 Hi, my name is Irene Yu.
 I'm Colana.
 I'm Michael.
 I'm Michelle
Waffle, and today,
we're becoming the X-Men.
 Hi I'm Jax of Jax Cosplay,
and today I'm becoming Magneto.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
There was a local comic
book store in my hometown
that I would beg
my dad to go to,
so he usually would take
me after soccer games.
The X-Men are probably the
gold standard, for me at least.
 My parents came home with
like one of those variety
packs of comic
books, and there were
some Marvel comics in there.
And I will never forget
the first one I ever saw.
It was one that had Rogue
and Gambit embracing.
I'm, like, oh!
What is this?
 I'm 10 years younger
than my brother,
and he was the one who
introduced me to these things
like comics,
playing video games.
And I would sneak into his room,
and just, like, oh, my gosh!
What is this?
What is this?
And I just became
fascinated with it.
 What drew me to the X-Men
I think is just the fact
that they were different.
Avengers and everybody, they
have their thing, but X-Men,
they were strange
from the beginning.
 Well, I think one of the
cool things about X-Men,
it's such a diverse group.
You've got people of different
ethnic backgrounds, people
of different, I guess, origins.
Similar to real
life, that we all
come from different industries,
and different backgrounds.
 My first cosplay
ended up being Blade.
I've got a lot of
looks from that one.
And then from there it just
spiraled out of control.
Magneto, he's one of my all-time
favorite super villains.
I don't see him as
really a villain,
more as a revolutionary.
I looked through hundreds
of pictures of Magneto.
I went through all of that.
How is it going to look?
Looking at the limitations.
And it ended up
being probably one of
my all-time favorite cosplays.
 My background's in dance,
and when I went to a convention
for the first time, I
saw all these people
in all these different
vibrant costumes.
And so, I felt, like,
this is another outlet
for me to kind of perform.
Growing up as a 90s
kid, just the '90s genre
is just really important to me.
So I wanted to do Psylocke
in a '90s version.
 Three years ago
is when my wife
and I went to our first con.
Well, it was the first con,
and also the first time
dressing up at a con.
We felt like a celebrity for
people wanting to take pictures
with you and everything.
Scott, I thought, you know what?
I think I can pull that off.
The first thing that drew me
into him was the costume--
the bold blue and gold
colors, the contrast.
And then just the fact
that he was the leader.
 So this all goes
back to my brother.
He actually went to a convention
when I was really young.
And so my brother took me,
and I was, like, starstruck.
I was, like, oh!
They're dressed
like the character!
Can I do that?
My love for Rogue,
the one thing,
was she was one of the top
powerful female characters
of all.
But she uses herself
as a symbol good,
even though she can take
the life of everybody.
 I always loved
Halloween, but you only
get to dress up once a year.
And so, I thought, well,
hey, I can dress up
every time I go to one
of these conventions,
and people won't
think I'm silly.
They'll be, like, oh my gosh!
I gravitated mostly
towards Jean Grey.
I think maybe it started
with the red hair.
I was just very
fiery and spunky.
 Being on a con floor with
a group of people from,
like, the same
squad, that is fun.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
You basically turn
into a celebrity.
It's exciting to be able to
meet new people, you know?
You kind of already know who
they are through social media.
 Actually Jax cosplay, he
organized a huge X-Men meetup.
 I heard about him-- but
I never knew who he was--
through a mutual friend.
 He's super welcoming.
And I just met him at a
convention, and I don't know,
it's been awesome.
 Organizing the X-Men,
even though I was Magneto,
there's a lot of
iron in this ny!
 Well, we all like
our bad boys, right?
 When you cosplay as a group,
you have this great energy.
 You know, you kind of
just roll up in there,
and everybody's taking pictures.
And that makes it
more comfortable.
 I didn't know any
of these people,
but when we go to a
convention, we're, like, hey!
You're in my universe!
 It's just an automatic
connection, because, you know,
that they've put in the
time to make their costumes.
And then, I mean,
we'll run into people,
and they're like, oh, my gosh!
This is my childhood.
 It's just cool to just
see people who you love,
and that they love too.
You had this
community as a mutant
to kind of celebrate
our differences,
and that's really how
wonderful this is.
 Everybody there is
just to support you,
especially in these groups.
And you're, like, oh,
my gosh, I'm not alone
in my love for this character.
 I'm living out my childhood.
I always wanted to be an
X-Man, especially doing it
with like-minded people,
people that look like me,
people of different
ethnicities, and that's
what I like the most.
And that's what
X-Men represents.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
