Ain't it Cool News has the concept artwork for the movie version of Captain America's costume.

No wings on the head.

It actually is pretty close to the Ultimate Cap look. I hate the extra stars on the shoulders... They serve no good purpose other than to clutter up the design. Plus, the material seems ultra modern, considering the movie is set in the 40's.

Still, not too bad. It's definitely recognizable as Cap. Just put some wings on his noggin.


http://www.aintitcool.com/node/45326

much worse

All the debate about Cap’s screen costume has provoked me to dust off and restate my views about superhero suits in general and Captain America’s superhero suit in particular.

Back in the day when almost all the iconic costumes were created comics had to be drawn with an economy of line and panel. Artists were expert at conveying story quickly – events that would take a six-issue mini-series now were packed into a 12-page feature then. The panels had to express movement, cause and effect, and yet still be quick to draw for by-the-page pay rates.

The male body is based around a downwards-pointing triangle with an upwards-tapering egg or triangle on top of it – plus arms and legs. The best superhero costumes accentuate that triangle by design and colour. They place an emphasis on the chest then have lines that convey position and motion. Often a cape or cloak shaped like an upward-pointing triangle adds counterpoint and shows direction of travel. On the head a mask with eyepieces emphasises the hero’s determined eyes and his expression. This counterbalances the bold prominent square jawline that forms the triangle’s base. Boots or gloves add weight to the ends of the limbs and help show movement.

The first superhero costume remains the best. Superman has almost all the elements of a successful comics page super-costume, lacking only the mask. First there’s his chest, the muscled tapering torso accentuated by the shape of the prominent S-symbol. Spots of red at boots and trunks, along with pink hands and a red cape balance out the other predominant primary colour of his costume. The cape can flare for flying and forward lunges, helping to depict action, to show force and direction.

Captain America is the other examplar costume. Also in primary colours plus white this Kirby creation uses all the same principles as Superman’s outfit, sans cape but with added mask. There’s the prominent chest star, which echoes the shape of the hero himself with arms and legs akimbo and serves as the same counterpoint triangle that Superman’s cape accomplishes. Vertical red and white belly stripes guide the eyes upwards to the pectorals and that powerful logo. Horizontal lines at waist and trunks break the body up into sections to suggest a compact fighter; just use the horizontal lines alone and you’ve got a 1940s boxer. Red boots and gloves again emphasise pose and motion.

But there’s more. Cap’s original triangular shield continues with the torso-motif. The various lines, including the belly-stripes and chainmail indents, help to show Cap flexing and shifting. The mask emphasises his eyes and jaw by having a prominent A (another triangle) with the downward strokes pointing directly to those big blue eyes.

The change of the A-letter on Cap’s forehead to a stylised-V eagle motif was one reason Liefield’s revision of the Cap costume didn’t work, by the way. Instead of enhancing Cap’s eyes it emphasised the bridge of his nose, so his scowl became his most important facial feature and his eyes appeared smaller and beadier.

Which brings me to the concept art image for the movie-Cap. The costume works, but it’s the elements retained from the Kirby original that do that in spite of changes that detract from the iconic version and suggest that the designer didn’t really understand what he was messing with. Hence we have a chest harness adding vertical lines that detract from the chest triangle, and shoulderpads with stars on them that emphasise yet more points of the body, points that don’t particularly convey motion or emotion and drag attention from hands and face that do.

Most serious of all is the lack of Cap’s mask wings. Now I admit that the wings seem goofy. They shouldn’t work; but they shouldn’t work as a costume accessory in the same way that “taking arms against a sea of troubles” shouldn’t work as a literary phrase. Neither make sense by the usual rules but both are somehow right.

Cap’s wings balance his mask to prevent him being some strange earless wonder. They trail backwards indicating forward motion. They help to indicate head movement. They add the balancing splashes of white that prevent the white A from appearing isolated and random. And they allow the other Avengers to call him “winghead”.

So for me the movie’s budget department could have saved designer costs and stayed with the costume that’s worked for six decades and more now. Chainmail and canvas trumps plastic and spandex. Simple lines work better than harnesses and pouches. And head-wings work against all the odds; so if your costume team can’t pull them off then get a new team.

IW

I don't understand why Hollywood feels the need to make every superhero costume so "busy". There is a lot going on here and I think a simplified version would work just as well.

On the whole though it's not bad. We could have ended up with black as the primary colour instead of blue, so I'm glad to see it's still a fairly bright costume.

As I look at it it has kind of an armoured look to it, which I don't mind. I do hope that this look is the "modern era" look for Captain America; this outfit looks too high-tech for a movie set during WWII. I actually wouldn't mind seeing them use the Ultimate Cap's costume from the war in the movie; I thought it looked good for the period.

The wings missing really stands out to me; I would be fine with them just being painted on, but that contrast is needed on the helmet I think. And how else are the Avengers going to call him "Winghead"?

~Hat~

http://www.collider.com/2010/06/02/thor-chris-hemsworth-new-images-concept-art/

I think we're going to see multiple looks for Thor in his movie, because I really can't see this costume in the Asgard scenes. It looks too modern; I mean, check out the tread on those boots! I'm guessing this is Thor's attempt to try to dress more "modern" while on Midgard, combining his Asgardian roots (waist up) with the tastes of Midgard (bottom half).

I can live without the helmet, though if he wore it in Asgard but ditched it on Earth I would prefer that (if he's not going to wear it).

I have to wonder what this suit would look like if you just replaced the pants with the scale-mail on his arms; I think it would really bring things together. The bottom half of this look is just too dark, whereas the top has some nice contrast.

Still, it's a lot better than how Thor looked in the Incredible Hulk tv movie!

~Hat~

http://movies.yahoo.com/photos//gallery/2588/thor-stills