Comic Con descends upon New York this weekend – the three day science fiction and fantasy event is as much a chance to show off attendees’ cosplay skills (for those who don’t know, cosplay is short for costume play, pretty self explanatory) as it is for promoting shows and films. There is a massive span of costumes made and worn by all those involved but we have tried to pinpoint what will be the most popular will be…

There are always the classic characters that are consistently brought out from super popular franchises, with Marvel and DC characters being one of the most prominent.

Ones to spot: The Joker, Batman, Superman, Star Wars, Harley Quinn, Super Mario, The Avengers, Wonder Woman, Naruto.

There are the costumes modeled on the latest trends, either relatively new shows or remakes or comics made into films, films made into games etc etc. The costumes surrounding these are usually popular for however long the shows/films are.

Predicted to be popular: Game of Thrones, Adventure Time, Superman Man of Steel style, Pacific Rim, After Earth, Walking Dead, Hunger Games, Breaking Bad.

Then there are the ones that we cannot predict, the made up characters that usually mix different aspects of characters favoured by the cosplayer. This practice definitely embraces the DIY Comic Con spirit.

Popular characters made into hybrids: Dr Who, Disney, superheroes and costumes that reflect or subvert the cultural ‘norm’ – usually characters being portrayed as the opposite gender – for example female Captain Americas and male Sailor Moons.

What has been the best costume you’ve seen at Comic Con over in the past? What do you think will be popular this year? Leave your comments below!