A trend that may have gone under the radar for some comic fans is how comic-accurate some recent superhero costumes have been in mainstream movies and television. A new example of this is Hugh Jackman’s role as a Wolverine variant in Shawn Levy’s “Deadpool and Wolverine” (2024).
In that particular film, Wolverine wears the classic yellow and blue suit that is straight out of the comic books the character originally was featured in. He also wears the cowl with the large white eyes near the climax of the film.
Jackman’s co-star Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) actually makes a joke in the film relating to how long it took to finally have a comic-accurate Wolverine suit on the big screen. Before he was resurrected in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Jackman’s first time playing Wolverine was when 20th Century Fox still owned the rights to the character.
Jackman played Wolverine in 10 total films over 17 years of his acting career, from Bryan Singer’s original “X-Men” (2000) to James Mangold’s Western-themed “Logan” (2017). During his time in the Fox universe, “The Wolverine” (2013), also directed by Mangold, teased that Jackman would put on the Wolverine suit fans all know and adore. Flash forward one year to Singer’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014), and there was zero sight of Jackman in the original costume like the previous film promised.
Many fans have started to wonder why so many films and television shows do not feature superheroes in their actual costumes.The largest producer of superhero content is none other than Marvel Studios, and the studio has been accused of this for some of its characters.
It is important to note that most of the MCU’s character designs do closely resemble that of their comic book counterparts. There are some that stick out, such as the villain Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) in Cate Shortland’s “Black Widow” (2021).
Taskmaster’s look caused backlash from fans since the original Taskmaster from the comics is depicted as a man whereas Taskmaster’s on screen depiction is that of a woman.
Ever since his arrival on Netflix back in 2015 and then his gradual ascend to make his debut in the MCU, Charlie Cox’s Daredevil has been criticized for his character not having the iconic double d’s on his chest.
The most recent suit Cox puts on in “Daredevil: Born Again” (2025) is without a doubt the best-looking live-action Daredevil costume to date, with its shade of the color red closely resembling how it looks in the comics.
On that same note, James Gunn’s highly anticipated “Superman” (2025) starring David Corenswet will feature the Last Son of Krypton donning a suit that draws inspiration from various different and colorful Superman suits.
Gunn is clearly a director who leans in more with how the characters look on the page he's when depicting them on the big screen. “The Suicide Squad” (2021) and his “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy (2014-2023) prove this.
Marvel Studios looks to now be going into a direction that shows what these superheroes and supervillains actually look like even if they are a little goofy.
In July, audiences will finally get to see Marvel’s first family wear their campy yet glorious blue and white costumes. “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” (2025) already looks better than any previous film iteration of the superhero team.
The question of why film studios are veering toward having more comic-accurate looking characters now this late in the game is a question most probably don’t have an answer for. Perhaps the studios have listened to what the fans were telling them and delivered as a result.
Production companies like Marvel Studios and DC studios are clearly not ashamed to be making movies based on comic books originally intended to be for little children.
