With So Many Original X-Men Actors Returning For Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel Has The Perfect Opportunity To Give Them All Comics-Accurate Costumes

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Marvel finally has the opportunity to deliver the X-Men’s comic-accurate costumes for which fans have been clamoring for years in Avengers: Doomsday after announcing the return of a litany of original X-Men actors. Marvel’s surprise announcement on Wednesday sent shockwaves across the entire fandom as a simple, sluggish, yet effective live stream caused the Avengers: Doomsday cast to dominate the day’s conversation online. While many actors like Chris Hemsworth and the The Fantastic Four: First Steps cast were expected additions, names like Ian McKellen and Alan Cumming stoked the most fervor among the fanbase.

Although the X-Men have been popping up in multiple Multiverse Saga installments, including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Marvels, and Deadpool & Wolverine, it has been nearly six years since audiences have seen the team (in live-action, at least) united in their full glory. 2019’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix certainly brought the team much closer to their comics-accurate designs but still stopped short of depicting such characters as Cyclops and Storm in their most recognizable guises. Still, they were a welcome far cry from their original costumes, and the MCU is poised to take them one step further.

Fox’s X-Men Movies Gave The Marvel Team Black Leather Costumes

Fox Wanted To Make The X-Men More Grounded

The X-Men helped launch the superhero genre into the stratosphere with 2000’s X-Men, which proved the viability of live-action adaptations of comics in general. Although it leaned into its comic book origins more enthusiastically than Blade, it was still cautious about embracing every facet of the comics. This bore out in the titular team’s costumes, with the filmmakers choosing to deck them out in black leathers instead of the colorful wardrobe with which they are more commonly associated. X-Men even addressed the decision with Cyclops’ sardonic response to Wolverine: “What would you prefer, yellow spandex?”

At this moment, Cyclops speaks to the reasoning behind the decision. Namely, comic book costumes were considered too silly at the time for a movie that intended to ground superheroes in reality as much as possible, mind-bending superpowers notwithstanding. This stands to reason, given that the comic book movie genre was still reeling from the unfavorable response to the sickly campiness of 1995’s Batman Forever and 1997’s Batman & Robin. While it may have been a shrewd move, the MCU would expertly flout Cyclops’ cynicism 24 years later.

The MCU Finally Gave Wolverine His Yellow Costume From The Comics

Deadpool’s Response To Seeing It Sums Up The Consensus

Ever since Marvel took the reins of superhero cinema with 2008’s Iron Man, it has worked hard to normalize faithful renditions of comic book costumes. It was undeniably propped up by the fact that Iron Man’s armor is inherently sleek, while its follow-up movie, The Incredible Hulk, centers on a monster almost made for classic cinema spectacle. Marvel would then edge ever-closer to more audacious character designs as it fronted comics-accurate costumes with Thor and Captain America in 2011. Positive responses to these colorful and faithful depictions eventually culminated in the pièce de résistance: Deadpool & Wolverine‘s “Worst Wolverine.”

It is safe to say that Wolverine’s yellow spandex costume typified Marvel Studios’ expertise. Yes, it was ostentatious, and yes, it might have looked a little bit silly – as Wolverine himself highlights when regaling his tragic tale about why he wears the suit following the death of his team in his universe – but it also looked incredible. This is evidenced by the response to the suit among the fan base.

As Deadpool points out after catching a glimpse of Wolverine’s yellow spandex, “That only took 20 f****** years,” he highlights the newfound appetite for comics-accurate costumes in live-action. His comments speak to the furor sparked when the first promotional image for Deadpool & Wolverine, in which the titular duo are seen walking side-by-side, months ahead of the movie’s release. Comics-accurate costumes have now become a huge selling point, and Marvel Studios would be wise to lean into this when the rest of the X-Men join the MCU in earnest in Avengers: Doomsday.

Avengers: Doomsday Can Finally Give The Fox X-Men Comics-Accurate Costumes

Marvel Already Boasts A Great Track Record

Although Marvel has established a reputation for depicting comic-accurate costumes, it isn’t beyond toning some down. Hawkeye, for instance, is a far cry from his comic book design – which 2021’s Hawkeye points out in an Easter egg. Scarlet Witch also dons a comics-accurate outfit in WandaVision as a Halloween costume, as a tongue-in-cheek nod to the fact that it would probably have been too silly to wear throughout Wanda’s MCU career.

Nevertheless, the MCU has just established that the X-Men are different. Wolverine’s bright yellow costume is among the most ostentatious of the entire team, yet he pulled it off with aplomb in Deadpool & Wolverine. Gambit’s comics-accurate costume also went down a storm, and it would be a step backwards to have him return in Avengers: Doomsday in a more toned-down getup.

Thankfully, the same extends to other examples of X-Men appearing in the MCU. Professor X’s cameo in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came complete with a bright yellow hover-chair, while Beast’s character design in The Marvels was a far more accurate rendition of the character from Marvel Comics. It therefore seems likely that Marvel will continue this habit, and when Magneto, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops emerge in Avengers: Doomsday, it will be in the colorful guises of their comic book counterparts.

Upcoming MCU Movies

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