City oozes cosplay love ahead of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ release

The release of Marvel’s final edition Avengers: Endgame on April 26 has got the city’s comic fans — young and old on their edge as they can’t seem to contain their excitement. The series introduced the world to some of the most loved characters through films, including Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Hulk and Doctor Strange. Endgame will mark the culmination of the series based on the Marvel Comics. To show their enthusiasm for the film, which marks the 22nd release in Marvel Cinematic Universe, Chennaiites have taken to cosplay as they wait to watch the film with the world.

It was during a recent superhero lovers’ meet that these fans got to be their favourite comic characters themselves, along with two international cosplayers who joined them. Suriya Banu, a 28-year-old working at a multinational tech firm in the city, decided to cosplay the Marvel character Gamora for the meet-up. “I’ve always been a comic fan. Each time I cosplay I put together my own costumes from the clothes that I already own, and making them suit the character. There’s particularly a lot of excitement for the final chapter of the Avengers series,” shares Suriya.

For city-based engineer S. Archana, 22, it took a lot of research to portray her favourite fictional superhero Scarlet Witch, who appears in the X-Men series. “It was my first time cosplaying as I’m in awe of the universe that Marvel has created — right from Iron Man to Endgame. Getting my costume to be Scarlet Witch was difficult as it wasn’t easily available. So I put the costume together by buying elements online after a lot of research. I was able to cosplay by spending under Rs 1,500 on a jacket, a skirt and a tank top to recreate the character,” recalls Archana. Having followed the Avengers series over the years, she is all set to watch the final part on the day of its release.

The event also saw popular cosplayers, Han Jones and Reaver from France, cosplaying as Captain America and Captain Marvel. After a lively meet in the city, Han, who offered cosplay tips to enthusiasts from Chennai, wrote on his social media that he loved the city’s infectious Marvel fandom, “Chennai, we love you. We just came back to France and we really enjoyed doing this wonderful event with all of you.”

One of the city’s movie watchers’ clubs, Movie Buffs Meetup, has some of its Marvel fans meeting up to watch films from the franchise donning superhero t-shirts. One of the members of the club, Sankara Narayan, explains that communal watching of the film while wearing special merchandise ups the excitement. “We are planning to watch the film on April 26, the day of its release in India. Members, who are avid fans of DC Comics and Marvel’s films, would all watch the film in special t-shirts celebrating the superheroes. The group also allows us to discuss, interpret and review each of the superheroes’ roles in the film together,” he adds.