Captain America's Outfit

[Tribal Warfare]

Captain America's costume will look different

by: Mike Sampson May. 28, 2010

Some superhero costumes, like Iron Man, make fairly easy transitions to the world of movies. Others, like Captain America, prove to be a little more difficult. What works in the comics doesn't always work well with an actor actually having to wear that costume. So I've been curious to see how they were going to adapt the Captain America suit for Chris Evans to resemble the original design but work within the WWII world that Joe Johnston is creating for the film. I got an exclusive look at one of the approved costume tests for CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER and while I can't pass along anything here, I can describe to you what I saw.

Captain America will have two different costumes in the film, according to Johnston. He told the LA Times that he'll have a costume designed by the Army for his initial USO appearances that's slightly more flashy and a nod to the original design. As he gets called into active duty though, Steve Rogers (who hated the original suit design), creates a new costume that's more battle-ready. This second costume is the one I saw and will the primary costume for the film.

The first thing I noticed is that the trademark wings that flank the side of Cap's hood are gone. In fact the "hood" is gone entirely. In its place is a more traditional M1 Army helmet though this helmet does come over the eyes to give Cap a traditional "domino mask" look. Still present is the white "A" in the middle of the hat (nothing fancy, this is the traditional font), though like the rest of the costume, the blue of the helmet is much more muted than the blue in the comic costume. A thick black strap comes down over the ears and connects under the chin.

Cap is wearing a blue neck piece but from what I saw, it's hard to tell if this is connected to something under the helmet or whether it's something like a turtleneck (I'm gonna guess the latter).



The many looks of Captain America

On his chest still lies the white star though it's not as prominent as the comic version. The costume is still split horizontally through the middle with blue on top and red and white stripes on the bottom. But instead of stripes, it's actually just a white base with two red utility straps acting as stripes. These straps affix to a metal loop at the midpoint of the chest and a black strap extends up to the shoulders from that point.

His shoulders have pads over them that extend down to about mid-bicep and are attached via a brown strap under the arm. The sleeves (for lack of a better word) are white with a fairly standard brown glove.

The fabric of the costume doesn't look like the scaled material of SPIDER-MAN but more of a leather fabric, like something you'd see on one of the X-MEN. Cap wears an old school utility belt, the likes of which we haven't seen much in modern superhero movies. Utility belts were a staple of comic superheroes but haven't made the transition but here Cap sports a rather thick belt made up of brown pockets with a silver buckle. (It actually looks something like the belt on this Captain America toy.)

As you might expect, there's no codpiece to be found and Cap is wearing blue pants tucked into brown utility boots. The pants aren't skin tight but they aren't baggy either. And for those who are curious, the pants actually have a fly so Cap can take a leak if he needs to.

The suit actually has a practical WWII military look to it with some of the obvious Captain America flourishes that we would expect. It's hard to really pass judgment on a costume until you see it properly lit, in motion and doing what it's meant to do. But based on what I saw, I'm pretty impressed with how they were able to adapt the costume for the film.

As for the shield, it actually hews very closely to the classic design of red/white/red rings with the white star in a blue circle at the middle.

[keg in kc]

Going to go today. Is there any reason to see it in 3D?

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Is there any reason to see it in 3D?

Its a post convert, so i wouldnt support it. But its your money...

[keg in kc]

11:15 showing for $5 it is.

[keg in kc]

Saw it. I thought it was okay. I had problems with the pacing, particularly once he reached Italy. Not a bad movie, but I think I liked Thor more.

Really looking forward to Cowboys and Aliens next week. Hope it's not a letdown.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Saw it. I thought it was okay. I had problems with the pacing, particularly once he reached Italy. Not a bad movie, but I think I liked Thor more.

Really looking forward to Cowboys and Aliens next week. Hope it's not a letdown.

This sounds like a slight thumbs down....or a disappointment?

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

This sounds like a slight thumbs down....or a disappointment?

Slight disappointment. Still a thumbs up.

[DBOSHO]

My favorite superhero movie of the summer is still Thor.

Thor
Cap
Green Lantern

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

Saw it. I thought it was okay. I had problems with the pacing, particularly once he reached Italy. Not a bad movie, but I think I liked Thor more.

Really looking forward to Cowboys and Aliens next week. Hope it's not a letdown.

If by this you mean it seemed too compact, I agree. I thought the film could've been longer and fleshed out his actions a little more. But that's the sign of a good film: when it actually feels too short.

