Supergirl

[Ragitsu]

I agree, they should be more willing to push the boundaries a bit in terms of visuals than going with the "this looks realistic" stuff.  The bright, amazing colors and designs are part of the genre, and they're a uniform of sorts: when you see that costume, and its hard to miss, you know something wonderful is happening.  Its like Mr Incredible picking up his car in front of the little boy on the tricycle.  Don't shy away from that.

 

A part of me thinks the studio executives for modern superhero cinema are trying to appeal to people that would not glance twice at a film that is unabashedly superheroic in it's overall appearance (especially on a poster).

 

In other words: appealing to the superficial.

 

Just like the comics these days, sadly. (IMO, of course)

 

I do wonder if modern comics have been too influenced by the latest film adaptations that were based off of them...

[Christopher R Taylor]

More than a little I'd say.  I think the comics aren't selling so well these days and they're looking for ways to reach customers.

[Old Man]

I dunno about that. That comic book costume looks no different to me than any high school cheerleader outfit in the country. Add to that the fact that this particular Supergirl is in her mid-20s--it wouldn't be child porn even if she flew around naked.

High school cheerleader outfits are miniskirts and crop tops that expose the entire midsection? What school did you go to?

 

The whole muted color palette for superhero costumes thing has just got to go. It is tedious in its ubiquitousness, disappointing in its creative sterility, and dismissive of its genre roots.

The whole muted color palette is the only reason they don't look like ridiculous pajamas.

[zslane]

Bare midriffs are more of a college cheerleader thing, I'll grant you. But all cheerleaders are in mini-skirts or hotpants. Regardless, this new Supergirl is past college age and is old enough to be on any professional football franchise cheerleader squad where the outfits are right out of the Vegas stripper catalog. Still not child porn.

 

Christopher Reeves wore bright red and blue and nobody I know of thought he looked silly. The Raimi Spiderman costume wasn't nearly so dark and muted either, and I don't recall audiences pointing fingers and laughing at the "ridiculous pajamas". Captain America gets to wear fairly bright blue and red, and Iron Man's armor is a pretty vibrant combination of crimson and gold. The whole "bright colors" will look silly argument doesn't hold water, IMO.

[Christopher R Taylor]

 

 

The whole muted color palette is the only reason they don't look like ridiculous pajamas. 

 

I'm confident that's what the execs are saying, but then they haven't actually tried anything else.  And like Roter Baron said above, she flies and bounces bullets off her chest for crying out loud.  They don't have to make it look like that, they just prefer avoiding the more specifically superhero comic feel.

[Ragitsu]

Christopher Reeves wore bright red and blue and nobody I know of thought he looked silly. The Raimi Spiderman costume wasn't nearly so dark and muted either, and I don't recall audiences pointing fingers and laughing at the "ridiculous pajamas". Captain America gets to wear fairly bright blue and red, and Iron Man's armor is a pretty vibrant combination of crimson and gold. The whole "bright colors" will look silly argument doesn't hold water, IMO.

 

This might be an unfortunate case of the bad sort of groupthink seeping in ("It is ridiculous because others say it is ridiculous, so I will internalize that.")

 

Yes, this thematic aspect of a superhero film can be done poorly (as with anything else), but it is not automatically so. Maybe the majority of filmmakers simply don't want to try and/or rock the boat?

 

(As an aside, since teenagers are, well, teenagers, I don't see how material with them would classify as child porn. Illegal, perhaps, but they ain't kids.)

[zslane]

Maybe the majority of filmmakers simply don't want to try and/or rock the boat?

I think that's definitely true. Hollywood studios are notoriously risk-averse. But it only takes one success to show the way. Disney/Marvel is sort of doing this by making huge-budget movies with a bright green monster, a bright blue and red super-patriot, and a flashy red and gold armored hero.

