Costume Reveal
Today the CW released the first image of Tyler Hoechlin in the new costume for the upcoming show Superman & Lois. I think this is a huge improvement over the costume he wore in Supergirl and The CW crossovers. We knew a costume update was coming. The CW team said the original suit was designed for guest roles, but they needed something that was designed for every day use. Starting at the top we see the cape attachment has been redone. I’m not sure what they were thinking with the old clasps, but this looks much cleaner. We also get a nice look at Tyler’s shoulders which look awesome. The much higher neckline looks very clean and personally I’ll be less distracted by Tyler’s chest hair! Moving down we see the shield has been shrunk a bit. I think this will probably work better in motion since it’s a solid piece and a big one across the entire chest would really restrict movement. The texture and detail on the costume looks very similar and adds definition on film. The belt looks less like it’s made out of plastic and a bit more regal. Yeah I wish we had the trunks not just to break up the monotony of the blue, but as a call back to the character’s original designs, origins, and inspirations. We don’t get a clear view of the boots yet so let’s reserve judgement.
The Superman Homepage has a great quote from Tyler about the suit:
“I find that the new suit is representative of the show. Just as this suit is unique and set apart from the ones that preceded it, the story we’re telling about Clark/Superman at this point in his life is unique and something we’ve never seen before. I appreciate the opportunity to wear the suit and the responsibility that comes with it. But it’s always interesting when I’m asked how I feel about “my new suit,” because I’ve always felt that the suit doesn’t belong to me; it belongs to everyone that finds some kind of meaning in that suit, in the symbol on the chest. I just happen to be the one wearing it. I come from the world of baseball and a line of coaches that always preached that the name on the front of the jersey is more important than the one on the back. Because when you wear that jersey, it represents not only you, but your entire team, and everyone that has ever worn that jersey that came before you. So when I wear the suit, that’s what it means to me. It represents everything that Superman stands for and has stood for, for almost a century now. And I look forward to carrying on that tradition.”
While talking costume reveals I thought it would be fun to revisit some costume reveals in the past. Reverse chronologically we have Tyler’s last costume for the Supergirl show. Before that we’ve got the first look at Henry Cavill in Man of Steel:
It was clear at the time this pose was chosen to hide the lack of trunks. The boots and cape here are so great. I’ve never loved the S, although it works in the context of the universe. I could take it or leave it with some of the details on the costume, but I’m not heavily bothered by it. The belt here really doesn’t break up the blue though. Probably the darkest/most muted version of the costume. Moving back through time we have Brandon Routh in Superman Returns:
This was first published in USA Today before the release of the movie. I remember going to the gas station nearby to buy a copy, but sadly can’t find my original. At the time I hated the dark red and the smaller shield. In retrospect the S makes sense as it’s a solid thing like I said earlier about Tyler’s and would restrict movement if it was any bigger. The biggest reason the red doesn’t work here is because the blue is still really bright. At the time it felt like they were doing the same thing Singer did with the X-Men movie: black leather. The Man of Steel costume is overall much darker, but the red and the blue work better together than they do here. It’s better all bright or all dark. At the time the small trunks seemed modern, but now looks dated. Bonus is the costume Routh wore for the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover:
Even though they used the Kingdom Come Superman as the basis for this costume this is much brighter than Superman Returns. This is one of my favorite costumes of the bunch. It keeps the physical S shield. The colors are matched properly. He just looks fantastic. The episode ends with a yellow version of the shield which felt like a gift to the fans who love Routh and wanted to see him in a very classic costume. Now we move way back in time to the 70s with Christopher Reeve:
I believe this shot was the first publicly released image of Christopher Reeve in the costume. Caped Wonder is the definitive resource for photos from this era. What can I add to this? He looks like the comic books come to life. He’s not even as bulked up as he would eventually get over the filming.