Latina Cosplayers Don’t Feel Represented, So They Reimagine Their Favorite Characters

There are nerds of all ethnicities, races, and genders — but when it comes to cosplaying, there’s a lack of racial and ethnic representation that can be demoralizing for nerdy people of color who want to dress up as their favorite characters. 

In the last decade, superhero movies have tenuously tried to close the racial representation gap (for Latines, there’s Miles Morales as Spider-Man, Namor in Wakanda Forever, and Jaime Reyes as Blue Beetle, to name a few), but Latina cosplayers still find navigating nerdy superhero fandom spaces a mixed experience. While the cosplay community has built a reputation for celebrating the eccentric, the weird, and the nerdy, it isn’t always accepting of everyone. In fact, racism and white supremacy are inescapable — even in nerdy communities — so cosplayers of color have to navigate a minefield of expectations and character skin tone discussions when they try to cosplay characters they love. 

With the February 14 theatrical release of Madame Web, the latest superhero movie, nerdy Latinas will have a new character to dress up as: Anya Corazón. The movie stars Dakota Johnson, Sidney Sweeney, and Peruvian American Isabela Merced, who plays the Latina Spider-Girl. The Sony production, which features Marvel characters, tells the story of a clairvoyant paramedic in New York City who must protect three young women from a mystery villain who wants them dead.

With a super cool black and silver suit, her character will provide so much cosplay potential for nerdy Latinas, and the girls are ready. In honor of the release of this movie, Refinery29 Somos interviewed four Latina cosplayers about their experiences embodying characters who inspired them.

I dove into the world of cosplaying at 13, which was hard because I had to convince my Latine parents that I really needed wigs, contacts, and costume accessories — they simply didn’t understand. They thought cosplaying was a waste of money and that it was going to distract me from my studies.

Once I moved out in 2017, I started finally participating in the cosplay community like I always wanted to. I was mostly accepted into these spaces with open arms, but cosplaying as a Latina can sometimes be a strange experience. Back in the mid-2010s, there was a lot of focus on accuracy when someone would cosplay a character. It had to be as accurate as possible. You had to embody the character 100 percent, which sometimes isn’t possible for a person of color whose skin color is different from the characters they love and want to portray. It was so awkward when I put so much time into making a specific cosplay and people asked me why I didn’t cosplay another character who has the same skin tone as me. Cosplayers of color shouldn’t be expected to only cosplay characters of color. 

I learned not to listen to those opinions and simply focus on cosplaying the characters I loved. Today, there’s less emphasis on accuracy. Cosplayers of all races can cosplay a character and make it their own version of that character. I am really thankful and excited about this shift in the cosplay community because it means I can cosplay my favorite characters without having to be the same race as them. 

That being said, one of my favorite characters to cosplay is Mirabel from Encanto — this is the importance of representation for me. I had never seen a Latina princess before and I immediately wanted to cosplay her. It took me two and a half months to make the costume. I fully learned how to hand embroider to make the whole thing, and it's a costume I'm really proud of.

I have a pretty basic origin story. One Halloween, I decided to go all out, and I bought some EVA foam to make a whole costume from scratch for Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z. From then on, I realized how much I loved dressing up. It’s a really great hobby because I get to express myself artistically.

I only started posting my cosplays online about a year ago, and at first, I found it a little intimidating. When I cosplayed Mitsuri from Demon Slayer, I got a lot of negative feedback. It was all comments about my skin color and how my complexion didn’t match the original character. I started getting a little discouraged at that point, but I eventually realized I didn’t care about that negativity — I wanted to be a Latina who cosplays whatever character she wants to cosplay. 

That’s what inspired me to incorporate my Latina identity into my Sailor Moon cosplay, now widely known as Mexican Sailor Moon after it went viral. I had just heard a cover of the Sailor Moon theme song by EZ Band, which really resonated with me because of my Mexican heritage. And the initial idea was just to cosplay the OG Sailor Moon, but when I bought the costume, I felt like something was missing. I wanted the cosplay to resonate just like the EZ Band cover, especially because it was Latine Heritage Month, so I made a whole new outfit that pays homage to my Mexican heritage.  

I got a lot of positive feedback but also a lot of negative feedback, asking me why I needed to incorporate a nationality into my cosplay. I just wanted to show that it didn't matter. I can put my own twist on any character I want to cosplay — no matter their race or ethnicity or gender. It's cosplay. We don't have to check certain boxes to cosplay.

I started getting into cosplaying through anime-inspired makeup. I have always loved makeup, and a friend told me I could use my skills to go full cosplay to embody a character. I tried it and the rest is history: I’ve been doing this for five years now, and I feel that people have really welcomed me with open arms in this community. 

In the last few years, I’ve felt really happy that I am able to do more cosplays that align with my culture. As a Black Mexican, it feels really good to embrace the cultural aspects of where we come from in the real world and bring that into this fantasy world that cosplayers create for themselves. I know darker-skinned Afro-Latines get more negative feedback than me in these spaces, but I still get people being confused that I am both Mexican and Black.

One of the first handmade cosplays I’m really proud of is my Mexican Sailor Moon cosplay, because I was able to bring my love for anime and my love for my culture together. I studied Mexico’s history and some cultural anthropology to bring genuine elements into this costume, including Indigenous symbols, which is a nod to my own Mexican Indigenous heritage. I also dressed up as Miles Morales, and it was so cool to be able to cosplay someone who looks like me and my brothers.

This year, I am excited to cosplay more Latine characters from superhero movies. It’s so important to be able to see yourself in a character. It’s important to be able to say, “I can do that, too” or “I can look like that, too.” And that means that I can be a hero, too. Not being reduced to a side character can fill us with confidence, and that’s important for younger audiences as well as older ones.

I’ve been cosplaying for 11 years, so I’ve been around for a long time. I started dressing up because I honestly loved the idea that I could just change the way I look to become a character I really liked. Also, I love dressing up and hanging out with my friends and being silly together. Those interactions and that community are what make cosplaying a wonderful activity for me. 

There are so many opinions when it comes to how to cosplay correctly, and some people have the mindset that if you don’t look exactly like a character, you shouldn’t be cosplaying them. As a person who is Latina and as a person of color, that can really affect my confidence, and it made me question whether I should be cosplaying this character or that character. I would look at myself in the mirror and feel like the critics were right, that I didn’t look quite like that character. 

But I have to remind myself that I don’t cosplay to look exactly like a character or to make other people think I am that character. I cosplay for myself. I cosplay to have fun and hang out with my friends, and because I love crafting, creating, and learning new skills that will elevate my cosplay. 

I don't believe you need to look like a character, but I am also happy to see more diverse characters in superhero films. It’s really nice to have the option to cosplay someone who looks like you and maybe has similar experiences as you, so I’m very excited for upcoming movies that have Latina characters.