New Superman Costume Details Revealed in Latest Photos from the Set of Man of Steel
Posted 09.01.11 by BrentJS
After Warner Bros. (WB) released the first promotional image from Man of Steel, die-hard comic book movie fans have been debating whether or not Henry Cavill's Superman costume includes the iconic red briefs that the character has worn over his blue bodysuit ever since he was first created by Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel way back in 1932 and throughout his 70-plus years of publication (except for a few months in 1998 when he had electricity powers and a blue face, which we would like to forget ever happened). The reason for the debate stems from the fact that DC Comics revealed artwork for its "new universe" back in June that depicted an "updated" version of Superman's costume that did away with the red briefs and yellow belt in favor of simply a red belt, and by the fact that the promo image of Cavill released two months later conveniently failed to reveal what's going on with Superman's costume in the groin region.
Amateur photographers and paparazzi have been stalking the Man of Steel set in Illinois for weeks trying to snap photos of Cavill in costume to put an end to the debate once and for all, and a couple finally turned up that proved that Superman would in fact be going commando briefs-less in Man of Steel. While those images were too poor in quality to make out much else about the costume, several new "spy" photos from the set recently turned up on the unofficial Man of Steel Facebook page that reveal never-before-seen details about the new design.
Besides the absence of the red briefs and the yellow belt, the most striking changes to Superman's costume are the addition of wrist cuffs and tribal tattoo-like designs that appear to begin at the belt-less buckle, wrap around the back and then run down the legs. In some of the photos, the buckle and tribal designs appear to be gold, while in others they appear to be red. Also, in many of the photos, Cavill wore the costume sans cape, which has led to further speculation that the cape and the designs are somehow linked (e.g., some have theorized the cape comes out of the designs when he needs it). However, our best guess is that the lack of cape in the photos is simply a between-take look and not something that will make it to the screen. As for the color changes, your guess is as good as ours; it could simply be a trick of the light. While the new costume design has generated its fair share of detractors, the overall consensus in the fan community has been positive.
Man of Steel is currently in production under the direction of Zack Snyder (300, Sucker Punch). The screenplay was written by David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight) from a story he conceived with producer Christopher Nolan (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises). 300 writer Kurt Johnstad was recently rumored to be performing re-writes on the script, but this has not been confirmed. Joining Cavill are Amy Adams as Lois Lane; Diane Lane as Superman's adoptive mother, Martha Kent; Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet; and Russell Crowe and Julia Ormond as Superman's Kryptonian parents, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van. Christopher Meloni and Harry Lennix are also said to be on the cast, but their characters have yet to be revealed.
Next Showing: Man of Steel opens June 14, 2013