Daredevil writer/director Mark Steven Johnson says designing the Man Without Fear's movie costume was about staying true to the comic but keeping it real as well.
"It was months and months and months of work. It started out, let's make it exactly like the comic book, that was my goal. Then when you see people really dressed like that you quickly change your mind and try other things," Johnson told attendees of the recent Los Angeles Comic Book and Sci Fi Convention.
"We tried every different variation we could, always with keeping the red, keeping the 'DD', keeping the horns, keeping it Daredevil, but at the same time making it real world."
Leather, not spandex, was the material of choice. "It's funny too, because when you see Spandex on a human being it looks terrible. But that's always the first questions, 'So, is he gonna wear red spandex,'" Johnson joked. "What? Why spandex? It's so gay! You know what I mean? If some people think the leather's gay, I think the spandex is just so strange."
Regarding Elektra's look: "Again, the plan was to go just like the comic books, but once you see bright red sashes and head-bands and stuff and skirts and everything else, it didn't feel right. It felt like we were doing a disservice to the character by actually trying to be too true to the costume," Johnson said.