Captain America's new outfit?

Captain America's new outfit?

Seeing Captain America’s upcoming costume for The Avengers (2012) was a case of loathe at first sight. Here, I (try to) explain why.

Editorial Opinion
By aol2smoove - Feb 28, 2012 12:02 AM EST
Filed Under: Fan Fic

Helmet

Captain America’s new helmet is the main offender, and the primary eye-sore. Problems arise in the mound of the helmet and the lack of jawline. The headpiece we saw in The First Avenger is somewhat reminiscent of an M1 helmet. With its distinctive anterior and rear brims, it immediately invokes a World War II American soldier. The various strapping's also provide a rustic touch, and a nice contrast.




Fast forward to present day Captain America, and we find that those features have been vastly diminished. From certain angles, it looks like he could be wearing a bathing cap! The roundness of this particularly domed helmet also reminds me of characters like the Coneheads, or the Human Bullet (from The Tick fame).



The next issue concerns chins and jawlines: the astute viewer will note how First Avenger Cap has a chin strap, while 2012 Cap does not. Additionally, one is barenecked, while the other has a cowl-like piece covering up the neck. The lack of a covered chin and jaw presents problems as seen in the following images:



Without something to disguise Evans’ natural chinniness, as well as to provide an artificial, angular jawline, we get these rather derpy depictions of Captain America.

It’s funny to see that if we remove the helmet, all of the above problems are solved. Captain America, sans helmet, looks absolutely spanking, with no awkward helmet shape, or feeble chin exposed. But of course, we are then left with an uncharacteristic Captain America…



To ear or not to ear?

Captain America has traditionally had his ears exposed. Interestingly enough, some of the promo art for The Avengers has shown Captain America with ears exposed too, and it looks pretty good too.



Body Shape

We all expect Captain America to be barrel chested, pectorals ablazing, deltoids apopping. So why doesn’t his new outfit channel that? The First Avenger costume did a good job of it, creating a period-related bulky outfit that carried weight about it. Cap’s costume has been traditionally skin tight, which has the benefit of highlighting the structures beneath. But of course, not very realistic.

Set photos have not delivered a sense of strength and power in Captain America. He looks skinny. Hunchbacked. Awkward. Frail.



Arms



Traditional Captain America - White forearms (well, they extend up to mid bicep)

First Avenger Cap - As above.

2012 Cap - A patch of white covering the anterior biceps!

Now that ain’t so bad in itself, but we are left with an overwhelming amount of blue on his arms. The traditional colouring has also emphasised his chest and shoulders, while isolating his gloves. One gets the impression that he is wearing a long sleeved shirt. Not armour, not leather, but a blue long sleeved shirt.

Legs

Once again, part of the ingenuity of Cap America’s First Avenger costume was that it played upon the period of which it was set. Cap’s lower body garments could look bulky and baggy, because that’s how American soldiers were uniformed.



2012 Captain America’s legs are exposed due to the tight leggings. Unfortunately, Chris Evans does not have Schwarzenegger-like quads and thighs.

Texture

I’m confused about the texture of the costume’s fabric… what does it remind me of? It reminds me of cosplay material. It reminds me of couches. It reminds me of a giant novelty tennis ball I once owned. Compare it against his fellow Avenger’s outfits… they are predominantly leather looking, materials that are look durable and tough. Captain America looks like his uniform could catch on a stray nail, and be torn apart. Look as the fabric creases and scrunches up over Cap’s chest!



Yet again, the promo art doesn’t reflect what set photos have shown us, with lighting reflecting off Cap’s suit, as if off some type of tough, leather-like armor.



Colors

As touched upon above, First Avenger Cap benefited greatly with touches of brown, and a subdued palette. Not only that, but the arrangement helped to prevent any one color dominating a part of the body.



As mentioned above, the 2012 Avengers outfit suffers from being overwhelmingly blue. The numerous layers on the First Avenger uniform also allowed for lights and shadows to provide depth. Not so on the new uniform. Cap in the comics could get away with this, on account of his muscles showing through.

Conclusion

Captain America’s upcoming Avengers (2012) uniform sucks.

Disclaimer: I suspect through the power of movie magic, many of the aspects of Captain America’s new uniform will be edited out, or made to look better.
DC & Marvel Team Up In Awesome Fan-Created Infinite Crisis Video
Related:

DC & Marvel Team Up In Awesome Fan-Created "Infinite Crisis" Video

Bill Cosby Says He Wants To Be In A Superhero Film
Recommended For You:

Bill Cosby Says He Wants To Be In A Superhero Film

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

SageMode
SageMode - 2/21/2012, 8:16 PM
All those photos that were critiquing Cap's not so cool look were from set photos, which have been known to make the look of characters less interesting, but. Guarantee, when this movie comes out, every one is gonna eat there words about his suit, just like they did from The Firs Avenger.
Bane2099
Bane2099 - 2/21/2012, 8:35 PM
Cap getting a modern take on his costume in The Avengers from his suit in TFA, was a give in, we all knew that was gonna happen. All I can say or maybe complain about is they still could've kept his helmet from TFA. I think it still could've worked out well with his new suit...but as I've heard before, these pics just may be unflattering shots of Cap's new costume/helmet. Lets see how it looks on screen and re-start the debate after May 4th.
Bane2099
Bane2099 - 2/21/2012, 8:37 PM
Good job on the article though, some points u make and mention have been on my mind as well in comparing his WW2 suit to the new one.
Tainted87
Tainted87 - 2/21/2012, 9:06 PM
It's all about context, like 0SageMode0 said.

