by Duran Rivera

 

          There is something about hearing that our favorite hero/heroin being in a new motion picture that gets us fan boys crazy. One of the first things that come into our heads is how they may look when they come to life on the big screen. It’s a subject of much speculation and tabloid rumor. All kinds of fake photos appear, and supposed clues pop up around the net.

      In our modern times comic books and movies have had a stronger and stronger effect on each other. The imprint and influence comic books have had on movies have been immense, breaking records and steering the direction motion pictures and movie studios are going. Influencing the amount of money and the kinds of movies they invest in. And Motion pictures have influenced comic books in many aspect from inspiring the reimagining of an entire Marvel Universe in what is called Ultimates” to re-introducing old characters in new costumes.

   In lieu of the new look of Wonder-Man us here at the 8spot have decided to take a look back at other super heroes who have made dramatic and not so dramatic changes for the big screen. Let’s take a look at a list of some of the more popular characters and changes they have made for the motion pictures.

Daredevil 

 

We’ll just skip the ski mask Daredevil from the old Hulk tv show because it’s just too easy. When the Daredevil movie came out in 2003, there was much fanfare and speculation about what the costume would look like whether it would be closer to the original or have drastic changes done to him. This is one of the examples of the filmmakers choosing to make modifications to the original suit. Much of the reasoning many within the industry make for changing the costumes is that they say the comic book costumes don’t ‘translate’ well on the big screen, or that it doesn’t ‘read’ well. This costume looks more like a compromise, but what do you think? Is it that much of a change to justify changing it at all? In my opinion, red leather is not that big a jump in credibility from spandex. Hmm-- maybe it was good they changed it a little bit. At least leave the “DD” logo and lose the zipper though. Ugh.

Thor

 

The Thor movie, which is to be released next year, is an example of not only a comic inspired movie, but also a movie inspiring a comic. The re-introduction of Thor to the Marvel Comics shows him in a new look very familiar to the upcoming film. One thing that is missing though is that the live action Thor is not wearing a helmet. Hopefully they have plans on having him wear it in the film.

Spiderman

Spiderman is thankfully one of the only Superheroes who actually have a truly close look to the original character. But yet there still are changes to his look from the comic. The Oakley glass plates, the white exterior Spider web is also different. I may be fickle but the concept art for Spiderman looked much better then the final version. Alex Ross did some of the concept design for the Motion picture. I figured it would have been very doable, yet Sam Raimi decided to go in a different direction with Spiderman. I am hoping that there will be something new to come along for the next Spiderman Reboot. Give us something new to look at for the next generation of Spiderman.

Superman

Here once again is an example of modification but ultimately staying true to the original Super-Hero look. Superman (2006) starring Brandon Routh was a moderate success, and featured a new look for superman. There was some controversy about the new look Superman. The super small underwear, the super small Symbol on his chest.  All in all it  was a light change from the comics.

Captain America

Captain America is the latest superhero to join the ranks of live action heroes. There was much speculation on what he might look like. Would he look like the Ultimates version of Captain America? Finally when the concept art was released of Captain America, many fans were very happy. There is still going to be controversy regardless.  The look is inspired from the Ultimates Universe, and he has lost the little wings on his head. In the movie though they are going to show him in three different costumes. The more modern comic book movies are having much more consideration to the original comic book despite the small modifications.

Through out modern history of Comic book movies, we’ve seen Hellboy, Ironman, Joker, Green Lantern, Catwoman, Batman,  Watchmen, Ghost Rider, Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Xmen, Sin City, Blade,  and more recently Captain America. There are always going to be very strong opinions on the looks of these various characters, but one thing is for sure, the interest and the fascination people have with the characters will stay for the foreseeable future. What do you think? What are your favorite or least favorite movie costumes? Do you think there should be changes to these characters in upcoming films? Any ideas that you think might look good? Very interested in hearing your opinions.