Meet The Variant – Our Original Multiverse Cosplay Character
Every superhero has an origin story, right?
Some get bitten by radioactive spiders, others come from distant planets, and a few have more money than they know what to do with.
Ours started with a 3D printer, a ridiculous amount of trial and error, and the realisation that maybe it was time to create something of our own.
So, after months of designing, printing, rebuilding and occasionally wondering why we’d started this in the first place, we’d like to introduce you to The Variant.
Our very own multiverse-travelling character, created by the Comic Movie DB team and officially introduced to the fandom at MCM Comic Con London in October 2026.
And what a weekend to make his debut!
Goodbye Mancdalorian, Hello Variant
Some of you might remember our previous cosplay character, The Mancdalorian.
We loved him. He was inspired by one of our favourite universes, and building the costume taught us a lot about what goes into creating something you can actually wear around a convention for hours.
Although I think my back might disagree with the word ‘wearable’ after some of those events.
But as Comic Movie DB continued to grow, we started thinking about where we wanted to take things.
We’re not just Marvel fans, DC fans or Star Wars fans. We love everything from comics and gaming to anime, horror, fantasy and science fiction.
So why were we building a character who belonged to just one universe?
There was also the question of copyright. The Mancdalorian was clearly inspired by an existing franchise, and although fan cosplay is a huge part of convention culture, we didn’t want to build the future of our own character around somebody else’s intellectual property.
We wanted the freedom to create something original, develop his story and potentially take him in directions we hadn’t even thought about yet.
And that’s where the idea for The Variant began.
RIP Mancdalorian. You served us well!
Who Is The Variant?
Now this is where things get interesting.
The Variant doesn’t belong to one universe.
He can travel between them.
From the superhero worlds of Marvel and DC to anime, gaming, horror and science fiction, there isn’t really anywhere he can’t go.
But he’s not travelling between universes looking for fame, attention or somebody to fight.
He’s there to help.
Think about all those moments in movies and television when something happens at exactly the right time. Somebody gets a little help, something falls into place or a character manages to escape a situation that looked completely hopeless.
What if somebody was quietly helping from the background?
That’s the idea behind The Variant.
He’s the unsung hero, travelling between universes and making sure things happen as they should. If somebody needs a helping hand, he’ll be there, even if nobody knows it.
He doesn’t need the recognition. He doesn’t need a statue or his name plastered across a building.
Although I’m sure he’d appreciate somebody buying him a coffee occasionally.
And that’s something we wanted to reflect in the character himself. He’s mysterious, a little intimidating at first glance, but ultimately he’s there for the right reasons.
There’s a much bigger story we want to develop around The Variant, including where he came from, how he travels between universes and what happens when something goes wrong.
Because surely somebody jumping between different realities can’t keep everything running smoothly forever?
But we’ll save some of that for another day.
Building The Variant – It Looked Easier In My Head
Now, having an idea for a character is one thing.
Actually building him is something completely different.
We wanted The Variant to look like he could belong in a movie, rather than somebody wearing a collection of plastic parts that had been glued together the night before.
Which, to be fair, isn’t always that far from the reality of building cosplay.
The costume has been designed around a dark, armoured appearance, with a hooded cloak, custom chest armour, gauntlets and a helmet that gives him his own identity.
We’ve used 3D printing to create much of the armour, which has been a learning experience in itself.
There have been pieces that didn’t fit, designs that looked brilliant on a computer but terrible when printed, and more adjustments than I’d care to admit.
Then you’ve got the problem of making everything comfortable enough to wear.
It’s all very well creating an impressive-looking chest plate, but if you can’t sit down, turn your head or walk through a doorway without taking half the costume off, you’ve got a problem.
We also wanted the armour to feel like something that had actually travelled between universes.
Not completely destroyed or covered in battle damage, but worn enough to suggest he’d been around for a while.
The combination of the black armour, fabric and cloak helps break everything up and gives him a slightly more mysterious appearance.
And because The Variant isn’t tied to a particular franchise, we’ve got the freedom to change parts of his armour, introduce new equipment and develop his appearance as the character grows.
That’s probably the part I’m most excited about.
We’re not finished with him. Far from it.
Introducing The Variant At MCM Comic Con London
After spending so much time working on the character, MCM Comic Con London in October 2026 felt like the perfect place to introduce him.
Although I’ll admit, I was a little nervous.
When you cosplay as Spider-Man, Batman or a Stormtrooper, people instantly know who you are.
They recognise the costume, know the character and usually have some connection to the universe you’re representing.
But what happens when you turn up dressed as somebody nobody has ever heard of?
Would people just walk past?
Would they think we’d got the costume wrong?
And more importantly, would younger children be frightened of him?
That last one was a genuine concern because The Variant’s dark armour and helmet can look a little intimidating.
Well, it turns out we didn’t need to worry.
The response was absolutely brilliant.
People stopped us to ask who he was, what universe he belonged to and how we’d made the costume.
We had some fantastic conversations with other cosplayers, and the younger fans seemed to love him too.
Which was a huge relief!
But what really made the weekend special was seeing people take an interest in something we’d created ourselves.
They weren’t stopping because they recognised a famous character from a movie.
They were stopping because they were curious.
And for us, that meant more than anything.
Why The Variant Fits Comic Movie DB
When we started developing The Variant, we wanted him to represent something about Comic Movie DB itself.
We’ve always loved movies and television, especially stories adapted from comics, novels and books. That’s where Comic Movie DB began.
But the more conventions we’ve attended and the more people we’ve met, the more we’ve realised that the most important part of all this isn’t just what’s happening on screen.
It’s the fandom.
The people who spend months building costumes, the artists creating incredible work, the fans who know every detail about their favourite characters and the people who simply love escaping into another world for a few hours.
And those worlds don’t need to be separated.
You can love Avengers and anime. Star Wars and horror. Zelda and Superman.
There’s no rule saying you have to pick one.
That’s why The Variant makes sense for us.
He’s not restricted to one particular fandom, and neither are we.
As Comic Movie DB continues to grow, we want more fans to get involved, share their cosplay, rate their favourite movies and series, and become part of the community.
We want to celebrate the people who bring these characters to life, not just the characters themselves.
And if The Variant can help us meet more of those people along the way, even better.
What’s Next For The Variant?
Well, we’re only just getting started.
We’ve got plenty of ideas for developing the costume further, including new armour pieces, equipment and a few surprises we’d love to introduce at future conventions.
We also want to explore more of his story.
Where did he come from? How does he travel between universes? And what happens when he finds something he can’t put right?
There’s a lot we can do with a character who isn’t restricted to an existing storyline, and that’s the exciting part.
For now, though, we’re just happy that people have welcomed him into the fandom.
A massive thank you to everyone who stopped us at MCM London, asked questions, took photographs or simply came over to say hello.
You’ve made all those hours spent designing, printing and rebuilding armour worthwhile.
And if you see The Variant walking around at a future Comic Con, don’t be afraid to approach him.
He might look intimidating, but he’s one of the good guys.
Probably.
Welcome to the multiverse, Fandom.
Meet The Variant.
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