Comic book callbacks, a subtle nod to friendship, and hidden messages to Mom. Every superhero needs
a good costume, and you won’t believe the secrets inside these MCU ensembles.
"No, no I don’t think I will."
The Hulk is known for his iconic purple pants, but when Hulk was introduced, they were actually blue.
It wasn't until 1962's "Incredible Hulk #4" that he earned his Barney-tinted trousers.
"It's not like purple pants grow on trees, there's only one
Dillard's that carries these and it's all the way downtown and now I have to argggggghhh!"
Many depictions of the character in popular culture since have had him wearing the
purple pants, likely because the color contrasts against his green skin so well. But Marvel films
have largely shied away from having Bruce Banner wearing lavender-colored trousers.
Nevertheless, like Wolverine's X-Men outfit, Luke Cage's headband,
or Vision's green-and-yellow, Marvel has been open to making wink-wink jokes about
the garish colors that look so good on the splash page but not on a cinema screen.
In 2008's "The Incredible Hulk," Bruce and Betty Ross are reunited
and on the run from "Thunderbolt" Ross when Betty buys some clothes for him.
"What?"
It's a quick callback to the character's comic book roots,
just enough to put a smile on the faces of knowing fans.
Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Hope van Dyne/Wasp spent the second "Ant-Man" film fighting Ava
Starr/Ghost, with the film being Hope's formal introduction as a hero.
Ant-Man and Wasp are both obviously named after insects, and can shrink to their size
for superheroic battling, alluded to by the costume department's crafting of their suits.
The head of a wasp can be seen on Hope's suit, while the head of an ant is depicted in Scott's
duds. Both insects even have visible antennae, making them both fun and surprisingly accurate.
Though some might not take notice of what appears to be typical superhero costume paneling,
both suits shift to a different shape after the pincher portions, making the details
clearly intentional. It's a subtle callback to the insects these heroes are named after,
and is always one of those things that once you become aware, you'll never be able to not see it.
The first Marvel Disney+ series, "WandaVision" was not only a lot of fun,
but also subject to perhaps the highest degree of fan dissection. One moment that really had
fans talking was the Halloween costumes of Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch and Vision.
"Are you old Red Riding Hood?"
"I'm a Sokovian fortune teller."
When Wanda and Vision showed off their Halloween costumes in "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!",
sharp-eyed viewers recognized the nods to their traditional comic book appearance.
Years before "WandaVision" became a reality, Elizabeth Olsen said on "Late Night with Seth
Meyers" that when she was cast, she was told she'd never have to wear the comic book suit.
"You know, I did ballet growing up, but that's not a confident look."
In a 2021 interview with Looper, however,
producer Mary Livanos said Olsen was excited about the chance to include the costume in the series.
In addition to Wanda and Vision wearing their comic book suits, Ralph Bohner/"Pietro," wore
Quicksilver's comic book look. Wanda and Vision's children in the sitcom universe, Billy and Tommy,
could also be seen wearing Halloween costumes alluding to their comic book roots.
The inclusion of all five comic book looks as Halloween costumes was a whimsical thrill,
a nod to the source material, and perhaps a microcosm of the entire series' unique tone.
In 2017's "Thor: Ragnarok," Hulk/Bruce Banner learns some crucial info about where he's been
and what's been going on in his life since he left the Avengers at the end of "Avengers: Age of
Ultron." If he wanted to know more about himself, however, perhaps all he had to do was look down.
In one scene, Bruce is wearing what appears to be a Duran Duran shirt.
Remember, he'd been forced to put on Tony Stark's clothes after reverting to human form.
"Put these on."
"These are Tony's clothes."
Not only is a tee-and-sportcoat combo something "Less Than Zero"-era Downey Jr. would have worn,
but the shirt bears artwork from the band's 1982 album
"Rio," which produced the classic "Hungry Like the Wolf."
At first, it feels like a throwaway bit of character development,
that Stark just happens to be a lover of early '80s British new wave; but the t-shirt actually
isn't truly Duran Duran-related — it just bares the same Patrick Nagel artwork used on the album.
What's the connection? You might recall that later in the film, Hulk has a key smackdown with Fenris,
the massive wolf who runs alongside the evil Hela. Some Marvel fans have
concluded that the Stark shirt foreshadows that confrontation.
But, not so fast. According to Ruffalo himself, he was allowed to select the
Robert Downey Jr.-referencing wardrobe — and the tee is a reference to his real-life
friend, not a "Ragnarok" plot point. In an interview to promote the film, Ruffalo said:
"I picked the things I thought would be the most like [Downey Jr.]. [...] He loves Duran Duran;
they played at his birthday party. So I was like 'Oh my god,
I have to get the Duran Duran logo.' But I couldn't get it, so I got the Nagle instead."
Wanda, Vision, and Hulk aren't the only ones who have been glimpsed in
their comic book looks at some point in the MCU.
In 2019's "Captain Marvel," Carol Danvers got a similar shout-out to her comic book look.
When Carol asks Monica Rambeau for help deciding what colors she should wear,
several different designs are cycled through before the duo decide on the iconic red and
blue suit. The fun comes in with three "rejected" color combinations spotted by eagle-eyed fans.
"Definitely not."
The first is an all-red version of the suit, a callback to the red Ms. Marvel comic book outfit.
The next attempt is black and gold, reminiscent of a Ms. Marvel suit. Monica then changes
the suit colors to a green and gray ensemble, reminiscent of the Mar-Vell suit in the comics.
MCU Easter eggs don't have to reference old comic books;
sometimes, they call back to beloved plot points from the other films.
