25 Coolest Superhero Redesigns
13. Supreme Avengers
Part of artist Calvin’s monumental personal project to redesign the entire Marvel Universe(in a similar manner to the Ultimate line, only with a focus on creating and highlighting minority and female characters), the Supreme Avengers are a sight for sore eyes.
The rebooted team includes Thor, Scarlet Witch and Monica Rambeau, who aren’t radically different but those costume tweaks make all the difference. Even better: his take on Sam Wilson’s Captain America, a much more elegant solution than the official outfit.
12. Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward
Marvel’s First Family are on the verge of being wiped out in the comic books, but when they make their triumphant (and unavoidable) return, they could do with a bit of revamp. Where better to start than Alejandro Bruzzese‘s winning entry in an FF redesign contest?
Project: Rooftop runs regular competitions that get artists to give new spins on old favourites, with the Fantastic Four: Fashion Forward prompt bringing particularly good results. Burzzese’s FF are slick, stylish, but remain colourful pop icons.
11. Dr Clea Strange
Actually at the request of fellow redesign maestro Bruzzese, artist Daniel Irizarri to a delve into the world of gender-swapping superheroes that’s taken a precedent as of late, what with the rise of Lady Thor and her ilk.
Audiences will get to know Doctor Stephen Strange better when Benedict Cumberbatch brings the Sorcerer Supreme to life in the upcoming Marvel movie, but far more interesting is Dr Clea Strange – traversing the astral plane, but with better hair.
10. Yeezy Nightwing
Ramon Villalobos is the master of street-styled superheroes. The artist has recently had his first major work published by Marvel, his detailed, Frank Quitely-inspired art featuring in Original Sins, What If? Age Of Ultron and forthcoming Secret Wars title E For Extinction.
He spends his spare time kitting out superheroes in either wrestling garb or the latest fashions. With his take on Nightwing he goes the extra mile, not only putting Batman’s grown-up sidekick in a fresh pair of Yeezy Boosts but making him black as well.
9. Pulp Marvel
Inspired by the recent premiere of Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Crogan’s Adventures creator Chris Schweizer put pen to paper to imagine a Marvel Universe which took its cues from classic pulp adventures, with Steampunk and noir influences aplenty.
That includes the old-school diving suit for Tony Stark seen above, along with a Dandy Hawkeye, Black Widow with one of those furry Russian hats and a golf-club wielding preppy Thor. See the whole lot on Schweizer’s blog.
8. Teenage Catwoman
Apparently Swedish artist Hannah K’s take on Catwoman is just a sketch, but it’s already so perfectly formed that you can just imagine how cool the finished thing would look. TV series Gotham already has got a teen Selina Kyle, but her look’s a tad uninspired.
Totally throwing out (almost) everything recognisable from past Catwoman costumes, this one sees her as a young vigilante whose disguise draws from her own wardrobe: sneakers, a pink hoodie with cute ears, and a backpack all figure.
7. The Sinister Six Revamped
Who knows if that Sinister Six movie is ever gonna happen, what with Sony restarting their Spider-Man franchise yet again (with Marvel’s help this time), but regardless – those villainous so-and-sos could do with a new look. Especially Doc Ock. That bowl cut? Still?
Octavious gets the short end of the stick with artist Stefan Tosheff’s slick Sinister Six redesigns, his geeky self in stark contrast to a suited-and-booted Green Goblin, a slimline Rhino you can take seriously, a street-style Lizard and a Kraven that’s actually prepared to hunt.
6. Fishy Aquaman
Kenneth Rocafort’s art is something else. There’s something of current Wonder Woman artist David Finch in the sketch lines in his inks, but the colours he uses and the level of detail in his work are like nothing DC are publishing right now.
So perhaps it makes sense that his vision of Aquaman is a little different from the blond-haired, orange-leotard-wearing one in the comics (or even that Jason Momoa will play on screen). This King Of Atlantis looks like the sort who spends all his time underwater…
5. Spider-Man: Webhead 2.0
Another winner from Project: Rooftop, Mike Dimayuga’s Webhead 2.0 honours the classic, world-famous Spider-Man costume whilst also providing a fresh spin on his threads. There’s an element of Kevin Wyatt’s alternate-universe SPDR droid to his Peter Parker.
Spidey never looked more like his namesake than with the extra eyes on that helmet and the webshooters that fire from his fingers, rather than the wrist. The scarf adds a splash of bright white and highlights the wind flapping as he swings his way around New York.
4. #DCBend
The DC Universe is a little light on female stars. Well, there’s plenty of women superheroes, but a lot of them are second stringers. That’s why, out of the upcoming slate of superheroes Warner Bros have announced, Wonder Woman’s the only lady to be found.
The DC Bend hashtag on Tumblr put paid to that, beginning with Ming Doyle imagining Sigourney Weaver playing Bruce Wayne, before all sorts of artists started to get in on the act. Including, best of all, Erica Henderson rendering Tilda Swinton as Batman villain Mr Freeze…
. All New All Different X-Men
Stefan Tosheff strikes again with this radically different take on Marvel’s Mightiest Mutants. The X-Men go through more costume changes than your average Taylor Swift concert, but it’s rarely for the better. Just look at all the outfits Kitty Pryde’s sported over the decades.
Not a good one amongst them. Other characters, like Cyclops and Wolverine, never get changed all that radically, which gets a bit boring. So Tosheff strikes a good balance in honouring their iconic looks and making something cool and new. Plus he puts Sunspot on the team.
2. Batman 1972
No doubt you’ve seen Francesco Francavilla‘s unique, heavily inked, moody comics work before now. On his own he’s provided illustrations for each episode of Breaking Bad’s fifth season, and is the creator of pulp hero The Black Beetle.
Apart from that, he’s the artist of zombie horror Afterlife With Archie and collaborated with Scott Snyder on Batman: Black Mirror.
He returns to the Dark Knight with his series of Batman 1972 redesigns, with the Caped Crusader and his rogues styled in Starsky And Hutch finery.
1. Punk Avengers
Sometimes, the best redesigns are the most radical. Batman 1972 puts Batman into a slightly different world from usual, but it’s still grim, gritty, and street-based. Cara McGee’s Punk Avengers, meanwhile, put Earth’s Mightiest Heroes in a whole new context.
The Winter Soldier with graffiti’d metal arm, a tattooed Stever Rogers, hipster beard Thor and Tony Stark clad in an AC/DC vest with a pair of chunky Iron Man-styled headphones, it’s a little ironic seeing the superhero team all anti-establishment.
With outfits inspired by real punk fashions but still as out-there and colourful as your usual superhero get-ups, McGee’s Punk Avengers would look great on any bedroom wall or rehearsal space. And guess what – they can be!
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