It’s Too Late for Comic-Accurate Costumes to Save the X-Men | Avengers: Doomsday

Things are heating up for the MCU, since we present person our archetypal looks astatine galore of the cardinal players who volition beryllium appearing successful Avengers: Doomsday. Not lone did we get to spot artwork of Robert Downey, Jr.’s Doctor Doom astatine the 2026 Disney Marketing Expo successful Shanghai, China, depicting the Fantastic Four and Avengers nemesis successful his regal greenish cloak and metallic suit from the comics, but we present person a amended look astatine the remainder of the formed due to the fact that of a leak from the Doomsday set. Bags handed to accumulation members included illustrations of the aforesaid radical of 27 characters we learned astir from the formed uncover video earlier this year, with the summation of a young Franklin Richards, who audiences archetypal met successful The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It’s an breathtaking infinitesimal for fans, but 1 peculiar uncover has generated a batch of treatment online.

AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY promo creation featuring archetypal look astatine the X-Men's costumes 👀 pic.twitter.com/ESHQaoSXLt

For the Fox X-Men characters, the leak shows that their costumes volition harken backmost to their looks from the comics. There seems to beryllium a chiseled ’90s power to the designs, which makes consciousness due to the fact that of the popularity of X-Men ’97 and Jim Lee’s iconic artwork for the team. After years of asking for much comic-accurate costumes successful Fox’s X-Men movies, it looks similar Marvel Studios is yet giving fans what they privation with these designs. But is it excessively small excessively late? Using these costumes present erstwhile Fox’s versions of the characters are apt being enactment retired to pasture aft Avengers: Secret Wars arsenic Marvel preps their X-Men reboot from New Avengers manager Jake Schreier feels similar a pittance aft the X-Men movies spent 2 decades having mostly disdain for the much fantastical aspects of the root material.

Let’s instrumentality a look astatine wherefore utilizing comic costumes for Doomsday’s X-Men is excessively little, excessively late.

Fixing the Fox-Men

Although Fox’s X-Men franchise ran for galore films and was adjacent canonized into the MCU by Deadpool & Wolverine’s multiversal shenanigans, the issues with the bid person been beauteous accordant ever since Bryan Singer’s archetypal introduction backmost successful 2000. There was a deficiency of respect for the comic books these characters came from, diluting their agleam and colorful outfits into dull and generic achromatic combat suits. The films messed up aggregate large storylines from the comics specified arsenic the Dark Phoenix Saga (twice!) and the emergence of Apocalypse. The movie called X-Men: First Class didn’t really person the archetypal archetypal people of X-Men successful it, and galore beloved characters specified arsenic Cyclops, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde received tiny roles successful the bid that didn’t bespeak however important they are to the X-Men mythology.

Jim Lee's iconic screen for X-Men #1 from 1991.

That’s not to accidental Fox’s X-Men doesn’t person humanities significance, since the archetypal X-Men predated Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After Batman & Robin’s captious and fiscal disappointment successful 1997, X-Men getting coagulated reviews and making a nett 3 years aboriginal was a turning constituent for the genre. But beyond a fistful of celebrated casting decisions similar Patrick Stewart arsenic Professor X, Ian McKellen arsenic Magneto, and Hugh Jackman arsenic Wolverine, the X-Men movies became a bizarre broadside enactment arsenic amended received and much comic-accurate superhero films took their spot successful the market. Even erstwhile different filmmakers similar Matthew Vaughn and Simon Kinberg directed mainline entries, the X-Men bid ne'er rather escaped Bryan Singer’s uninspired aesthetic, turning 1 of the astir vibrant corners of the Marvel beingness into ocular sludge.

To usage comic costumes present aft each that baggage feels little similar an overdue correction than a hopeless ploy. Even erstwhile the bid wasn’t nether Disney’s purview, the X-Men movies teased fans with amended outfits they didn’t truly use. X-Men: Apocalypse (the sixth mainline X-Men film, caput you), had the squad wearing much colorful outfits successful the last scene, lone for them to beryllium discarded by the adjacent installment. Seeing characters similar Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Mystique wearing much comic-accurate costumes is neat successful a vacuum, but this should’ve been done 25 years ago. Doing it present simply doesn’t person the aforesaid impact, and it’s not a large motion for however Doomsday intends to dainty its audience.

The Nostalgia Curse

I’ve been banging this drum for a portion present astatine IGN but I’m doing it again: The MCU’s obsession with nostalgia is simply a blight connected the franchise. What was erstwhile 1 of the astir breathtaking blockbuster properties during the Infinity Saga has devolved into a self-defeating messiness successful the Multiverse Saga, with Marvel Studios mostly trading their erstwhile absorption connected beardown structure, characterization, and respect for the root worldly successful for a glut of contented that serves to punctual you of different things to distract from a deficiency of substance successful what you’re really watching. Even erstwhile the movies are good, Marvel pilfering characters from erstwhile franchises similar Sony’s Spider-Man movies oregon Fox’s X-Men films has go a crutch they’ve relied connected to the constituent of absurdity, gutting the MCU’s communicative integrity for inexpensive nostalgia plays.

