Carbon Costume

“What? I’m invested.” Dr. Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) is a character in the hit Marvel Disney+ series, WandaVision. She first appeared in Thor as a political science major. Upon landing an astrophysics internship with Jane Foster, she meets Thor and helps him back to Asgard. Darcy also appeared in Thor: Dark World, continuing to work with Jane to investigate portals in London. Now after completing her doctorate, Darcy finally returns. Given her headway in astrophysics, an organization called S.W.O.R.D. calls upon Darcy to investigate the missing town of Westview, NJ. She’s the one who discovers broadcast waves intertwined with the radiation, confirming the ongoing sitcom.  Agent Monica Rambeau and FBI Agent Jimmy Woo become her allies to figure out more about what is happening in Westview, and how they can save the citizens from Wanda’s hex.

Valkyrie is a character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Played by Tessa Thompson, she first appears in Thor: Ragnarok. Her actual name is Brunnhilde, though she goes by Valkyrie because she was part of a group of Asgardian warriors called the Valkyries. Before selling Thor to the Grandmaster, she was a bounty hunter on the planet Skaar named Scrapper 142. She befriends Thor and Bruce Banner, ultimately joining the Revengers to defeat Hela. In Avengers: Endgame, Valkyrie survived the snap and helped relocate the Asgardians. Later on she led the Asgardians in the battle against Thanos. Thor then appointed her as the new leader and king of Asgard. To achieve her look from Thor: Ragnarok, style your hair into a half updo top knot. With the NYX White Eyeliner, draw the lines around her eyes, and use this close up picture for reference.

Sebastian Shaw has been one of the X-Men’s biggest foes since his introduction to the franchise in January of 1980. He is a mutant capable of absorbing many different kinds of energy. But his status as a mutant hardly puts him on the same side as Wolverine, Charles Xavier, and the others. As a member of the Hellfire club he is determined to take over the world, even going to far as to fund the Sentinel program so that it will hunt down mutants that defy him. And while Kevin Bacon put his own spin on the character in the most recent run of X-Men movies, the Earth-616 comic book version is by far the most iconic.

Shaw often goes by the moniker of Black King and his costume is fittingly grandiose. He wears a coat with tails and a waist coat with an ascot. The colors vary from costume to costume but the elements stay the same. Shaw also wears knee breeches, tall socks, and shoes with buckles on them. A more modern twist is a tailored suit with an ascot but the comic version usually maintains this mid-century look.

Wonder Man – the alter-ego of Simon Williams – is a classic Marvel villain-turned-hero. After his family lost all its money to their biggest competitor, Stark Industries, he went after Tony Stark himself. Over time Williams learned the error of his ways and used the powers he had developed to aid the Avengers rather than fight them. Luckily you don’t have to go through such a difficult transformation to cosplay this classic comic character!

A black tank top and black running pants form the basis of this costume. You can also go for a black body suit if you have the sewing skills to remove the sleeves. Red athletic tape for the arms and wrists as well as red boots make up the costume’s accessories. And red gaffing tape can easily add the detailing of Wonder Man’s costume.

Human Torch, aka Johnny Storm, is a member of the Fantastic Four. Aboard Mr. Richards’ spacecraft, he became exposed to cosmic radiation, which gave him superpowers. He now has the ability to engulf his entire body in flames, absorb fire into his body, and control nearby fire. Did we mention he can fly too? He is the brother of Invisible Woman, aka Sue Storm. Compared to his compassionate older sister and sensible brother-in-law, Johnny can be impulsive and reckless. His catchphrase is “Flame on!” — usually exclaimed upon activating his full body fire powers. To turn up the heat on this cosplay, you can some use face paint, flame decals, or red and yellow tissue paper for fire effects.

Frigga (played by Rene Russo) is the Queen of Asgard, wife of Odin, and mother to both Thor and Loki in the MCU. Though she largely keeps her peace she knows how to stand her ground. And she is not someone you want to make an enemy of. She is a fierce protector and even fiercer fighter, gifts she passed on to her sons.

Cosplaying as Frigga requires a little bit of DIY. Shoulder and wrist protection is hard to find in gold, as Frigga’s are. So you will have to buy them in leather and paint them with the leather paint pictured above.

Once dry these pieces are layers over a long gown. A gold corset takes the place of Frigga’s chest armor in this look because formed armor like hers always costs quite a bit. There are options available on Etsy but they cost several hundred dollars. This corset will get close to the look at a much more affordable price. Similarly the pictured boots might seem familiar to Disney fans but they work just as well for a Queen of Asgard s a princess of Arendelle if you want something with a heel low enough to fight in that won’t break the bank.

Finally add in a long curly blonde wig, a gold crown, and two short swords and you’re ready to defend Asgard. And, more importantly, your family just like Frigga!

Will Simpson (played by Wil Traval) is an antagonist-turned-protagonist over the first two seasons of Jessica Jones. In the show he is a cop with the NYPD who is first brainwashed by Kilgrave and then recruited by a secret government project to test pills that cause supersoldier-like abilities with a nasty set of side effects.

This storyline is adapted from the Marvel Comics character Frank Simpson also known as Nuke. He is depicted as a foil to Captain America to such a degree that the two go up against each other more than once. The second time is in Captain America #14 (2013) when Cap defeats Nuke while uttering the poignant truth, “Patriotism taken too far is fanaticism”.

Portraying this contrast in the Netflix show is a little harder than it is with the comics since Cap never makes an appearance in any Netflix run. The show runners did manage it, however, though some clever costuming. In fact Will Simpson’s most memorable costume is almost identical to that worn by Steve Rogers while on the run in Captain America: Civil War. The big difference comes down to the behaviors they display and the pills Simpson takes.

Aside from the pills the cosplay for Simpson is very easy. A dark grey baseball cap, light grey shirt, and basic jeans all pair well with aviator sunglasses, a brown leather jacket, a brown leather belt, and brown leather shoes. If you do choose to take something along that resembles Simpson’s supersoldier pills, please do not use real medication. Mike and Ikes candy look close enough and come in all the same colors (plus a few extra you get to eat whenever you want!)

Everyone loves Loki, so no wonder he’s getting his own self-titled series on Disney+. Slated for a release in May 2021, Tom Hiddleston returns as our favorite god of mischief for a six episode season. It follows what happens after he escaped with the Tesseract in Avengers: Endgame. The new clip dropped last Thursday along with the “WandaVision,” “Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” and “What If?” trailers respectively. In addition, Marvel revealed the logos to more upcoming shows and movies. We know how quick cosplayers are to assemble the latest designs, so consider yourself taken care of with this costume guide.