Could Chris Evans have had the perfect suit? A previously unseen look for Captain America has been revealed in a new artbook for the MCU.
While Chris Evans has become engrained as one of the most beloved parts of the MCU, the actor had quite the rocky history when it came to costumes. From his original suit donned with paramilitary gear, to the overly saturated look the hero donned in the first The Avengers film, it seemed the costume designers couldn’t quite nail a look that would satisfy modern moviegoing audiences and fans of the original Captain America comics.
The first suit that seemed to really nail things for fans was the stealth suit in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It kept the style of the comics alive while keeping Chris Evans from looking like a Party City advertisement. However, it seems fans almost got a more comic-accurate suit alongside it. A new artbook for the MCU titled Marvel Studios: The Art of Ryan Meinerding, which focuses on the work of the studio’s visual director, reveals that Kevin Feige had originally tasked him with redesigning Captain America’s classic suit for the film.
“When Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s producer Nate Moore told Ryan Meinerding they wanted to give Steve Rogers the super soldier ‘Stealth Suit’ from the Marvel comics (designed by Marko Djurdjevic), the artist was excited-but also worried. ‘It’s a cool costume, but it doesn’t have a cowl or helmet, and I knew we could improve on the helmet from Marvel’s The Avengers,’ says Meinerding.”
“Kevin Feige agreed that it needed a redesign. ‘That was the biggest challenge for me. I was supremely motivated to get the helmet right.’ In the first presentation meeting, Meinerding’s suit design-from the neck down-was approved. But there was originally an additional Cap costume for the film.”
“Meinerding shares, ‘The back view [opposite, bottom right] was for an alternate suit that was cut from that movie. When Cap came back from the Lemurian Star mission and was in the Triskelion, he was gonna have this updated Avengers suit. So originally, he was not in the stealth suit at all times.'”
Chris Evans’ Scrapped Captain America Costume
Ryan Meinerding included an image of the concept art in the book, a scan of which has found its way online. True to his description, the costume does take heavy inspiration from Captain America’s suit in The Avengers. However, the reinvention gives Chris Evans’ hero much less saturated colors, along with a S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem courtesy of his employers at that current time in the MCU. The full design can be seen below.
Of course, the MCU would eventually perfect Chris Evans’ suit as Captain America in Avengers: Age of Ultron, with the studio pumping out nothing but perfection until his time in the role came to an end. While it’s a shame this suit didn’t see the light of day, its DNA can be seen throughout future iterations of the costume, culminating in something truly unique while still paying homage to the original comics.
Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Source: ComicBookMovie.com
