Open Channel: Tell Us Your Favorite (or Most Hated) Superhero Movie Suit

Thus far, the big selling point for Deadpool 3 is that it’s surprisingly managed to bring back (among others) Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Jackman hung up his claws rather decisively with Logan in 2017, but the upcoming Marvel Studios flick seems to be going with a different version of the character—not the one audiences have spent two decades getting to know. And one way it’s making this distinction clear is by giving this Wolverine his yellow-and-blue costume, something Fox’s prior X-Men films famously did not.

Costumes have long been important for superheroes, especially since more and more of them are coming to live-action. (Animation is its own beast and generally does pretty good with suits.) As the medium’s grown in the popular culture, we’ve seen some suits get adapted rather perfectly, while others, not so much. It’s one of those things that can’t always be so easily explained: when a suit looks good, you know it does, and when it doesn’t, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Sometimes a live-action hero’s default outfit feels like it would be a variant in comic or video game form, or it just feels kind of off, like it isn’t really a perfect fit for the actor wearing it.

The way super-suits have been handled in movies and shows has changed, too. Sometimes, these costumes are carefully introduced to feel like a turning point in and of themselves—think about how Ms. Marvel gradually gives Kamala her suit over the course of its first season, or how Hawkeye sees Clint and Kate get new outfits commissioned that don’t show up until the last episode. Other times—for example, characters like Black Panther and Moon Knight—the suit is just already a part of their ensemble, but it’s introduced with a grandness that fades away with future adventures.

Jackman’s suit is very much a big event, and it looks pretty good for a first-time appearance. It’s also as good a time as any to talk about which superhero suits work, and which ones are unfortunately not so super. Let us know in the comments below.

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