Hey guys, I’m Kya and it always drove me nuts how much Spider-Man shows his face in the movies.
Seriously, he takes his mask off all the damn time.
But I get it. It’s hard for the audience to connect with blank, unmoving fabric.
Like, ever notice how his eyes constantly change size and shape in the comics?
It’s kind of a cheat.
There’s no in-universe explanation for it, it’s just a shortcut artists use to show Spidey’s emotions.
And it wasn’t possible at all in live action, at least until the MCU came up with a genius solution.
‘Homecoming’ could have Spidey’s best onscreen costume ever, and I’ll tell you why in a little bit.
Because today we’re taking a look at the evolution of Spider-Man's live-action costumes.
Starting with the early incarnations.
Okay, so the first live-action appearance of Spider-Man was in a Turkish movie called 'Uch Dev Adam.’
Thanks to a little trick called “not giving a shit about copyright law,” we saw Spider-Man and Captain America do battle forty years before ‘Civil War.’
Hey Cap'n. Big fan. Spider-Man.
Though in this case Spider-Man was a straight up villain with a crappy green costume.
I don’t know why, whatever.
Spidey’s first authorized appearance was on ‘The Electric Company.’
It was an educational show with short little segments starring Spider-Man.
The costume isn’t too bad, actually.
It’s just a simple spandex version of the comic book design.
It looks a little silly, but it works just fine for kids TV.
There was a live-action ‘Spider-Man’ show in 1979 that actually had a worse uniform.
It’s the same basic design, but the material was all wrinkly like a cheap Halloween costume.
Like, even though he had no pants to hold up, he wore a utility belt.
With a big silver buckle shaped like his face.
Narcissism at it’s finest.
There’s also just one webshooter, it’s a big bulky bracelet that Spidey wears on the outside of his suit.
I do kind of like the round reflective mirror eyes.
They’re creepy and bug-like. I'm a fan.
The whole outfit has kind of a homemade vibe, which I don’t think they were actually going for.
But, I mean, it's great for early cosplayers!
And at least it looked better than Marvel’s other 70s TV heroes. 32 00:02:07,995 --> 00:02:05,959 Except for the Hulk. Can’t really screw that one up.
Japan had its own ‘Spider-Man’ show around this time too.
It used the same costume with a couple of minor differences, like the eyes.
And the giant transforming robot named Leopardon.
Spidey adaptations would get a little more faithful in the Sam Raimi trilogy.
Okay so I’m going to fangirl a little bit here.
The Sam Raimi trilogy is one of the best superhero trilogies of all time, and I know people have complaints or whatever, but it's still better than what came before.
I mean, yeah, X-Men started this whole superhero revival and everyone praised its great acting, interesting story, and fun script.
Know what nobody praised? The frickin’ uniforms.
Because they were the worst.
What would you prefer? Yellow spandex?
They were ugly, Matrix-y black jumpsuits without any of the color or style from the comics-- and they were impractical as hell.
It's just impossible to get your leg up there!
But that was the only thing we had to go off of when Sony announced their Spider-Man movie, so there weren’t high hopes for the costume.
Like, how the hell was Spider-Man gonna do his thing in tight stuffy leather?
They tried some different designs.
Comic artist Alex Ross submitted a cool black and red one.
It wasn’t used, but it inspired the later costumes of Miles Morales and the Superior Spider-Man.
Thankfully, our fears were put to rest when we saw the first picture of Tobey Maguire all suited up.
It sticks close to the comics, with just a few changes so it wouldn’t read as an ugly blob of color on screen.
Like the raised webbing design made out of rubber.
And a honeycomb texture printed throughout the material.
It still looks great, but I’ve always had a couple of issues with it.
Looks uncomfortable. It gets kinda itchy. And it rides up in the crotch a little bit.
The bulky muscle suit Tobey wore underneath the spandex doesn’t do him any favors.
I personally kind of prefer a scrawny, lankier Spider-Man.
I don’t want my Spidey looking like a WWE Superstar.
Just me.
Also, I like the reflective stuff they used for his eyes, but their shape is a little too pointy and angular.
I’m more of a buggy girl.
And while we’re here I’ve also gotta give a special shoutout to the original trilogy for not even trying to adapt Spider-Man’s awesome costume from the Venom saga.
They literally just took his regular suit, dipped it in black dye, and called it a day. Kinda lame.
I do love his homemade outfit though.
‘Homecoming’ has a cool version of it too.
Andrew Garfield… Not so much.
Remember 'The Amazing Spider-Man?'
Okay. Look, guys, Sony dropped the ball with this reboot, but I’ll give them this:
They tried to do something very different with the costume.
It takes some inspiration from Ben Reilly’s awesome 90’s Spider-Man costume, like the blue fingers and big chest symbol.
They also got rid of Spidey’s traditional belt line,
He looks naked without it, like a dude wearing blue bodypaint with a bright red arrow pointing at his junk.
It’s not the best.
I’m glad his webshooters are back, though, and I like how you can see the little discs on his suit light up when they’re used.
You could call the costume more “realistic,’ even though I have no idea how a poor kid from Queens could make something that looks like it came out of Nike’s test lab.
Look at these sneakers! Does Aunt May know about the sweatshop hidden in his room?
Overall, the costume has some interesting ideas, but it all seems a little too slick.
Like it’s different just for the sake of being different.
Pretty much like they’re trying way to hard not to be Tobey and trying a new thing and they’re like “we’re gonna be cool” and they just- It just doesn’t work.
That definitely wouldn’t be the case in 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2.'
Look, the less said about this movie, the better.
But we can’t ignore how awesome its costume was.
They ditched the basketball-looking suit from the first movie and went with a new design that's ripped straight from the comics.
Like, seriously. It’s exactly the comic book suit.
I love those big Todd McFarlane eyes!
They're a little buggy. They're like big buggies.
I didn’t think they’d ever be able to top this one, but now that we’ve seen the MCU Spider-Man in action, I think I have a new fave.
Now, Spidey’s eyes have these mechanical lenses that narrow and widen as the scene demands.
They’re buggy. They’re like buggy eyes.
It’s even justified in-universe, since they’re used to focus Peter’s new senses.
My senses have been dialed to 11. There's way too much input. They help me focus.
That’s story done right people, take note.
The costume plays a big role in the plot of ‘Homecoming.’
It’s a gift from Tony Stark, all decked out with fancy tech.
So that explains how a 15-year-old can afford a super suit that would make Batman jealous.
Kinda makes me jealous. 97 00:07:06,726 --> 00:07:01,888 The chest symbol turns into a drone, and it’s got a cool AI like JARVIS...
Ultron conspiracy theory, anyone?
He’s even got armpit wings!
But I’m glad they didn’t go with the Iron Spider armor from the original ‘Civil War’ storyline.
Because the ‘Homecoming’ suit fits the design language established by the MCU.
Most of the costumes we’ve seen have a kind of military style.
They’re all about function, or at least looking that way.
So no more raised webbing.
In fact now it looks cut into the material.
There’s also a lot of lines to break up colors and create a visually stimulating look.
Like these black bands around Spidey’s uniform that connect to his belt and webshooters.
They’re new, but they work with the design and they’re justified by all the new technology he’s rocking.
Honestly, I just love what they’ve done with his costume.
And I can’t wait to see how it evolves in 'Infinity War' and everything after.
But please, Sony, Marvel, whoever’s listening.
Let’s keep this one for a while, okay? Cool? Great. Thanks.