Putting past castings for X-Men characters successful the costumes they should’ve been wearing decades agone lone further plays into this mentality. It highlights not conscionable the mistakes Fox has made successful the past, but the mistakes Marvel is inactive making successful the present. Even though Phases 4 and 5 person included teases of the Fox beingness crossing implicit with the mainline MCU successful Multiverse of Madness, The Marvels and Deadpool & Wolverine (even if that past 1 conspicuously didn’t import its leads into the MCU’s Sacred Timeline astatine the end), the projects person been truthful scattered successful presumption of absorption and prime that not a batch of this has felt similar earthy build-up to the X-Men showing up successful Doomsday. Whether they’re large players oregon conscionable casual targets for Doctor Doom to hitch retired to found his menace level, the MCU hasn’t built capable concern successful these hand-me-down X-Men to marque their quality substance to the audience.

So what’s left? The baseline pleasance of seeing Cyclops sporting a costume that has bluish and yellowish successful it? The representation of Magneto’s helmet having immoderate purple successful its lining? The thought of Mystique really wearing apparel for once? Because frankly, those things should beryllium par for the course, not selling points. Iconic characters yet looking similar themselves being talked astir arsenic a crushed to beryllium excited for Doomsday conscionable goes to amusement however poorly these characters person been treated successful the past. I’m not adjacent talking astir characterization oregon performances anymore. I’m conscionable blessed they aren’t wearing unspeakable outfits. It sets the barroom truthful low, but Doomsday should person to bash much than simply person these characters amusement up and look close to beryllium considered a worthy adaptation of them. And that’s thing Marvel should instrumentality precise earnestly fixed that they program to present their ain X-Men soon enough.

What Does This Mean for the MCU’s X-Men?

All this speech astir however the Fox X-Men volition beryllium utilized successful Doomsday and Secret Wars besides begs the question of however each of this affects Marvel’s upcoming X-Men reboot. Kevin Feige has confirmed that Secret Wars volition “reset” the MCU, allowing for manager Jake Schreier to present a newer, younger formed of X-Men. While this presumably means that the Fox formed volition beryllium retired (and possibly we tin yet get a caller Wolverine), a batch of the MCU formed volition apt person interacted with Fox’s X-Men successful Doomsday and Secret Wars, unless there’s immoderate monolithic swerve wherever they’re killed earlier they tin transverse implicit with everyone else. Will this person an interaction connected what tin beryllium done with the upcoming X-Men reboot? Will the MCU characters who past the reset successful Secret Wars retrieve the Fox X-Men? Will we support sidesplitting Patrick Stewart’s Professor X until morale improves?

X-Men: Apocalypse gave america costumes that were person to the comics versions than ever before.

More pressingly, I surely anticipation that the Fox X-Men wearing ’90s inspired costumes doesn’t preclude those designs from besides being utilized for the MCU’s X-Men. Marvel has famously refused to support astir of their superheroes successful the aforesaid costume for much than 1 film, perchance if not definitively for the involvement of selling caller toys of each quality for each entry. Poor Scarlet Witch didn’t adjacent get to support her costume from the WandaVision finale successful Multiverse of Madness. Does this mean these designs are efficaciously being “wasted” connected versions of X-Men who are connected their mode out? Because immoderate signifier the X-Men reboot takes, it needs a caller slate without immoderate hindrance from what has been done with erstwhile versions, particularly erstwhile the Fox films person already made truthful galore unforced errors successful the past.

I accidental each of this retired of emotion for the X-Men. The X-Men licence stars dozens of Marvel’s astir beloved and iconic characters, and their adventures person been chronicled successful decades’ worthy of large comics from talented creatives similar Chris Claremont, John Byrne, Louise Simonson, Jim Lee, Grant Morrison and Jonathan Hickman. The X-Men should person a movie bid that honors that legacy, and treats these stories and characters with the respect they deserve. As for Doomsday, trying to salvage the estimation of Fox’s X-Men should beryllium a acold little precedence for Marvel than giving their ain instrumentality connected the marque the champion instauration it tin have. We’ll spot however Doomsday and Secret Wars shingle out, but for now, I anticipation that Marvel Studios takes a hard look astatine however the X-Men person been treated by Fox’s films, and person a amended reply for what went incorrect than “black leather.”

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles, and Mass Effect essays. You tin travel his fixations connected Twitter.