that even if you do get it right, you're not likely to be rewarded for your trouble by the character's legions of fans.
Despite all this, Italian cosplayer KillerGio delivered one of the sharpest Tigra cosplays we've ever seen and that's certainly deserving of praise. She seems to prefer working on anime cosplays, but KillerGio's portfolio shows a surprising amount of range and she is certainly no stranger to exploring some of the deeper cuts of fandom. Her Tigra might not be the sharpest knife in her arsenal, but it's one diehard Marvel fans will undoubtedly appreciate.
1 SAVAGE LAND ROGUE - LUCKY BONEZ
Our next pick is this incredible take on "Savage Land Rogue" by cosplayer Gabriella Tacchi, a.k.a. LuckyBonez (formerly BadKitty/BlackCatCosplay). For those who don't know, the Savage Land is a pocket of prehistoric land in the Marvel Universe's Antartica that's been a staple in X-Men comics since the '60s. It also happens to be an extremely dangerous place home to dozens of deadly creatures.
Gabriella's version of the costume seems to be primarily inspired by some of artist David Yardin's work on Rogue in the Savage Land, albeit with a few minor changes. It's always a treat to see cosplayers go for deep cuts like this that highlight a more obscure point in the character's history. Though she seems to be far less active in the cosplay community these days, you can follow LuckyBonez on Twitter to check out her latest projects.
Which Marvelous cosplay was your favorite? Let us know in the comments!