We have come a long way in terms of on-screen superhero representation. It used to be rare that any comic book adaptation would have the perfect combo of great acting, story, characters, and, of course, a great suit. Superheroes wear costumes. It doesn’t matter if it’s weird, because it’s fricking cool. Everybody knows Batman’s cowl or Spider-Man’s eyes. Those characters have had pretty good costume representation on the big screen, and they are (sometimes) ripped straight off the page of a comic book. Well, many characters that are drawn for the page have uniforms that need to be updated for the big screen. Or, sometimes, the costume designers have really unique ideas for a character’s costume that aren’t necessarily based in comics. These are some of the most unique and out-of-the-box costume designs that we really like in the MCU.

Yellowjacket

Darren Cross was never Yellowjacket in the comics. That designation belonged to Hank Pym. Since they were already taking an existing character and making him another super-character, they had plenty of liberty to change the Yellowjacket design. However, they still went for a pretty comic-accurate representation, minus the open mask and logo. This seems like a standard translation from the comics for this film, but it looks so awesome. Oh, and did I mention the outside-the-box part? They added mechanical appendages with laser beams! These 2 extra arms give him a very unique fighting style and makes him look much more insect-like. Seriously, look at a Yellowjacket action figure from the side. He looks like a hornet. I love this suit, and hope to see it return one day. 

In fact, a toned-down version of the suit almost appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp, worn by none other than Hank Pym! I would have much preferred this look over the quantum suit we saw him don in the film. While this version of the suit lacked the mechanical arms and helmet, other pieces of concept art from Ant-Man by Andy Park show alternate designs for Darren Cross reveal that they were clearly going for the extra arms and more insectoid look in the original film all along.

Ego

This is a bit of a tricky one. In the comics, Ego is a giant living planet and therefore doesn’t wear clothes. Whenever he HAS taken on a humanoid form, he was giant, Zeus-looking, and nearly nude. His hairstyle was pretty similar to his eventual film counterpart, though. His costume in the movie seems inspired by adventurers and gods, and some of the smaller details on the suit looks like J’Son, Star-Lord’s father in the comics’ suit. It’s hard to be mad at Kurt Russell for not being comic-accurate because he is so likable and does such a good job portraying Ego. Since they basically created Ego’s look from scratch, with a few tidbits of comic inspiration here and there, I’d say it’s possibly the most unique and out-of-the-box MCU design there is.

An unused design for Ego shows him on a throne, looking more like an egotistical god, even holding a wine glass. Certainly not “humble as Drax”. Other design variations include costumes that are, without a doubt, inspired by J’Son of Spartax and even Marvel Comics’ version of Dracula! MCU concept art is always such a treat to sift through.

Crossbones

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War..Crossbones/Brock Rumlow (Frank Grillo) ..Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal..© Marvel 2016

While Brock Rumlow’s costume in the comics is quite simple, it is also really cool. It consists of a vest with bones painted on it and a skull mask. I expected to see a fairly straightforward recreation of this look for the film, but they made a few key changes. He now has a military/SWAT look and gauntlets that allow him to go toe-to-toe with Captain America, even gaining the upper hand at one point. These are not from the comics, and a total oddball and cool weapon choice. Add on the sloppily painted skull and crossbones and he has one badass look.

Vulture

Adrian Toomes’ classic comic design is….goofy. It’s so silly, in fact, that I never thought they could do it justice on the big screen. Well, they managed to capture that classic look as well as making a few cool updates. He has a fighter pilot helmet with spooky green eyes peering through, a bomber jacket (with the fur around his neck!), massive wings, and huge talons on his feet. His MCU costume even looks more vulture-like than it did in the comics, and I give Marvel full props for that.

If I were to choose the weirdest costume out of all of these, I would have to say Ego’s takes the cake. When designing Ego’s human form for the film, they had almost nothing to draw from. There are a few tiny nods to J’Son’s costume from the comics, but is overall an original design. It’s not my favorite look out of the ones I listed, but it’s certainly the most original.

Make sure you let us know your favorite oddball MCU designs are in the comments below.