Be Captain America, Steve.
[ENGINE REVVING]
It's been a long road going from the campy, initial decades
of superhero adaptations to the global dominance of the MCU.
Many people have forgotten just how
goofy most of the initial attempts
at translating superhero costumes to film
actually were-- actually, just how
goofy translating superheroes to film were period.
Just look at Reb Brown's Captain America costume.
[SIREN BLARING]
It's a far cry from Simon and Kirby's original idea, let
alone what we got in the MCU, even if some of the costumes
do kind of always feel the same.
It's a phenomenon that's talked about a lot
on the internet lately, especially in short form
social media environments-- the homogenization of Marvel's
costumes.
Well, there's a reason for that.
But before we dive too deep, why do superheroes wear spandex
in the first place?
Well the quick answer for that is Jules Leotard.
If you're not familiar with Leotard,
he was a circus performer from the 1800s--
a brilliant one at that.
Born in 1838 to a gymnastics instructor in Toulouse, France,
he was initially planning on being a lawyer.
He passed all his exams and was all set to work in a legal firm
when he just couldn't shake his passion for the circus.
A true performer at heart, he had
dreams of building an apparatus that
would enable him to swing above crowds,
soaring through the air, and he did just that.
Jules Leotard not only invented the art of the trapeze,
he also created what we refer to today as, well, the leotard.
Starting in the late 1930s, characters
like Superman and The Phantom popularized fighting crime
while clad in these tight, sometimes
strange-looking costumes.
While superhero costumes are a combination of Leotard's flying
uniform and circus strong man outfits,
they were theoretically meant to both display
the muscles of the wearer and allow for ease of movement--
a practical way to show off.
However, these costumes quickly evolved into visual metaphors.
What does Wonder Woman stand for?
Female empowerment and the ideas of her adopted homeland
reflected in our gauntlets and her star-spangled attire.
Batman?
Creature of the night, otherworldly
vampire unless he's punching the Joker off a 50-foot tall piano.
We just don't talk about those stories as much.
That's fine, but you get the idea.
The superhero's costume is a reflection of the ideas
that they believe in-- a theatrical display of rebelling
against the status quo.
So let's circle back around.
When attempting to translate these costumes to the screen,
in the early days of comic book adaptations,
most productions opted for a one-to-one approach-- literally
clothing their heroes in literal spandex,
just like their supposed four-color equivalent.
This basically leads to 45 years of characters having costumes
that feel off, not too realistic,
and play the narrative of biff, bang, pow comics,
and that this is just for kids in one way or another.
There's a larger-than-life nature
to the illustrated page that just doesn't function
the same way in real life.
Drawing Batman in a spandex suit there,
it's understood that in that reality,
he has armor underneath it, even though we
can see his abs, which is how you
get those weird plastic Batman film abs.
See how that works in one place but not another?
But then we get to the March of 2002.
Everything changes.
If you're not familiar, "The Ultimates"
was a part of an imprint at Marvel
where they restarted the books, making them contemporary
and inviting in new readers.
Didn't have an intimate knowledge
of Spider-Man's backstory?
No problem.
Just pick up "Ultimate Spider-Man"
number 1, where the journey was jump-starting all over again.
Now it's hard to overstate the impact that Brian Hitch's
character designs for the Ultimates had
on both the comic book industry and the idea of superhero
costumes across nearly every franchise.
Hitch was the first artist to answer
the question what would superheroes
look like in real life?
His visual solutions for this reflected
the tone of the books--
darker, more grounded, and more serious in nature.
Gone was Iron Man's bulky refrigerator armor from
the '60s, and here was a robot suit that looked like something
straight out of "Popular Science"-- an actual,
functional robot suit.
Same with Thor-- goodbye massive yellow boots, winged helmets,
and bright red capes.
A ribbed leather jumpsuit and boots were here to stay.
The aesthetic of "The Ultimates" was taking the beloved Marvel
characters, boiling them down to their essentials,
and then rebuilding them using athletic apparel,
military equipment, tactical body armor-- things
that people would put on their bodies
in place of spandex and capes.
And it set the comic book world on fire.
"The Ultimates" was notable for many reasons,
the most primary of which is probably the fact
that it perfected the widescreen approach
to comics, which ironically, is what the Avengers movies would
be mimicking very quickly thereafter.
Believe it or not, "The Ultimates"
is the rough template for both the general approach of the MCU
and specifically, Joss Whedon's film, "The Avengers."
