Marvel, at the moment, enjoys two movie studios that are carefully overseeing every aspect of its movies, right down to costume design. Modern technology and materials, backed by enormous budgets, let costume designers build superhero outfits for the Avengers that both look good and make sense. But Marvel’s heroes weren’t always so lucky.
The most prominent film studio fashion victim, by far, is Captain America. In 1979, Butch Deadlift himself, Reb Brown, starred in two TV movies that had him in a gigantic motorcycle helmet and unfortunately tight pants. In 1990, he got his official costume back, but unfortunately it was a little too accurate; since Cap’s ears stuck out from his cowl, the costume team stuck Matt Salinger with a hood that had rubber ears attached.
Closely following Cap is the Fantastic Four. The notorious 1994 movie, never released, based the costumes on the original comic, at least, but it didn’t have the budget to make them look good. The 2005 movie, on the other hand, did, and put them in shiny disco jumpsuits with inexplicably clunky boots. It’s still a better look than Doctor Doom, who has a coat that won’t even cover his steel navel, but not by much.
On the bright side, at least Jessica Jones knew her outfit wasn’t going to work. At least somebody in the Marvel Universe has a little fashion sense.
