Prague Mayor cosplays as Iron Man for Comic-Con festival

The Comic-Con festival at O2 Universum in Prague is coming to a close today, and one of the city's representatives really got into the spirit for the annual event.

Prague Mayor Zdeněk Hřib appeared during Comic-Con's opening ceremony on Friday in a full-body suit of armor as Iron Man, who was played by Robert Downey Jr. in the popular Marvel movies. Hřib even got his wife Anna to join him in cosplay as Pepper Potts, Tony Stark's wife played by Gwyneth Paltrow on screen.

The Mayor's full-body costume was a one-off original made by a local company: Prusa Research 3D, one of the worldwide leaders in 3D printing technology.

"Prague must focus on innovation, creativity, and modern technology. That's why I launched this year's Comic-Con Prague as Iron Man. The costume was printed on a 3D printer at Prusa Research 3D (really great job, guys)," Hřib wrote on Facebook Saturday.

Hřib isn't only at Comic-Con to tout his cosplaying skills. Today, he'll give a presentation about the Czech capital that includes discussion of the role technology has in shaping the future of the city.

"I will talk about the future of Prague at Comic-Con and give a lecture on the plan for the city on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The metro will determine the future of Prague over the next decade," the Mayor writes.

"So we can talk not only about where there will be new parks and schools, but also about where spaceships will dock, from where the teleports will lead, and how to prevent Prague from ending up as the planet-wide city Coruscant from Star Wars."

A spin-off of the popular Comic-Con event in San Diego, Prague's Comic-Con was launched in 2019 but interrupted over the past two years due to the coronavirus pandemic and related restrictions.

This year, Comic-Con welcomed guests such as Christopher Lambert, Julian Glover, Cara Buono, Hattie Hayridge, and more stars from fantasy and sci-fi films and TV, along with comic book authors, illustrators, and cosplayers from around the world.

Appearing as Tony Stark in a costume that closely mimics the Iron Man suit from the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, Hřib also addressed the real-world role of superheroes in today's society.

"The real superheroes are somewhere else now," Hřib stated.

"They are fighting in Ukraine for the future of all of us and I believe that even there good will prevail over evil."