“Justice League” Costume Designer Discusses (Unused) Black Suit

Michael Wilkinson, the costume director for the DC Extended Universe film Justice League, explained why Superman does not don his iconic black costume in that movie.

The Man of Steel died fighting Doomsday in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and is resurrected in Justice League (spoiler alert?) A similar arc occurred in the comics, with Superman coming back in a black version of his usual outfit. Many fans expected to see it in the film, but it was not.

As Wilkinson notes, this version of the outfit is seen in a nightmare sequence of Man of Steel, but its only inclusion in Justice League is in a deleted scene—one where the revived Superman sees it displayed in the Kryptonian ship, but opts against putting it on. This was part of the “Snyder cut,” which means that this change cannot be attributed to replacement director Joss Whedon’s attempts to lighten the film.

Wilkinson admits that “The black suit is something that has fascinated us as filmmakers from the get-go,” but that ultimately it was not appropriate for the tone of this movie.

“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,” he continued. “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.”

Zack Snyder’s work in Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was criticized by many as being too dour and deconstructive, taking away what most fans love about superheroes. Even before that poor reception, Snyder had said that he intended Justice League to be a lighter film; in this case, it seems that his trilogy was meant to be a story about the DC Comics superheroes starting off as deconstructions and then being reconstructed in their iconic selves. Superman’s costume choice was meant to help symbolize that.

Despite the divisive nature of his storytelling, critics of Snyder can agree that he is an excellent visual storyteller; he and Wilkinson clearly understood that the classic, bright Superman outfit would make a statement about his newfound idealism.