Cosplaying as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch from Avengers: Age of Ultron

I don’t remember exactly how I learned about the movie or character, but do remember looking up as many photos as possible including those from a professional agency. Basically, I made the outfit before the movie came out. I picked the character because of the outfit. I like the tough yet feminine look it has plus I figured could finally have a non-anime related character cosplay for New York Comic Con.

The first time I wore the outfit was at New York Comic Con 2014. Honestly, I had a feeling that people would not recognize me. The movie hasn’t come out yet! Although people didn’t request photos, I was hoping to find a few Scarlet Witch cosplayers to take pictures with. Unfortunately, I only found one. However, I did find a Quick Silver! Not the version from Avengers: Age of Ultron, but the one from X-Men: Days of Future Past.

The Next time I cosplayed as the character was during Free Comic Book Day 2015. I figured it was an appropriate attire for hunting for free comics. Plus, it's a nice excuse for cosplay. ;-) First, I went to Jim Hanley's Universe because I tend to get what I want there. I didn't expect anyone to recognize the outfit, but a staff member of Jim Hanley's spotted me out on the line to the store. Then I went to Midtown Comics and Forbidden Planet. Coincidently enough, Avengers: Age of Ultron came out the day before. Then after visiting Forbidden Planet, while I was waiting around nearby, a pedestrian recognized me and started talking to me about the movie and my cosplay. I guess the character was getting noticed. :-)

Special Edition: NYC was coming up and it was time to cosplay again! I wasn’t sure how recognizable this version would be. It’s probably not as iconic as the comic book full red outfit. However, I was pretty happy there were attendees that asked for photos and I got compliments on my jacket and overall attire. You want to hear another cool thing that happened? My friend spotted out a Quick Silver! Well, I ran after him and asked to take a photo with him. He jokingly said “I wasn’t quick enough.” It was a very good find. Learned more about my non-cosplay experiences here from the convention.

After Special Edition, I went to the watch Avengers: Age of Ultron and yes, I was still in cosplay. It’s the closest “normal” looking costume, so I figured the cosplay experience was over. Well, I was wrong. Lol! When I went to get food at the concession counter, the cashier said something to me and I said “What?” as in “I didn’t hear you.” He said, “Hello Scarlet Witch” and I replied with “Hey! Good job!” Then I went on my merry way to watch the movie.

This was probably the last time I wore the outfit: Halloween 2015. There were things happening around that time and I wanted to participate for fun. There was a Halloween ComicFest costume contest, Montasy comic book store costume contest and an ice skating event for people in costume at the World Ice Arena. I entered the contests for fun and wanted to see if I could figure skate in a costume. Here’s the nice part of a day’s trip: my friend was kind enough to cosplay as my twin, Quick Silver. Plus, we were both Asian! I got an Asian Quick Silver!

After reflecting on my experiences, I have to say that it’s probably the most convenient and non-obvious costume to the general public. Unless you recognize it as cosplay, it looks like I’m expressing a certain fashion culture. The only thing that was troublesome was the jewelry, especially the rings. The character has so many! However, I like the outfit enough and may wear it again. We’ll see when the time is right.

© 2016 Linda Thai

Photography by Linda Thai

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