 

The problem is that it isn't easy to make brightly-colored superhero costumes look like serious business. I don't believe superhero movies and shows need to be stuck in a dark, "gritty realism" to work--Marvel is proving that nicely, I think. But unless you're going for comedy, viewers do need to take the characters seriously. I think this is achievable with bright costumes, it's just that it's hard and nobody has really nailed down how to do it with consistency outside of the MCU. The fact that virtually nobody is doing it isn't proof that it can't be done; it is merely proof that nobody is trying very hard (for various reasons: lack of vision, lack of incentive, infection by misguided groupthink, etc.).

[Old Man]

Bare midriffs are more of a college cheerleader thing, I'll grant you. But all cheerleaders are in mini-skirts or hotpants. Regardless, this new Supergirl is past college age and is old enough to be on any professional football franchise cheerleader squad where the outfits are right out of the Vegas stripper catalog. Still not child porn.

You're aware that female superhero costumes are always under a microscope, right? That every time a WW costume design proposal gets released, the internet explodes with "How does her top stay up" and "What's with the hot pants?"

 

Christopher Reeves wore bright red and blue and nobody I know of thought he looked silly.

Yeah, forty years ago. In the seventies, when clothes looked like

 

[sinanju]

The whole muted color palette is the only reason they don't look like ridiculous pajamas.

 

I gotta agree. The original X-Men movie had black leather--and it worked because real people can wear it and look badass, as opposed to yellow spandex. A bad choice of costuming could turn an otherwise good show into a comedy. So I understand why they're cautious.

 

On the other hand, as a friend of mine has pointed out repeatedly, if you want to see what looks good in real life for superherowear--check out how Olympic athletes dress, especially those in the winter games. Some of it is heavier than you'd want in a warm environment, but they wear form-fitting outfits that look good and are colorful.

 

On the gripping hand, hey, at least she's wearing an actual costume, not like Clark on Smallville.

[Michael Hopcroft]

She looks a bit thin and winnowy to bench-press asteroids. This may be more like it:

 

 

But what if so much publicity goes into this pilot and CBS ends up passing on it? It might be too expensive for Netflix to pick up, and not nearly grimdark enough for HBO.

[zslane]

You're aware that female superhero costumes are always under a microscope, right? That every time a WW costume design proposal gets released, the internet explodes with "How does her top stay up" and "What's with the hot pants?"

The internet explodes with righteous indignation over vacuous nonsense every day. Listening to and accomodating that noise may lend it a dubious credibility, but it will not lead to quality television/cinema.

[Enforcer84]

"Quality Television/Cinema" is whatever people will watch (according to the studios at least), and I dare say that Wonder Woman costume purists will make up a fairly minimal size of a hoped for viewing audience should such a show be present. It's not the the comic book fans they're trying to capture, it's a sizable chunk of everyone else.

 

 

Edited so I don't look quite as much a jerk. 

Edited March 8, 2015 by Enforcer84

[Old Man]

The internet explodes with righteous indignation over vacuous nonsense every day. Listening to and accomodating that noise may lend it a dubious credibility, but it will not lead to quality television/cinema.

Kind of like your vacuous nonsense about the costume color? As if superhero costumes haven't evolved over the years. As if they shouldn't evolve over the years.

[Nolgroth]

I prefer the muted colors. That said, I think the reason that the MCU characters get a way with bright colored costumes is because the actors bring a wide range to those roles. There is a pathos to Tony Stark that contrasts with the brightness of his armor. Even Captain America, the eternal enthusiast has the grim burden of having effectively outlived everything and everybody he knew and fought for. As for Hulk, yeah that's practically angst incarnate right there. It isn't all dark though. There are funny moments, brave moments and all the things that make up good comic characters in a good story.

 

That range of emotions, delivered solidly for the audience, will be the true test of whether this Supergirl is successful or not. The costume, bright or subdued, will be secondary to that. Maybe there is even a possibility that, like Arrow, the series will start dark and move to a lighter tone. Along with the shift of literary tone, so too might the colors. Either way, I think the right person is at the helm. I've very much enjoyed the Arrow and Flash shows so I expect that I will enjoy this show.

[Bazza]

If a film emulates comics enough, those little details could be overlooked or even downplayed if and when need be .

 

True, however there is quite a bit of dirt, dust etc in the Avengers Battle of New York. Hence superheroes can't escape it. Not to mention the dry-cleaning bill. 

