Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, The Batman, and Thor: Love And Thunder costume designers on Supersuit redesigns

From comics to movies, superhero stories have always had passionate audiences. This Oscar season, new people donned the mantle of heroes, giving costume designers the opportunity to take their design to the next level while paying homage to the original comics.

After the death of Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever brings a new Black Panther to the pack and expands the role of Queen Ramonda. The dough sees a new actor take on the role of the caped crusader, wearing an updated “Batsuit” to match the film’s grim reality. Mighty Thor makes her Marvel debut Thor: Love and Thunderwhile the original Thor costume changes in response.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Create a sequel Black Panther was no easy task. After the loss of Chadwick Boseman, the script had to be rewritten and the Black Panther mantle passed on to a new character. Costume designer Ruth E. Carter not only had to design a suit for Wakanda’s new champion, but also emphasize the look of Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) when she became the new leader.

In the first film, Queen Ramonda plays an advisory role alongside King T’Challa (Boseman), which made her outfit seem more relaxed since she was no longer the face of the nation. After the king’s death, she takes on a more direct role as ruler, which meant her costume needed an update. “We see a strong presence of metal,” says Carter. “Her crown is raised and she has a collar on her dress that is 3D printed and painted to look like metal.” Although she is meant to radiate the power of a ruler, Carter wanted to keep her arms bare to show that she still is. vulnerable in that power. “For Angela Bassett, it is her greatest asset,” she says. “Those mighty arms of hers.”

When Wakanda is threatened by an adversary, Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) is forced to take on the mantle of the Black Panther. “We didn’t stray too far from her shape, the silhouette of a woman with bust, hips and shoulders,” says Carter. “But we also wanted to subtly emphasize the panther suit’s dynamic figure.” While T’Challa’s suit had silver vibranium, Carter wanted Shuri’s suit to have a combination of gold and silver elements. The design went through a long process until they decided that “adding more stripes on the suit gives it a little more sparkle than the previous panther suit,” she says. ‘T’Challa’s suit emphasized the physique. In this case, we also emphasize the decorations that give it its femininity.”

Carter’s biggest challenge was making costumes that could function underwater. “Clothes are not meant to be worn underwater for eight hours and used again the next day,” she says. “We had to think about which fibers could go into water and still look organic.” The clothes also had to be weighted and still look elegant. “We’d like to think that clothes always look like ballet in the water, but they just show up.”

The dough

Director Matt Reeves brought in a new actor, Robert Pattinson, to play Batman, and two costume designers, Glyn Dillon and David Crossman, with the sole purpose of creating the signature Batsuit. “A Batsuit consists of four critical ingredients,” says Dillon: “The cape, the cowl, the utility belt and the all-important badge or bat symbol.”

For this Batman, Reeves wanted the character to be realistic and for each part of the suit to have a specific purpose. “Matt really wanted the suit to be functional,” says Dillon, “and more importantly, it had to be a suit that Robert could move and fight in. Practicality and portability were the main concerns.” Dillon and Crossman even managed to make the bat weapon and cape useful, as the former was converted into a knife and the latter into a wingsuit.

In addition to the action sequences that are part of every superhero movie, the story sees Batman as a detective trying to solve the mysteries that Paul Danos Riddler left for him in each scene. “It was important to have a more neutral expression on the hood,” says Dillon. “I thought it would be cool if the hood had the silence of a skull and crossbones and it meant Robert could do more with his eyes.”

According to Dillon, while the hood looked like molded leather, it was actually 3D printed and molded in rubber. “But it was hand-stitched,” he says, “because the pressure and shape of the stitches didn’t look good enough, so the little stitch holes were formed in the computer, and then we had the wonderful team at Jenny Alford’s let workshop work. the wires with the.” Hold hands.” The suit itself is made of nylon to give it the appearance of bulletproof Kevlar, while the cape is made of Japanese faux leather to add weight.

The design was inspired by the comics, but Dillon says the main idea behind this iteration of the Batsuit was grim reality. “For example, his utility belt in the comics is yellow or gold, and that’s a theme throughout most of the movies,” he says, “but we liked the idea of ​​him using things that the police would use, leather ammunition packs and handcuff holders, etc… it feels a lot closer to ‘Special Forces’ than spandex.”

Thor: Love and Thunder

As costume designer for Taika Waititi Thor: Ragnarok, Mayes C. Rubeo was already familiar with the lore of the thunder god. In Thor: Love and Thunder, Rubeo was able to use this lore to create the costume for Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who wields Mjolnir and becomes Mighty Thor. “It was based on the old comics,” says Rubeo. “We’re trying to kind of honor these iconic costumes and bring them into a modern age with technology.” Although Rubeo’s designs don’t want to stray too far from the comics, Rubeo’s designs bring a new look to modern materials. “People are looking for something really great, for new materials that are so modern and flexible and versatile,” she says.

Because Portman is vegan, it was important to Rubeo to make her costume from non-animal materials. “Her costumes are mostly made of plastic and synthetic materials,” she says. “I respect her a lot and the least I could do is make her costume.”

Compared to Mighty Thor’s muted colors of silver and black, Thor’s appearance in the film became more striking in response to his ex-girlfriend. “Thor is going through a moment of uncertainty,” says Rubeo. “Imagine an animal that wants to be intimidating – it gets bigger and shinier and brighter.” To emphasize this change, Rubeo has dressed Thor in what she calls the “unsafe Thor outfit”, with glowing gold and shades of blue to ensnare Jane.

Most of the costumes were directly inspired by the comics, but Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) had a major color change. “In the comics, Gorr was all in black,” says Rubeo. Because black was so often used in other costumes, she decided dressing the villain in white would provide a great contrast to the bright colors of the superheroes. “The villain doesn’t have to be black to be a villain,” she says, “[white] is also very scary.” As a character who has lost everything and lives in the shadow realm, Gorr’s white outfit matches his pale complexion to create a character who lacks any color but stands out from the shadows he controls. “Sometimes his skin color is whiter; sometimes it’s flesh-colored, but still very pale,” she says. “It was really impressive to see him like that.”