In the pages of Marvel Comics, there was a romantic relationship between Black
Widow/Natasha Romanoff and Hawkeye/Clint Barton. In the MCU, the two characters
had something more closely resembling a strong friendship. Either way works here.
"We're still friends, right?"
"Depends on how hard you hit me."
As first glimpsed in "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," Black Widow wears an
arrow necklace. Although never explained, the necklace points to Hawkeye,
resident archer of the Avengers. She can later be seen wearing the necklace in "Avengers: Endgame."
The Easter egg was confirmed in 2021, when Marvel Studios
honcho Kevin Feige confirmed on Twitter that the necklace was a nod to Clint.
Feige added that the jewelry was suggested by Black Widow actor Scarlett Johansson herself.
"Yes, the arrow necklace was Scarlett's idea. She's
been wearing it since Captain America: The Winter Soldier."
Friends love to share clothes, but it isn't often that you find yourself
sharing an outfit with a raccoon. Unless, of course, you're both Guardians of the Galaxy.
Keep an eye on everyone's favorite interplanetary anti-heroes and you'll notice that Star-Lord/Peter
Quill and Rocket Raccoon share a scarf between
"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" and "Avengers: Endgame."
Before Star-Lord was turned to dust via the Thanos snap in "Avengers: Infinity War," he
wore a red scarf. The only "Guardians of the Galaxy" character to survive the snap was Rocket,
so it makes for an especially touching nod when the snarling super raccoon pops
up In "Avengers: Endgame" wearing the same scarf.
The scarf, combined with Rocket using his most well-known comic book suit in the big battle,
were fun incorporations of comic book information in the film — and we can
only assume that when Quill came back, Rocket was there to give him his scarf back… and maybe a hug.
Sometimes, the MCU even inserts hints of other comic book characters into its costumes.
In "Avengers: Endgame," for instance, there's a little-known reference to
someone else who briefly became Captain America... at least, in the comics.
When "Endgame" Steve goes back in time to 1970 to get the Tesseract, you can see that the uniform
he's wearing as a disguise bears the last name "Roscoe." This appears to be a reference to Roscoe
Simons. In mid-'70s Captain America comics, Simons was presented as a youngster who was
a huge fan of Cap. Later, Captain America would become Nomad, leaving his moniker up for grabs
as several individuals attempted to fill the position. Trained by Falcon, Roscoe Simons was
one of these wannabe warriors, although his story had a sad ending at the hands of the Red Skull.
"It seems like it's not worth it. And you wonder,
why you waited so long for something so disappointing."
Steve using that name as his disguise in "Endgame" is a nice nod to the comic books, as well as other
people that have served as Captain America, but there is one problem with it: the military lists
last names on uniforms, not first names. So, the reference should read "Simons."
While fans may have been too distracted by an aged Steve Rogers at the end of the film
to pick up on it right away, Steve was wearing a recognizable jacket.
After going back in the timeline to replace all the infinity stones,
it becomes clear that Captain America has altered the plan.
"Where is he?"
"I don't know, he blew right by his timestamp, he should be here."
Bucky Barnes then notices that Steve is sitting nearby, now an old man, having
lived the entirety of a life that had previously been stolen from the thawed-out super soldier.
If the jacket this old man is wearing looks familiar, that's because it's
similar in color and shape to the jacket he wore in "Captain America: The First Avenger."
When audiences first saw him with this look, it was before he became Captain America, so it is
meant to evoke a return to who he was in those early scenes. Bringing the jacket back, in what
is perhaps the final appearance of Chris Evans' Cap in the MCU, helps his story come full circle.
In "Black Panther," the costume department gave a less-than-subtle nod to the Pan-African flag.
When T'Challa/Black Panther, Okoye, and Nakia go to South Korea to try and intercept the sale of
a Wakandan artifact by Ulysses Klaue, the black market dealer some may recognize from "Avengers:
Age of Ultron," their outfits stand out.
The three of them are in the colors of the Pan-African flag: T'Challa in black,
Okoye in red, and Nakia in green. This isn't the only time it happens, either.
Throughout the film, T'Challa wears black, Okoye wears red, and Nakia wears green when they're
together, and if you watch closely, they're typically lined up to maintain the message.
The Pan-African flag was created by Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican journalist and political activist,
in the 1920s. Garvey also founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association
and the African Communities League. The flag is used as a symbol of Black nationalism
and was used as part of the Black Liberation movement in the 1960s.
This nod to a flag that is so important to Black Americans is an excellent touch.
Erik "Killmonger" Stevens/N'Jadaka comes to Wakanda, where he fights against T'Challa for
the Wakandan throne, as is his birthright. He wins, and T'Challa is presumed dead.
"Nah, I'm your king."
When it's discovered that T'Challa is not dead, and the Dora Milaje turns on Killmonger,
he fights them in a special suit similar to Black Panther's. The suit he wears
has a leopard print, though it's referred to as the Golden Jaguar.
In the comic books, Killmonger has a favorite pet leopard named Preyy.
This cat is highly trained, with more speed and strength than a typical leopard. The suit may
even foreshadow what happens to Killmonger in the film, as the pet is also killed in Wakanda.
In at least one scene in "Black Panther" where the suit glows with kinetic energy,
there is purple script visible, which is written in Xhosa, a real African language.
One user on Reddit claims to have translated the text as "I love you, mom," though it isn't clear
whose mom this line refers to. Did Shuri put this in as a message to their mother Ramonda?
Did she perhaps think it would give Ramonda and Black Panther strength in a
time of need? Or is it a real-life message, inserted by someone in post production?
There is additional text on the suit that has yet to be translated,
so there could be additional messages that may give this one more context.
If you're up on your Xhosa, hit that "pause" button and give it a shot.
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