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Justice League Costume Designer Explains Why They Didn't Use the Black Suit

Published Fri, 23 Mar 2018 18:35:44 -0500

There were a lot of things about Justice League that confused fans, but one of the things they were expecting but didn't get was Superman's black suit. That probably had something to do with Henry Cavill teasing the suit on Instagram and then it not showing up in the movie.

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We did eventually see the suit, but it was used as a background prop in a deleted scene. While speaking at the DC Exhibition: Dawn of Super Heroes at The O2 London (via Digital Spy), costume designer Michael Wilkinson explained why the suit was teased but ended up not getting used in the movie.

"The black suit is something that has fascinated us as filmmakers from the get-go," he said. "We saw a glimpse of it in the nightmare sequence from Man of Steel when Superman was wading through skulls, and also in the deleted scene from Justice League where you do see Clark walking through the spaceship and it's teased in the background."

Justice League is a movie that has gone through no less than three different major changes in its lifetime. There was the version that was written before the critical and commercial backlash against Batman v Superman, the version Zack Snyder worked on, and the version Joss Whedon worked on. Wilkinson has said that it was originally their intention to use the black suit in the early versions of the movie.

"When we were prepping Justice League, at first it seemed that it might be a logical choice for the look of Superman when he's resurrected. Zack is extremely respectful and passionate about the depiction of Superman in comic books and graphic novels, and traditionally when he is resurrected, he is in the black suit."

However, as previously stated, this is a movie that went through a lot of major changes, a big one being the tone. The suit works for the grim and gritty aesthetic that Batman v Superman had, but once they decided to go lighter the black suit didn't fit as well.

"But as the tone of the film developed and we were in pre-production, the filmmakers felt that the classic red and blue suit seemed more appropriate to our story and our script. It seemed that a more positive, upbeat image of Superman was what was needed – the idea of hope and that the world could in fact be saved was important, so that's the direction that we went."

The fact that they decided to delete the scene with the suit was probably a good idea too. As it is presented, the suit swerves in front of the camera with all the subtly of a 2×4 to the face and then swings out of shot again. The lack of the black suit was not the thing that kneecapped Justice League.

Summary: Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy.

Justice League, directed by Zack Snyder, stars Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, and Henry Cavill. It's available on home release now.

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