Vibrant Cosplay and Beloved On Screen Characters at Comic Con Toronto

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre was bustling with cosplay artists of all skill levels, from the hobbyists to the professionals, along celebrities who portrayed beloved television characters like Kristian Nairn’s Hodor on Game of Thrones and Marina Sirtis’ Counselor Deanna Troi on Star Trek, from March 16th to 18th, 2018.

 Over the weekend, there were also signs of St. Patrick’s Day celebrations with cosplay artists wearing a green sparkly leprechaun hats and green beads.

With a hit over the Christmas holidays, a major theme of the weekend was Star Wars: The Last Jedi. My favourite cosplay was of Poe Dameron from the newest trilogy (and my new celebrity crush). A runner up for me was the Big Daddy and Little Sister combo (points for creativity and hard work) from Bioshock, a first person shooter game available on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. 

Another highlight of the weekend were the artist booths near the end of the hall featuring lots of colourful and talented independent artists.

During a media scrum, I also got to sit down with two celebrities Eugene Brave Rock, who was very proud to have played an Indigenous hero in Wonder Woman and John Wesley Shipp who spoke elegantly about his experiences playing The Flash in the early 90’s.

 When asked about any dream projects that he would like to work on Eugene Brave Rock said, “Everything is a stepping stone. I’ve worked with so many amazing actors. I have already worked with a lot of my heroes, who inspired me like Graham Greene, Wes Studi, Gordon Tootsie, everyone that was on North of 60, Dances With Wolves. Everything is a dream come true for me.”

 My second question to him was asking what he said in his language to Wonder Woman in the movie because there were no subtitles when they spoke.“I introduced myself in my own language,” he explained. “I introduced myself as Napi. Napi is a Blackfoot demigod. It was nice to be able to share my language and culture with the rest of the world. I grew up with the stories of the Napi. Every story had a lesson. And every story was him doing what you’re not supposed to do, so you would always so the consequences.”

 Next was John Wesley Shipp. We got to ask him one question each. During this round I asked what it was like for him to be a part of this next generation of The Flash, in a sense passing down the mantle. He said, “it’s an incredible opportunity to be a part of something that I never thought when I got out of that costume in 1990, I swore I would never get into another superhero suit. Then 27 years later. Mark Hamill said it best about Star Wars where he had just done the same thing. He said it’s really a unique and special opportunity to come back and contribute in a meaningful way, not a token way, as Henry Allen’s father, helping him assume the mantle of his powers.”