I wrote before about how I hate the new Superman costume, but I’ve noticed some have objected to the viewpoint. Some like it.
So, I decided to play “Angel’s advocate” and examine the costume through the eyes of someone that likes it. It wasn’t easy, but here goes.
There are some new on-set images of the Superman costume for Man of Steel (2013) online and I’m going to do a quick analysis to show the changes.
I can summarize it by saying it’s awesome! It looks like a fresh new take on the old costume. It’s a pretty drastic shift from the traditional costume and most of the changes are pretty cool.
For reference, here’s the new costume next to the tradional costume from the 1980s Superman films. This costume became the standard after the first film.
A lot of the changes are in keeping with the DC reboot of Superman. He gets a new costume in the comics and the movie follows pretty closely to those changes.
Colors
The blue and red colors are there, but darker and muted. The old day-glo colors were pretty dated. The new colors give Superman a more grown-up and modern look.
Cape
The length and shape of the cape is another highly debated topic. The fabric seems to be fairly loose, but judging from the picture above it goes way past his feet dragging on the ground. The traditional costume goes to behind the knees leaving his legs free.
The costume has a square neckline which really broadens his shoulders and accentuates the cape.
This is going to make for some dramatic shots when he’s flying or running. We may even get a Batman style “cape wrapped around the body” look.
Boots
The traditional shape is there. No dramatic changes to the boots are visible. They have a thick heel, which gives him some height and makes him look more imposing.
Fabric
Textured and made out of a rubbery material. Spandex has gone out of fashion since the 80’s, so it’s about time they made it more interesting.
It still shows his muscles and body shape, but this is a huge change. It has that textured look that is now popular for superhero costumes since Spider-Man. Flat colors are Ok for comic books, but this looks cooler on-screen.
It has a texture that really gives it an alien look. Ma Kent didn’t make this costume.
Gloves
The traditional costume has no gloves, but this one give the impression of gloves at the wrist. Not only does it make the costume more interesting, but when he throws a punch it gives a more dramatic line. Pretty sweet.
Chest symbol
Much wider emblam crossing the shoulders from end-to-end. The shape itself has changed over the years, but reminds me of the Alex Ross Kingdom Come comic design with a focus on the center line. This actually looks pretty good.
There are also some ribbing and lines through the torso that really pop.
Belt
No belt to speak of but a set of curved lines. A very small circle for the belt buckle. Some pictures show red coloration on the belt lines and others do not. It’s about time they got rid of the red underpants. Not even Batman wears those anymore.
The shape and size of the belt buckle is a source of great discussion about uber-nerds. Should it be round? Square? Shield shaped? This new costume design takes those arguements out.
After writing this post I have to agree with the commenters. Once you stop nit-picking the costume does have a fresh new look. I hated the 1989 Batman costume till I saw it in the movie.
What do you think of the new costume?
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="40867 ">14 Comments
I hate it. So ugly. Its not superman anymoore without the bright colors of red and blue. Beside. The actor dosent look like a superman just a cheap wanebe
The suit looks fantastic. I love it. The boots do not have the thick heel that you claim they do. They are more sock like. And the lines around his waist that lead to the buckle are yellow/gold. The ones colored red are just fan manipulations…nothing more
Textured costumes may look strange in photos, but they do emulate comicbook's lights and shadows (ink mass) pretty effectively in motion pictures.
Some changes are mandatory to make something static to work in movement. Example: look at comicbooks' drawing's detail and toons' So much color layering and "unimportant" lines would be a hell to animate.
I quite like it… feels more close to the comicbooks (thor like folds in cape, chest logo, etc..) than the old movies. It's not how it looks it's how it feels. Amazing Spiderman's new costume was horrible (in pics) but it worked wonders on screen and felt much right than the previous trilogy.
I am very much in favor of switching up costumes rather than marring yourself in tradition, and I like the dark tones in this costume, but I am turned off by how needlessly busy it is. All those lines drawn around the waist and sleeves aren't that stylish and serve no purpose. Also, it occurs to me that with the change in costume, that slick hairstyle looks out of place, doesn't it? I would have complemented the more adult, more serious aesthetic of this film with a crew cut or something. The whole problem with Superman's character is that he continues to be presented as this "all-American boy" stereotype. I feel it inhibits the character from supporting the kind of growth and versatility that Batman has shown over the years.
It's a little tight but I'm glad the man panties are gone. Darkening the colors was a good call in my view. Seems symbolic of a darker, more realistic Superman.
I think the costume designer was inspired by the success of the cutome makeover of Captain America… Too bad, it doesn't work that good in Superman.
Old fans of Superman will find it quite difficult to adapt to the new outfit, as I need some time to start to like the new costume.
And, do you have an idea what fabric it is? Because since I saw Amazing Spiderman I fell in love with the fabric. I've been searching for it thoroughly in the Internet and stores where I live and nothing. I've been even thinking it's a special exclusive fabric that only Marvel and DC can have. -_- Any thoughts on this?
I don't know what people are complaining about. I always thought the traditional costume, with that stupid underwear over the tights, looked part superhero and part metrosexual. With this costume, he actually looks ready to kick some ass. All you comic book nazis need to get over this. This redo of the classic costume is clearly an improvement of the original that will actually translate well on the big screen. Looking at it, I can tell that the movie is going to be an awesome reinvention of the character in the mode of The Amazing Spider-Man and Batman Begins.
In other words: "I'm glad Superman isn't going to be Superman in this film".
wow. holy crap. the spider-man reboot? really? that was freaking terrible. it was like an angst ridden "twilight" version of spider-man. worst freaking analogy ever.
I think Man of Steel is going to be one of those movies where the critics don't like… why? Because they are wanting it to be like the Christopher Reeve version. It is supposed to be darker (very much like Superman: Earth One). For the critics, just give them some time to get used to this version of Superman…
Every people that only can complain is not creative 🙂
to avoid someone say's "SUPERMAN"…. ,so the designer make it like caligraphic symbol…
It's one of two fabrics depending on the shot: a "punched" spandex/neoprene blend or a sculpted skin atop a body suit. The suit in Amazing Spider-man is a heavy silk screen on performance neoprene.