Marvel Studios continues a wonderful trend with Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Following the epic events of Avengers: Endgame and the end of the Infinity Saga, Marvel Studios used Phase 4 to introduce many new heroes, bringing much more color and variety to the franchise in some of the MCU’s more lighthearted projects, including the likes of Thor: Love and Thunder, Ms. MarvelAnd She-Hulk: Lawyer. Phase 5 is already poised to be a much darker adventure in the MCU, but a trend that has become much more prominent in Phase 4 will continue to grow.
Phase 5 started with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniaa more epic story for Scott Lang and his crew as they battle Kang the Conqueror in the Quantum Realm. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Bladeand Disney+ Secret Invasion will all add to the gravity of the MCU’s Phase 5, but will hopefully continue to translate the dynamism of Marvel Comics storylines into live-action. Phase 4 brought in several new heroes with great new looks, providing brilliant callbacks to the comic book source material, and that will only continue throughout Phase 5.
Phase 4 introduced many comically accurate costumes
While previous Phases of the MCU featured comic book-accurate superhero costumes, virtually every Phase 4 project debuted outfits pulled straight from the pages of Marvel Comics. This theme was introduced almost immediately during the first Phase 4 project, Wanda Vision. The final costume for Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), was inspired by her comic counterpart’s costume, but episode 6, “All-New Halloween Spooktacular!”, debuted costume-accurate for Wanda and Vision (Paul Bettany), and even for Evan Peters’ Quicksilver. These were dressed in 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 own comic-accurate costume as Captain America, wings included. Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl) even received his purple coat and mask, and US Agent (Russell Wyatt) donned his black and red suit. Loki featured several variations of the God of Mischief donning their comedic costumes, including Classic Loki (Richard E. Grant), President Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and Kid Loki (Jack Veal). Disney+ featured plenty of MCU-accurate costumes, including those of Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) in Hawk EyeSteven Grant/Marc Spector (Oscar Isaac) in moon knightand Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) in Ms. Marvel.
In addition to Wilson’s new Captain America costume, a few of the movie-accurate Phase 4 costumes set up epic storylines in the MCU’s future. This is especially true for Daredevil and Kingpin (Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio, respectively), who are expected to make appearances in the MCU’s Phase 5 projects. Echo And Daredevil: Born Again. White Vision’s appearance in Wanda Visionpulled straight from the pages of Marvel Comics, helps set up the MCU blueprint vision quest project, and the true form of Abomination (Tim Roth) in She-Hulk: Lawyer could plant seeds for his involvement in Love at first sight or a potential world war hulk project.
Marvel Studios’ Phase 4 feature films have also debuted several comic book-accurate costumes, including in projects such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness And Thor: Love and Thunder. The Illuminati team from Earth-838 at Multiverse of Madness included comic book-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 his star-embossed denim jacket . love and thunder saw Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Mighty Thor (Natalie Portman), Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) and even Hercules (Brett Goldstein), who made an appearance in the Thor: Love and Thunder post-credits scene in their comically accurate attire.
Perhaps the most memorable comic costume of the Phase 4 projects came with Peter Parker’s final costume as Spider-Man (Tom Holland) at the end of Spider-Man: No Coming Home. No coming home saw various multiversal Peter Parkers don several different costumes, but the film ends with Peter Parker from the MCU proper designing his own costume, inspired by the costumes of his variant cousins, and reminding viewers of his counterpart’s original costume. comical. Phase 4 was a goldmine for comic book-accurate costumes in the MCU, which will continue fully into Phase 5 and beyond.
How will Phase 5 continue this precise comic 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 another makeover). The Wasp has been given a very comical costume for the team’s new size-changing Quantum Realm adventure, and Cassie’s purple costume is reminiscent of her Stinger costume in Marvel Comics, her second superhero moniker. Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) has also been shown to have a remarkably comedic costume in Quantumaniadonning his iconic purple and green armor and blue mask.
Later Phase 5 projects are also expected to feature more specific outfits for MCU superheroes. This was not only shown in the new Guardians of the Galaxy uniforms but also in the proposed looks for Kamala Khan and Monica Rambeau aka Photon (Teyonah Parris) in Wondersand Riri Williams, aka Ironheart (Dominique Thorne), in Stone heart on Disney+. It can also be assumed that Love at first sight will debut several comedic costumes for their first team-up movie, including those 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.
Comically Accurate Costumes Are Perfect For The MCU’s Future
After spending the first three phases of the MCU often avoiding true-to-comic-book costumes, preferring to update those outfits for the modern age, Marvel Studios seems to be fully embracing Marvel Comics source material for the MCU’s multiverse saga. The introduction of many comic book-accurate costumes in Phases 4 and 5 is the perfect way to honor the magic of Marvel Comics while also acting as a breath of fresh air, as the colorful costumes allow the MCU to feel new and available to the public. Die-hard Marvel fans also enjoy seeing comedic costumes worn on screen, even if they’re presented as jokes, just like they were during Wanda Vision.
Not only is the influx of comic book-accurate costumes a great way for Marvel Studios to honor the comic book source material, but they also have an explanation within the universe of MCU heroes. Phase 4 saw established heroes realize their full potential, including the Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, and Moon Knight, meaning their costumes hold deeper meaning as they become their final and most powerful forms. This means that when this trend continues in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Stage 5the heroes will continue to develop, grow and gain strength, preparing for the epic battles that will come at the end of the multiverse saga.