Daily News for Marvel Movie

Summary

• Many MCU characters have never received their comic-accurate costumes.
• Recent MCU stories have embraced comic-accurate designs for many characters, including Sam Wilson's Captain America and Peter Parker's Spider-Man.
• Marvel Studios' changes to Marvel Comics' designs have often enhanced characters, such as the Vulture, Mantis and Ant-Man.

There are still many characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who have never sported their comic-accurate costumes. While other superhero franchises shied away from gifting their heroes and villains their vibrant, comic-accurate designs, Marvel Studios has always embraced the fantastical, colorful, and sometimes ridiculous costumes from Marvel Comics in live-action. Many MCU characters have had comic-accurate costumes, some, such as Iron Man and Captain America, right from the very start, but this honor hasn't been given to everyone in the franchise.
Even more MCU heroes and villains in recent years have been given their comic-accurate costumes, including the likes of Sam Wilson's Captain America, Peter Parker's Spider-Man and Marc Spector's Moon Knight. It's been wonderful to see Marvel Studios fully integrating some of the most out-there looks from Marvel Comics into the MCU, but many still haven't been seen on-screen. Often, character designs in the MCU are far stronger than their comic counterparts, though Marvel Studios has also made some disappointing and controversial costume changes.
10 Hawkeye Never Received His Classic Marvel Comics Look Clint Barton Debuted In The MCU In 2011's Thor Close Similarly to his Marvel Comics counterpart, Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye has sported many different costumes throughout his MCU journey. These suits have often been inspired by his Marvel Comics outfits, with purple motifs running through the majority, but he has never donned his original costume from the comics. Perhaps deemed too weird and wacky for the more grounded, down-to-Earth Hawkeye in the MCU, his classic purple-and-blue suit and helmet, adorned with his "H" emblem, has never been seen in live-action.
2021's Hawkeye series did finally see Renner's Clint Barton suit up in a comic-accurate design, but this took inspiration from his more modern look from Matt Fraction and David Aja's popular 2012 run of Hawkeye. This black-and-purple design is more practical, functional, and reflects his personality in the MCU much better. Even so, it's a shame the classic Hawkeye look has never been adapted for the MCU.
Hawkeye's MCU Appearances
Year
Costume
Thor
2011
Black SHIELD Suit
The Avengers
2012
Purple-and-Black SHIELD Suit
Avengers: Age of Ultron
2015
Purple-and-Black Jacket Suit
Captain America: Civil War
2016
Black Single-Sleeve Suit
Avengers: Endgame
2019
Ronin Suit & Time Travel Suit
Black Widow
2021
N/A (Voice Cameo)
What If…?
2021-23
Various
Hawkeye
2021
Purple-and-Black Comic-Accurate Suit
9 Kilgrave Is Actually Purple In Marvel Comics Kilgrave Debuted In The MCU In 2015's Jessica Jones Close Marvel Studios confirmed Netflix's Defenders Saga is canon to the MCU in early 2024, which brought several iconic characters from the Marvel Television shows into the MCU's main timeline, including David Tennant's Kilgrave. Although he was killed in Jessica Jones season 1's finale, Kilgrave had a huge impact on Krysten Ritter's titular hero, but he was wildly different from his Marvel Comics counterpart. While depicted as a regular guy with superpowers in the MCU, Marvel Comics' Zebediah Kilgrave was a powerful purple-skinned villain.
It would have been too silly to see David Tennant painted purple in Jessica Jones, especially since the Defenders Saga took a more grounded and gritty approach to the typical Marvel story. Chemicals turned Kilgrave's skin and hair purple in Marvel Comics, and this design informed the character's penchant for purple in Jessica Jones. He sported purple suits, had a purple light motif, and showed off purple veins when increasing his power, but never took on his complete purple design from Marvel Comics.
Related The Return of Kilgrave? How Jessica Jones' Best Villain Can Join The MCU Kilgrave is widely regarded as Jessica Jones" most iconic villain, and now has the opportunity to make his MCU canon debut in Daredevil: Born Again.
8 It’s A Shame Whiplash Didn’t Get A Comic-Accurate Design In Iron Man 2 Ivan Vanko Debuted In The MCU In 2010's Iron Man 2 Close Mickey Rourke's Whiplash is widely regarded as one of the most wasted villains in the MCU's history, as he only posed a minor threat to Tony Stark in 2010's Iron Man 2. Marvel Studios decided to completely ignore Whiplash's classic comic-accurate design in the MCU's Phase 1, negating the green-haired, black-costumed and purple-caped Mark Scarlotti version of the villain. Instead, Iron Man 2 took inspiration from Anton Vanko's Iron Man-esque armor, first seen in Marvel Comics' Iron Man vs. Whiplash #1 in 2009, but even this was fumbled.
