Cosplay Connection is all about getting to know cosplayers and their journeys, struggles, and triumphs within their hobby. For this month’s Cosplay Connection interview, host Maddie went live on Instagram with special guest Devine Baker.
Devine’s introduction to cosplay
Devine has been cosplaying for one full year. His love and passion for comic book characters shines through his excitement for cosplay. In fact, being at a comic book convention a few years ago is what launched his cosplay origin story.
He says:
“I attended my first comic book convention in 2017, and just seeing the excitement, the joy of the fandom…There were so many people just dressed up as their favorite characters or favorite heroes, villains, anime, video games!”
Fast forward to being stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Devine decided to purchase his first cosplay. He remembered the excitement and dedication to characters he felt at the convention and purchased a Miles Morales cosplay from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Devine says:
“Looking at the costume from head-to-toe, including the mask, it was just…it brought back the excitement like the first time I ever saw this hero on the screen for the first time. It was just like…we’re about to dress up as our favorite character right now!”
Being part of the cosplay community
One of the incredible things about cosplaying is the connections with other geeks. Devine is best known for his Sam Wilson cosplays, both Falcon and Captain America. When he debuted both on social media, his content was so well received.
“When I get follows from other cosplayers, it’s like they’re accepting me into this community. And I’m like, this is great! I’m finding my place in this universe!”
He goes on to say:
“My favorite part about being in the cosplay community like this? I love the fact that we’re all connected. No matter where we are in the world. No matter where we’re from. No matter what race we are. We all share the same love and dedication this genre, this culture of movies, games, TV shows, comic books, video games. We all share the same love for these characters. The fact that we can all come together and dress up as our favorite characters like this and be able to reenact our scenes, get into these cool debates where sometimes we’re wrong, sometimes we get new knowledge about these characters…it’s just so awesome!”
While the cosplay community is encouraging and largely welcoming, there are certainly issues with gatekeeping and put downs. He ended the cosplay connection interview with this powerful reminder about how we can keep this community safe:
“We love these characters. We loved, we cried, we were devastated either they left, they died, they came back in an epic way. Like, we share the same love for pop-culture…as long as you have those people that really support you and always have your back especially when you’re suiting up as your favorite character…we all have to support one another!”
You can find Devine Baker on Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat using the handle @dvb_0703.
For more geek news check out:
Temple of Geek Podcast: Ep. 202 Masters of the Universe
How to do a Costume or Cosplay of Ryan Reynold’s “Free Guy”