You walk into a comic book store without having read a single comic in your life, and you WILL find yourself either smirking, laughing, stifling a laugh, or otherwise smiling because of how ridiculous MOST costumes look.

If you applied this to all CBMs, they wouldn't stand a chance. When you see the movie, it'll grow on you while you watch it.
SageMode
SageMode - 2/21/2012, 10:44 PM


spider1489
spider1489 - 2/21/2012, 11:58 PM
this is such a great article! u pointed out everything i found wrong about caps costume frm the chin strap to color, i really hope they really do a big update on cap 2
CraptainAmerica
CraptainAmerica - 2/22/2012, 3:42 AM
I can understand peoples reservations.

But during The First Avenger (if you watch the bonus features and read any articles discussing Evans' workout plan) they bulked Evans up for the transformation scene but he was the same size during the rest of the movie as he is in The Avengers. He looked in perfect shape in The First Avenger.

I remmber people having the same reservations when they saw Evans set photos of him filming the Kruger chase scene. When people watched it I think we can agree that he looked perfect. He looks just the same in the Avengers trailer boxing scene.

We have to think about these things realistically. I Evans were to have everything big and "popping" he'd have to train for a year and take gear. He's a big guy. Anybody who says he's "skinny" has no clue about getting in his kind of shape.

As for the costume...I like it. We've seen from some of the images released that the colour saturation of the blue doesn't match that of some set photos. I'm not sure one snapshot can do the justice to the costume that live action set pieces can. The costume was always going to evolve from First Avenger (which was a great costume) but even that didn't look its best until we saw it in all its glory. Even the colours and shape varied from picture to picture.

As for the cowl...there are some pictures that capture it better than others. We've seen him in full gear in, what I assume is, the final battle scene. There may be good reason why we have the ear coverings as opposed to the 'ears out' look we've been salavating over in the early promo releases. I doubt they would put it in so many photos if that wasn't going to make an appearance at some point. Just look at your last photo...the ear pieces are missing and look as if the coverings are removeable. Case closed.

If he doesn't have a chin-strap then it's probably because this suit doesn't require it. It was the same in The Dark Knight when they adapted his suit to aid in Batman moving his head more easily. Modern day scientists would have made the costume more ergonomic. Slim fitting making him more aerodynamic and manoverable. It can't just be about the look.

Cap's costume has always looked a bit goofy in the comics. It was never going to look the best if they were to try and stay true to his original look.

Pick at the boots and gloves and you could be doing the same for all of the characters.

I think we should save this kind of serious reservation for IF it looks shite when you've finished watching the movie itself. Marvel have been planning this for years...I#m not sure that these things wouldn't have been considered to try and make it as awesome and epic as a movie like this can be.

*exhales*

95
95 - 2/22/2012, 6:50 AM
He looked better in The First Avenger.

He looks better without the helmet in The Avengers stills.

Helmet wings that stick out and a jaw strap would even stuff out.
calin88
calin88 - 2/22/2012, 11:25 AM
The big problem is the muscle loss since Captain America TFA, Evans was an animal in that movie(in a good way), maybe they wanted him to look like a guy who didn't eat anithing for 70 years, who knows?
KingLobo
KingLobo - 2/22/2012, 1:24 PM
All great points....too small, the "Costume" is cheesy, and looks like a poor knock off. What is the "Mexican Captain America" - we all know the mexicam super heroes that can be found in the dollar stores, don't pretend you don't know.

The helmet...I want to put a condom on his head.

"Marvel" is saying they are happy with the end product...but I have a feeling that this could be a stinker. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for not.
superotherside
superotherside - 2/22/2012, 4:31 PM
Oh what ever...

People complained about The First Avenger costume, at first and rightly so because it looked bad in the set pictures and promo stuff, but looked great on film.

The same will happen here. Just wait in Cap 2 they'll change it again and everyone will want him to go back to the Avengers costume.

People are so predicable at times.
Ghostt
Ghostt - 2/22/2012, 6:51 PM
Thank you. great write up.

If Cap's costume sucks in the film then this causes problems for the whole movie. Now it doesnt make the movie bad, but, superhero costumes must look cool . period
marvel72
marvel72 - 2/23/2012, 4:56 AM
it'll look better on film.
Toasty
Toasty - 2/23/2012, 3:41 PM
I'm going to wait until i see the final product before i make my final judgement, naturally.

But i do prefer the WW2 one, it just looks more authentic i can't put my finger on it, i'd probably say as a lot of people have the Avengers Captain America helmet just looks a tad goofy.

like i say though, final product = final judgement, i'm sure it'll look better in the film.
Phango
Phango - 2/23/2012, 4:53 PM
I think his new suit looks amazing...
dt41
dt41 - 2/23/2012, 5:13 PM
I think we all have to take into consideration the following.

Cap's suit in The First Avenger looks like a 'war' suit, or a 'militarized' suit. I believe it was designed and adapted by Stark Industries (and the movie costume designer) for a soldier on the war battlefield. Just look at its bulky-ness, padding, straps, etc.

Cap's suit in The Avengers I believe is adapted to be more like a 'S.W.A.T.' suit, or 'law enforcement' suit. I think it's adapted for policing, and designed to fall more in line with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent-like look. The thing looks like it has Kevlar imbedded and molded in the lining of it. Even the utility belt looks like something a police 'S.W.A.T.' team member wears. Remember, Cap is not, or at least no longer appears to be serving in the Army 70 years later. He technically is policing the Earth now for S.H.I.E.L.D. under orders from the World Council. And if it turns out he is still serving in the Army, well 70 years is well beyond typical 3-year contract on a new recruit signs, and they would have to pay him a hell of a pension for 70 years of service!
View Recorder