 

Don't even enter the territory of "realism" - we speak about a bulletproof girl that is super-strong, can fly and can look thru wall (with and without superhot eye-beams) because she hails from an exploded planet.

 

If you are capable of excepting that then there is no reason not to accept that she wears a stainless, super-bright dress that can get dusty but *OHMYGAWD* does not even stain when some jerk spills red wine on it at a party.

 

That is why this GIRL is SUPER!

 

First paragraph, I accept that Kara is bulletproof etc. Second paragraph, I can accept that too. However I can also accept that she would likely find herself in situations which has dust, dirt etc which will stick to her costume, unless said costume is made from a super-material. 

 

However any discussion regarding the material of Supergirl's costume reminds me of this scene in The Big Bang Theory:

 

[Bazza]

On the gripping hand, hey, at least she's wearing an actual costume, not like Clark on Smallville.

 

That was the point of Smallville--Clark's life before Superman. 

[Bazza]

So basically in summary:

MCU films: bright colours

DC films & tv shows: muted/subdued/noir-ish colours.

[Pariah]

#1. I prefer bright colors for superheroes.

 

#2. That said, I thought what the filmmakers did with X-Men worked just fine, because the X-films weren't really traditional four-color comics stories.

 

#3. The bright red outfits in The Incredibles were perfect for those characters and that story. Reconstruction after Deconstruction and all that.

 

#4. Christopher Reeves looked amazing as Superman in the bright blue and red. And so did Dean Cain. I don't know that the same look would have worked as well for Superman Returns, being the darker, edgier postmodern thing that it attempted to be.

 

#5. And above all, I am the first to realize that nobody asked me.

[L. Marcus]

Well, why not consider the question to be open?

[sinanju]

That was the point of Smallville--Clark's life before Superman. 

 

In the beginning, yes. And I think it was a good concept. Having supers (heroes and villains) running around in normal clothes made it easier for non-comics fans to buy into the story. But toward the end? When he was The Blur, and basically acting like Superman without being called Superman? They still refused to have him wear any sort of real costume.

[Greywind]

She looks a bit thin and winnowy to bench-press asteroids. This may be more like it:

 

 

But what if so much publicity goes into this pilot and CBS ends up passing on it? It might be too expensive for Netflix to pick up, and not nearly grimdark enough for HBO.

 

CBS is already committed to it. http://screenrant.com/supergirl-tv-show-cbs/

[Pariah]

But toward the end? When he was The Blur, and basically acting like Superman without being called Superman? They still refused to have him wear any sort of real costume.

I seem to recall reading that this was one of the terms of the network being allowed to use the character: No costumes.

[zslane]

Kind of like your vacuous nonsense about the costume color? As if superhero costumes haven't evolved over the years. As if they shouldn't evolve over the years.

Well, to my mind the issue isn't really about costume colors per se, but about respecting genre conventions and the well-known traditions of the source material. Changing the Supergirl costume because some subsegment of the internet that probably has never read a Supergirl comic book (or a superhero comic book period) will get its collective panties in a bunch over how sexy or "unrealistic" such costumes are is, IMO, misguided at best. On the other hand, changing the Supergirl costume according to its stylistic trajectory in the comics makes sense to me, and is certainly a valid way to express an "evolution" of the costume.

[Greywind]

I seem to recall reading that this was one of the terms of the network being allowed to use the character: No costumes.

 

I don't recall it being a term. It had to do with Smallville being Clark's story. Not Superman's. It was all about his journey becoming the hero. Which was why there was a policy in place for him of "No tights. No flights."

[Scott Baker]

I seem to recall reading that this was one of the terms of the network being allowed to use the character: No costumes.

 

 

I don't recall it being a term. It had to do with Smallville being Clark's story. Not Superman's. It was all about his journey becoming the hero. Which was why there was a policy in place for him of "No tights. No flights."

I distinctly remember that there were terms as the Salkinds were working on the Superman franchise and did not want any competition. That also affected the story as they couldn't venture into the Superboy/Superman era.