Whiplash's armor in Iron Man 2's final battle was nothing more than a copy of the Iron Man suit.
Built from the remnants of an Iron Man suit in the comics, Whiplash's armor was sleek, modern and terrifying. These elements were completely missing from Whiplash's costume in the MCU, which was built from scraps by Ivan Vanko, changed from Marvel Comics. Even Whiplash's armor in Iron Man 2's final battle was nothing more than a copy of the Iron Man suit, ridding the character of any of his originality from Marvel Comics.
7 Mantis’ Changed Origins Gave Her A Completely Different Look In The MCU Mantis Debuted In The MCU In 2017's Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Close It wasn't just Mantis' costume that was changed for her debut in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but Mantis' entire Marvel Comics backstory was significantly altered to be unrecognizable. In Marvel Comics, Mantis is a half-Vietnamese, half-German human being who was abandoned by her father as a child and raised by the alien Priests of Pama. These Kree taught her martial arts, and trained her to gain autonomous control of her body, seemingly giving her superhuman abilities, but this was a far-cry from the alien Mantis seen in the MCU.
This different backstory constitutes a very different costume. In the comics, Mantis is human, so doesn't have antennae or any other alien features. Instead, Marvel Comics' Mantis sports a revealing yellow-and-green costume, goes barefoot, and sports a hairstyle mimicking antennae. It's no wonder her appearance was changed for the MCU, and her live-action backstory and costume actually make much more sense than that in the Marvel Comics source material.
Related I’ve Worked Out The Best Storyline To Answer 1 Huge Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Mystery Pom Klementieff wants to return to the MCU after departing in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and I know which Marvel storyline could bring her back.
6 The Vulture’s Comic-Accurate Look Wouldn’t Have Been Very Threatening In The MCU Adrian Toomes Debuted In The MCU In 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming Close Ignoring the original Vulture in Marvel Comics, Isidoro Scarlotti, Adrian Toomes became the winged Spider-Man villain after creating an organic-looking wing-suit. For the MCU, this design was modernized (thankfully), gifting Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes an epic, mechanical wing-suit and talon-like boots. This made him a much more imposing and intimidating presence in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming, which certainly wouldn't have been the case had the goofy, green-feathered costume from Marvel Comics been retained.
The MCU's Vulture still managed to keep some themes from his ridiculous Marvel Comics costume. This includes the fur-lined collar of his costume being adapted for Adrian Toomes' fur-lined jacket in the MCU, and his Vulture wing-suit has splashes of green, reflecting the vibrant color of his comic costume. It was the right choice for Marvel Studios to change this design, and it can only be hoped that Michael Keaton never suits up in a comic-accurate Vulture costume in the MCU's future.
Michael Keaton's Adrian Toomes was, somehow, transported to Sony's Spider-Man Universe by Doctor Strange's spell in Spider-Man: No Way Home, leaving his future in the MCU uncertain.
5 Sam Wilson’s Falcon Costume Was Much Better In The MCU Sam Wilson Debuted In The MCU In 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier Close Similarly to Clint Barton's Hawkeye, while Sam Wilson has never suited up in a comic-accurate Falcon costume in the MCU, his live-action suits have been directly inspired by his classic Marvel Comics suits. Most notably, his Falcon costume in 2021's The Falcon and the Winter Soldier series reflected the red-and-white design of his comic costume, but eliminated the campiness and silliness of this classic suit. This was the closest Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson came to comic-accurate as the Falcon, but his career as Captain America is already different.
Sam Wilson officially became the MCU's new Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and was immediately gifted his comic-accurate white-and-blue Captain America costume. This marked a fantastic evolution for the character, who has now been in the MCU for an entire decade, and this is set to continue in 2025's Captain America: Brave New World. The MCU's new Falcon also won't get a comic-accurate costume, however, as Danny Ramirez's Joaquín Torres won't be getting his natural wings in the MCU's Phase 5.
Your browser does not support the video tag. 4 Ant-Man’s Comic-Accurate Suit Is Too Silly For Live-Action Scott Lang Debuted In The MCU In 2015's Ant-Man Close Scott Lang's Marvel Comics costume as Ant-Man reflected that of his predecessor, Hank Pym, with a slender, red bodysuit and open helmet. Frankly, this costume looked ridiculous, prompting it to thankfully be modernized in more recent Ant-Man stories, and Marvel Studios took a completely different direction with the suit. Instead of being open, Marvel Studios introduced lore suggesting an individual needed to be completely covered to safely change size, which allowed Paul Rudd's Ant-Man costume to be sleeker and make more sense.
