Anghus Houvourus on superhero movie costumes…
Be warned: This is going to be some epic level nitpicking right here.
By now my laundry list of complaints about the Marvel Cinematic Universe are well known. It’s safe to say that I may be the most vocal critic of the Marvel movies in terms of consistency and output. I have made my feelings on this subject clear and have tried to express my ambivalence in no less than twenty columns.
This is something more Seinfeld-ian in its origins. An observation that feels more akin to noticing that a coquettish female has man-hands or thinking a woman you’re dating is always wearing the same dress. So much like an episode of Seinfeld, let’s not try to assign any depth or weight to the material. Let’s just appreciate the observation.
Why does all the technology in Marvel movies look like it was designed by the same guy?
In nearly 10 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there has been a lot of technology on display. From Iron Man’s eight thousand suits of armor to the various weaponry employed by heroes, villains, S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA, etc. But it all looks like it came from the same basic design. Armor with a lot of different plates and pieces. Sharp, rigid lines stacked atop one another to create something flexible and animated. Glowing embers of energy emerging from a power cell in blue or red.
There’s a striking similarity to all of the technology in the Marvel Universe. There’s some slight variations in Guardians of the Galaxy and Thor, but even Star-Lord’s ship, The Milano, has the same kind of basic design principle that shapes the Marvel engineering aesthetic. And the otherworldly Nova Corps looked like very earthly riot police uniforms with some helmets only worn by characters without a line or a reason to exist.
Certainly there are reasons for this: Production designers following a basic blueprint. The idea that all this tech stems from a basic core set of technical principles and materials that allows it to exist in this fictional universe. That’s fine and all, but if I’m being honest… it’s kind of boring.
I was looking at the new Marvel action figures for Spider-Man: Homecoming and looked at the design for The Vulture. It felt so uninspired. Don’t get me wrong, it looks EXACTLY like what I thought a Marvel Cinematic Universe Vulture would look like. There’s nothing new about it. It looks like Falcon 2.0. Mechanical wings with sharp rigid lines and fractal plates. A leather flight jacket thrown in to ground it further to reality.
One of things I love about comic books is the wild variation of styles and designs. Different artists bring different visual styles and can come up with inspired designs. The comics medium allows for so many variations of style and design. The Avengers comics always felt like an amazing amalgam of characters with wildly different styles. Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, Wasp, Vision, Hawkeye… all of them felt like they came from a completely different place, stylistically speaking. Iron Man’s armor looked different than Doctor Doom. Stilt-Man’s technology looked vastly different to the exosuit of the Beetle or Scorpion. Yes, it’s much more difficult to differentiate styles and materials in the real world. However, I still think the Marvel movie tech is a little underwhelming and lacks imagination.
In terms of style, the DC movies have been far more successful. Superman’s costume felt like a perfect amalgam of comic book and real world. Batman’s costume and exosuit from Dawn of Justice felt original and forged piece by piece, one hammer strike at a time. It was bulky and felt like it had weight. Suicide Squad’s wardrobe was impressive. Each villain had a level of distinction. Costumes had a sense of flair that has been lacking in Marvel movies. Yes, it makes ZERO sense for Katana to have a giant red bow tied on her back, but it looks appropriately comic book-ish. The early incarnations of Enchantress looked far more otherworldly than anything I’ve seen in the Marvel movies. You know, when she was this creepy, decrepit looking monstrosity, before she transforms into a Vegas showgirl. Even the Kryptonian armor designs from Man of Steel felt appropriately alien Sure, the DC movies themselves were terrible. But damnit, the costume design was amazing.
Whenever anyone talks about the variance of costume aesthetics in film vs. comics, people often resort to one basic point: “What works in the comics wouldn’t work in a movie” citing things like Wolverine’s yellow and blue costume. You know what that line of logic has given us? Seven X-Men movies with the most boring costumes ever put to film: Leather jumpsuits and hockey pads.
I was trying to think of a Marvel movie that had inspired wardrobe and tech. Thor had some interesting designs as did 2016’s Doctor Strange. Both films were appropriately otherworldly, but I don’t think that’s what led to their success. I think it’s that both movies made an effort to replicate the comic book costumes without compromise. Sure, it’s much easier to go grandiose in movies that takes place in spiritual realms and Asgard, but I still believe that there is room for more original designs in these kind of films. No, I don’t need Hawkeye in purple chain mail and a pointy mask or Captain America with wings on his mask and troubadour boots. But couldn’t they have done something more interesting with Scarlet Witch? Or Vision? Or Falcon? I hate to harp on the movie version of Falcon, but he looks more like NFL Superpro than he does the classic Avenger.
I keep thinking back to Tim Burton’s doomed Superman Lives movie. All the concept art and costume design work that was being done. The crazy looking fiber optic suit and the lengths the team went to in order to create something appropriately cinematic. I wish that kind of mindset was applied to more of the Marvel movie universe. While watching Captain America: Civil War, I marveled at Spider-Man, because his brightly colored fun red & blue costume practically leaped off the screen in comparison to everybody else. It’s bright, colorful, fun, and looks like something that could successfully exist in a movie AND the printed page. Black Panther’s costume was similarly interesting because of the reverence of the design, but the grooves and lack of smooth lines felt pointless. I understand the concept of grounding some of the wilder comic book elements in reality, but it would be nice if we could find some new ways of creating these heroes and villains on-screen.
What superhero costumes do you think have been appropriately brought to the big screen?
Anghus Houvouras
