Marvel Studios’ Phase 4 doubled down on a great visual MCU trend, and thankfully, it looks like Phase 5 will be continuing and expanding on it.
Marvel Studios is continuing one wonderful trend with Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 5. In the wake of the epic events of Avengers: Endgame and the end of the Infinity Saga, Marvel Studios used Phase 4 to introduce many new heroes, bringing a lot more color and variety into the franchise in some of the more light-hearted projects in the MCU, including the likes of Thor: Love & Thunder, Ms. Marvel, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Phase 5 is already set to be a much darker adventure in the MCU, but one trend that became much more prominent in Phase 4 will continue to grow.
Phase 5 kicked off with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, a more epic story for Scott Lang and his crew as they went toe-to-toe with Kang the Conqueror in the Quantum Realm. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Blade, and Disney+’s Secret Invasion will all add to the gravitas of the MCU’s Phase 5 but will hopefully continue to translate the vibrancy of the Marvel Comics storylines into live-action. Phase 4 brought in several new heroes with great new looks, providing some brilliant callbacks to the comic source material, and this will only continue throughout Phase 5.
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Phase 4 Introduced Many Comic Accurate Costumes
While previous MCU Phases had featured some comic-accurate superhero costumes, practically every Phase 4 project debuted outfits that were taken straight from the pages of Marvel Comics. This theme was introduced almost immediately during Phase 4’s first project, WandaVision. The final costume for Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), was inspired by her comic counterpart’s costume, but episode 6, “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!,” debuted comic-accurate costumes for both Wanda and Vision (Paul Bettany), and even for Evan Peters’ Quicksilver. These were dressed up the Halloween costumes but were fun Easter eggs for die-hard Marvel fans.
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier saw Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) receive his very own comic-accurate suit as Captain America, wings included. Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl) was even gifted his trademark coat and purple face mask, and US Agent (Russell Wyatt) donned his black-and-red suit. Loki featured several variants of the God of Mischief donning their comic costumes, including Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant), President Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and Kid Loki (Jack Veal). Disney+ introduced many comic-accurate MCU costumes, including those for Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) in Hawkeye, Steven Grant/Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac) in Moon Knight, and Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) in Ms. Marvel.
Along with Wilson’s new Captain America costume, a few of Phase 4’s comic-accurate costumes set up some epic storylines in the MCU’s future. This is particularly true for the likes of Daredevil and Kingpin (Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio, respectively), who are set to make appearances in the MCU’s Phase 5 projects Echo and Daredevil: Born Again. The appearance of White Vision in WandaVision, taken straight from the pages of Marvel Comics, helps to set up the MCU’s planned Vision Quest project, and Abomination’s (Tim Roth) true form in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law could be planting seeds for his involvement in Thunderbolts or a potential World War Hulk project.
Marvel Studios’ Phase 4 feature films also debuted several comic-accurate costumes, most notably in projects such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love & Thunder. Earth-838’s Illuminati team in Multiverse of Madness included comic-accurate costumes for Black Bolt (Anson Mount), Professor X (Patrick Stewart), and Reed Richards (John Krasinski), as well as featuring America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) in her trademark denim star-embossed jacket. Love & Thunder saw Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman), Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander), and even Hercules (Brett Goldstein), who had a cameo in the Thor: Love & Thunder post-credits scene in their accurate comic attire.
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Perhaps the most memorable comic-accurate suit from Phase 4’s projects came with Peter Parker’s final costume as Spider-Man (Tom Holland) at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home. No Way Home saw various multiversal Peter Parkers don several different costumes, but the film ends with the MCU proper’s Peter Parker designing his own costume, inspired by his variant cousins’ costumes, and reminding viewers of his comic counterpart’s original suit. Phase 4 has been a gold mine for comic-accurate costumes in the MCU, which is something that will continue in full force in Phase 5 and beyond.
How Will Phase 5 Continue This Comic Accurate Trend?
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania revealed new costumes for Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly), and Cassie Lang in her new superhero identity (now portrayed by Kathryn Newton in yet another recasting). The Wasp was gifted a very comic-accurate costume for the size-changing team’s newest Quantum Realm adventure, and Cassie’s purple suit is reminiscent of her costume as Stinger in Marvel Comics, her second superhero moniker. Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) was also shown to have a remarkably comic-accurate costume in Quantumania, donning his iconic purple-and-green armor and blue face mask.
Subsequent Phase 5 projects are also set to feature more comic-accurate outfits for the MCU’s superheroes. This has not only been shown in the new uniforms for the Guardians of the Galaxy but also in proposed looks for Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau, a.k.a. Photon (Teyonah Parris) in The Marvels, and Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart (Dominique Thorne), in Ironheart on Disney+. It can also be assumed that Thunderbolts will debut several comic-accurate costumes for their first team-up film, including those for the likes of Red Guardian (David Harbour), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko), whose vibrant costumes would be fantastic to see in the live-action MCU.
Comic Accurate Costumes Are Perfect For The MCU’s Future
After spending the first three MCU Phases often avoiding comic-accurate costumes, preferring to update these outfits for the modern age, Marvel Studios seems to be fully embracing the Marvel Comics source material for the MCU’s Multiverse Saga. The introduction of many comic-accurate costumes in Phases 4 and 5 acts as the perfect way to honor the magic of Marvel Comics while still acting as a breath of fresh air as the colorful costumes keep the MCU feeling new and accessible for audiences. Die-hard Marvel fans also relish in seeing comic costumes brought to the screen, even if they’re passed off as jokes, just as they were during WandaVision.
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Not only does the influx of comic-accurate costumes act as a great way for Marvel Studios to honor the comic source material, but they also have an in-universe explanation for the MCU’s heroes. Phase 4 has seen established heroes realize their full potential, including the Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Moon Knight, meaning their costumes carry a deeper meaning, as it marks them becoming their final and most powerful forms. This means that when this trend continues in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 5, the heroes will carry on developing, growing, and enhancing in strength, preparing for the epic battles that will come at the end of the Multiverse Saga.