Of course, Marvel Studios later seemed to throw this lore out the window, but Ant-Man's suit has been kept practically the same even so. Each new adventure featuring the size-changing hero and his allies has featured upgrades to the suit, culminating in the streamlined design seen in 2023's divisive Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. A comic-accurate Ant-Man helmet appeared as an easter egg in Avengers: Endgame, but thankfully has never been worn by either Hank Pym or Scott Lang.
Related 10 MCU Costumes That Are Better Than The Marvel Comics Version Though the characters of the MCU typically draw inspiration from their Marvel Comics counterparts, some of them got significant costume upgrades.
3 Ulysses Klaue Is Completely Different In Marvel Comics Ulysses Klaue Debuted In The MCU In 2015's Avengers: Age Of Ultron Close Marvel Studios and Marvel Comics' depictions of Ulysses Klaue couldn't be more opposite to each other. In the MCU, Andy Serkis' Klaue is a black market dealer who comes into contact with Ultron, the Avengers, and the Black Panther, with a special vendetta against the latter as he hopes to steal Wakanda's rich vibranium deposits. In the comics, however, Klaw is a physicist who was transformed into solid sound, and uses a sonic emitter as a prosthetic device on his arm. This massive change constituted a wild costume alteration.
In Marvel Comics, Klaw sports a body-covering red-and-purple suit that seemingly helps with his sonic trickery. The removal of this superhuman gift in the MCU meant that Serkis' Klaue could appear to be a regular human, only sporting civilian clothing, rather than an outlandish and fantastical supervillain suit. The MCU's Ulysses Klaue did receive his sonic prosthetic arm in 2018's Black Panther, however, bringing him one step closer to his Marvel Comics counterpart.
2 Malekith’s Marvel Comics Design Would Have Made Him More Terrifying Malekith Debuted In The MCU In 2013's Thor: The Dark World Close In the same camp as Whiplash, Malekith is also considered to be one of the MCU's most wasted antagonists. Christopher Eccleston did the best job he could as the boring and lackluster Dark Elf in Thor: The Dark World, but perhaps giving the villain his comic-accurate design would have made him more entertaining. What was transformed into a dull and drab villain in The Dark World was actually based on a vibrant, sinister and colorful foe in Marvel Comics. Malekith's purple skin, white hair, and usually-red costume scream charisma and danger, which was lost in the MCU.
Malekith was not a very scary threat in Thor: The Dark World, but this would have been very different if he'd kept his comic-accurate design. Marvel Studios could have relied on the horror aspects of Malekith with the character's comic appearance, as he is an incredibly disturbing presence in Thor's Marvel Comics adventures. There are hopes that Malekith could somehow be revived in the MCU, allowing a more comic-accurate depiction of the villain to make himself known.
1 Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s Quicksilver Didn’t Have Enough Time To Get His Comic-Accurate Costume Pietro Maximoff Debuted In The MCU In 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier Close One of the biggest crimes of the MCU was to kill off Pietro Maximoff's Quicksilver in his first full project. Aaron Taylor-Johnson's debut as the iconic Marvel Comics hero was hugely exciting, but he was shot and killed by Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Marvel Studios hasn't found a way to revive him yet. This rid the MCU of Quicksilver before he had the time to evolve into his comic-accurate costume, just like his sister, Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff, did in 2021's WandaVision.
With the Scarlet Witch rumored to return, despite her death in Phase 4, it's possible Quicksilver could also come back.
WandaVision did feature the first appearance of Quicksilver's comic-accurate costume in the MCU, but this was worn by Evan Peters' Ralph Bohner as a Halloween costume while he was masquerading as the speedster, rather than as a serious costume. Taylor-Johnson's Age of Ultron costume featured the same color palette of his Marvel Comics counterpart, but that's where the similarities ended. With the Scarlet Witch rumored to return, despite her death in Phase 4, it's possible Quicksilver could also come back to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which may give him the opportunity to suit up in his comic-accurate costume.
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
Created by Kevin Feige Upcoming Films Deadpool & Wolverine , Captain America: Brave New World , Thunderbolts (2025) , Blade (2025) , The Fantastic Four (2025) , Avengers: The Kang Dynasty , Avengers: Secret Wars Upcoming TV Shows Agatha: Coven of Chaos , Ironheart , Daredevil: Born Again , Wakanda , Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man , Marvel Zombies , Wonder Man , Vision Quest Upcoming MCU Movies
Release Date
Deadpool & Wolverine
July 26, 2024
Captain America: Brave New World
February 14, 2025
Thunderbolts*
May 5, 2025
The Fantastic Four
July 25, 2025
Blade
November 7, 2025
Avengers 5
May 1, 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars
May 7, 2027