This gets right down to the visuals
of the universe-- the stylistic approach that Brian
Hitch brought to designing superhero costumes on a page
was grounded in leather over spandex, utilitarian looks,
and a general feeling that they could
be worn by a real person out in public as opposed to this.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
It is hard to get modern America to take
full-on spandex seriously on someone like Captain America.
I get that.
But also, not every character works under that overly logical
visual aesthetic.
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All right, back to the video.
See, the general approach to the idea
of superhero costume design will be fully embraced
by the man who would soon be put in charge
of designing all of the costumes for the Marvel Cinematic
Universe.
That would be this guy on your screen right now.
You see, Ryan here is currently the head of visual development
at Marvel Studios.
Originally from Northeast Ohio, he got his start in video games
before eventually transitioning into film.
He's worked on the MCU films since Iron Man 1.
It's his digital paintbrush, along with an army
of fellow concept designers, that
have designed all of the costumes and suits for the MCU.
Many of the Hitch tropes that we've talked about
and he established are repeated in the MCU's approach
to superhero costume designs--
ribbed or structured ribcage elements
and emphasis on paramilitary gear, straps,
and structured costume elements are
pervasive in nearly every onscreen Marvel character.
Captain America, a literal agent of the US government,
or Tony Stark, Iron Man, a robotic super soldier.
Yeah, these design approaches make sense for them.
However, the aesthetic of extra-governmental paramilitary
chic doesn't quite fit everyone, and is way
too big of a mouthful to say over and over again
in meetings.
What we won't spoil, I guess, any
of the other elements of the story that you might not
be able to figure out from the very
blatant marketing from the film, but needless to say,
Shang-Chi is a martial arts master in the vein of Bruce
Lee, so you think his MCU costume, which, thankfully,
isn't his comic book costume of running around in pajama pants,
shoeless, with a headband-- will be something
along the lines of, well, Lee's iconic "Game of Death"
jumpsuit, right?
It's practically a superhero costume already.
Well, you'd be wrong.
They went with this--
a structured Gore-Tex-looking leathery,
almost athleisure suit of armor, sort of.
It's interesting.
The costume's common ancestry to Hitch
is obviously apparent, but why is a martial arts master, who
needs to be able to move around freely,
wearing plastic leather armor?
The same thing can be said for Scarlet Witch in general.
Her costume in the comics just befuddled the MCU design
department so much that they didn't have her
in her suit from the first near-decade of her being
a fixture of popular culture.
Her initial visual look was more mole-goth Hot Topic employee
than fearsome chaos magic wielder.
And when they did get her costume
at the end of "WandaVision," it's
a plastic leather structured pseudo armor.
Well, again, the question is why?
Honestly, Wanda's joke costume from the Halloween episode
is a much stronger visual silhouette.
It's obviously very flawed, but it's here.
Imagine that crown on a costume that wasn't played for laughs.
It could work.
See, overall, the MCU has a myriad
of accomplishments, which it would be futile attempting
to list, at least here.
However, one common criticism was
that the films feel a bit uniform or cookie-cutter.
This goes back to two points-- the use
of humor, which erodes character individuality sometimes.
[SCOFFS] Mr. Rogers, I almost forgot--
that suit did nothing for your ass.
As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass.
And the visual sameness of the character
designs and sometimes behaviors.
Should a mystical character like Dr. Strange, Scarlet Witch,
or Dormammu all share a common visual language?
Sure.
Is there an issue that the paramilitary-grounded character
share a common design scheme?
No.
The issue is that everything in the MCU
is filtered through the same precise and very narrow lens.
Why are the same space activating
ribbing and patterning on Spider Man's costume on Captain
America costume?
It's also on Shuri's costume.
Every character's general visual look
seems to be drawn on the same tapestry.
And when you start adding in hero
after hero, universe after universe,
it becomes a little, well, tedious.
The concept designers at Marvel-- the costume designers
at Marvel-- are master craftsmen.
Could they create inventive solutions for these issues?
Absolutely, but it's not always up
to them, which is why we're not here
to talk about what they've done wrong.
There are producers and directors and executives
to consider and the simple fact that not everyone working
on these comic book characters actually likes their costumes.
But, I mean, come on.
Am I the only one still hoping for a Batroc
the Leaper movie appearance where he
isn't wearing a purple jacket?
Put the guy in the mask and the mustache already.
Let's see what happens.
Well, that's all for this episode of "Nerdstalgic," guys.
If you enjoyed this one, press that Like button down below.
This is a topic that really interests me,
so I'm glad we got a chance to talk about it.
As always, hit Subscribe if you haven't yet done so.
Two more episodes on your screen right now.
You can check those out.
And hopefully, I will see you guys in the next video.
[MUSIC PLAYING]