Superman’s black suit, or lack thereof, inJustice Leaguehas been a major topic of discussion ever since the movie was released. We know for sure that there were plans to have the suit in the movie and it was even revealed in one of the movie’s deleted scenes. Though, it was just hanging out in the background and Henry Cavill never actually puts it on. So, why didn’t the black suit make it onto Superman’s resurrected body? We have ourselves an explanation.
Justice Leaguecostume designer Michael Wilkinson, who absolutely would have been privy to anything involving theblack suit, has revealed whySupermandidn’t wear it. First off, he explains that Zack Snyder loved the idea of the black suit and that he wanted it in the movie. It was something that came up early on in the discussions, as it was very faithful to the comics. Specifically, theDeath and Return of Supermanstoryline.
“The black suit is something that has fascinated us as filmmakers from the get-go. We saw a glimpse of it in thenightmare sequence from Man of Steelwhen Superman was wading through skulls, and also in the deleted scene from Justice League where you do see Clark walking through the spaceship and it’s teased in the background. When we were prepping Justice League, at first it seemed that it might be a logical choice for the look of Superman when he’s resurrected. Zack is extremely respectful and passionate about the depiction of Superman in comic books and graphic novels, and traditionally when he is resurrected, he is in the black suit.”
Zack Snyder is still the sole credited director ofJustice League, but it’s not so simple as that.Joss Whedon took overafter Snyder departed the project, and it’s said that Warner Bros. fired him before his departure was made public. Whedon did significant reshoots on the movie and it’s been made quite clear that the movie we’ve been given is not an execution of Snyder’s vision. While Michael Wilkinson doesn’t explicitly say that’s why Superman didn’t wear the suit, he explains that it didn’t suit the optimistic version of the character they wanted to portray.
“But as the tone of the film developed and we were in pre-production, the filmmakers felt that theclassic red and blue suitseemed more appropriate to our story and our script. 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.”
Indeed,Justice Leaguedid try to course correct, as many DC fans had criticized the darker version of Superman that had appeared in these movies. The version we get inJustice Leagueis a more optimistic and less brooding version, complete with a poor CGI mustache removal. Even if this isn’t an overly satisfying explanation for those who had been hoping to see the black Superman suit, it’s the explanation we’ve got and it does seem to make sense. This news comes to us courtesy ofDigital Spy.