I liked "Thor", but I just found it a bit draggy, the character a bit one-dimensional, and the love interest angle totally not there. I think Hemsworth did the best he could with the role. I liked all three, but if forced to rank them I'd give Cap an A-, Lantern a B+, and Thor a B. (For comparison's sake, I'd give HP7B a B- and TSF3 a C+.)

[JD10367]

Oh, and I hope y'all are staying for the Avengers trailer.

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

This sounds like a slight thumbs down....or a disappointment?

none, it's damn good

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by JD10367

If by this you mean it seemed too compact, I agree. I thought the film could've been longer and fleshed out his actions a little more. But that's the sign of a good film: when it actually feels too short.

Not at all. I thought it dragged for most of the run time, but most noticeably there. It almost turned into a 'check my watch' movie. You know the ones, where you get bored and check your watch, and wonder how the film that feels 3 hours long has only been going for 45 minutes . So no, it didn't feel too short to me. Although it did feel like an abrupt resolution. And I hated the way it ended (not including the bump). "I missed a date" or whatever his line at the end was...just terrible. That may have been the biggest black mark of all for me, that single line.

My take on Thor was almost the opposite of yours. I like pretty much every aspect of that movie more. But I tend to prefer more out-there fantasy, as opposed to historical science fiction, which is what Captain America basically was.

Although I did think the two movies tied together very well, and I think lead into The Avengers really well.

[ThaVirus]

I actually liked the "I had a date" line. Can't explain Why, it just worked for me. I also thought Chris Evans did a damn good job, as well as Tommy Lee and Hugo. Evans chemistry with the lead girl made the love bit especially engaging for me..... not to mention she was sexy as hell.

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by ThaVirus

I actually liked the "I had a date" line. Can't explain Why, it just worked for me. I also thought Chris Evans did a damn good job, as well as Tommy Lee and Hugo. Evans chemistry with the lead girl made the love bit especially engaging for me..... not to mention she was sexy as hell.

She was on Craig Ferguson last week. (The talk show. Not Craig himself. He should be so lucky.) She's voluptuous as hell and has mega-huge cans.

I was only disappointed in the ending because I thought they had perfectly telegraphed the ending and guessed wrong:

Spoiler!

With all the references to dancing and finding the right partner, and his asking her to meet him next week, I thought for sure the film was going to end with him finding that she was still alive and now in her 90s, and that he would go to her and surprise her with his still being alive, and they would dance. It was set up that way for a nice sappy sad ending. By subbing just that line, it was kind of abrupt.

[Deberg_1990]

Wow, i couldnt disagree more with Keg on this flick. I loved it! The acting, the origin story, the love story, the action, the actors..it all worked perfectly for me.

I can understand why some might have thought it dragged some in the middle though, but i thought it was all neccessary for the character. The only minor gripe i might have had was that the story didnt seem to focus on one single focused mission. It might have lost some narrative drive there. The filmed spanned a several year period and 2 or 3 montages were used to show this. But overall, i thought this was old school film making at its finest. It reminded me of something that might have been made in the 80's. sort of a Raiders lite. Oh, and the Avengers preview at the end practically gave me wood. Cant wait.


Best flick Joe Johnston has ever made...well this and October Sky, which he brought a lot of that film's heartfelt earnest here....Great stuff.

[JD10367]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

It reminded me of something that might have been made in the 80's. sort of a Raiders lite.

I felt the same way. It definitely benefits from him being a rather regular guy (just one with a great right hook, good sense of aim, and ability to leap things a little better). Tied in with the 1940s time frame it lent itself to a lot of physical action. And they worked the shield in there nicely (since it's always tough to figure out how to make a simple shield be a main weapon). I think this film might even draw in a lot of older people and/or non-comic-geeks, due to the war setting and sentiment. My dad is 77 and has no interest in films like "Thor" and "Green Lantern" but I told him to go check out "Captain America" because I think he'll like it.

Best flick Joe Johnston has ever made...well this and October Sky, which he brought a lot of that film's heartfelt earnest here....Great stuff.

"October Sky" is a GREAT flick. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it. A simple yet powerful little film with great acting jobs all around. But he's done some great work. "Hidalgo" was extremely good IMO. For what they were, "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" and "Jumanji" were very well done. "Jurassic Park III" was pretty entertaining for it's time. "The Rocketeer" has become a bit of a cult hit. Given how much I like the rest of his work I might have to check out "The Wolfman" (which I totally missed when it came out).