In January 2017 Marvel announced there was a new Avengers game in the works. Fast-forward two years later to the E3 conference, where Square Enix finally gave gamers some teaser footage of the game and announced the release date for the game – May 15, 2020. It was also announced that each character in the game would have several different costume variants for players to choose from. There are the obvious classic variant costumes that will certainly be available, some obscure ones that fans are hoping get included, and those “other” costumes that fans hope stay buried in the past.
Here are five costume variants that need to be included, and five that hopefully the publisher Square Enix, and developers Crystal Dynamics and Eidos Montréal, leave out.
10 Include – Ronin
This is the costume Hawkeye adopted after his resurrection in the comics, and after his family was lost because of Thanos in the MCU. The Ronin character is much darker than Barton’s usual Hawkeye persona; as Ronin he is more of an anti-hero like the Punisher.
The costume reflects this change, using a darker color palette and a face covering that mimics the traditional look of a ninja. The black with gold trim is a great combo, and the lines of the costume give it the look of a suit of armor. This is a very cool costume that needs to be included.
9 Leave Out – Thor From Avengers: The Crossing
What was Marvel thinking? This redesign of Thor’s costume was poorly conceived, even less poorly received, and quickly swept under the rug by Marvel (hoping time would erase this from our memories).
The costume was a dark blue spandex bodysuit with the area around the lower torso missing. The costume also had metal shoulder-pads with large spikes, and spikes that went out from the side of his legs. Lastly, the costume featured a red belt and a pair of straps meeting at the center of his chest at a red circular plate. Comics in the late 90s were weird.
8 Include – Binary
So far Captain Marvel has only been teased as a possible character, but if she is included her Binary character/costume should definitely be included. As Binary, Carol Danvers looked far different than she does as Captain Marvel.
Her costume is a white bodysuit with white leggings that end in flames – actual flames not printed. Her hair is gone and her head is wreathed in a halo of energy. This look/costume does a great job of relating just how powerful Carol Danvers truly is. Why Marvel changed this awesome look to the more generic body-suit is anybody’s guess.
7 Leave Out – Joe Fixit
There are two things fans of the Hulk comics commonly don’t like; when too much of a comic is taken up by Rick Jones, and the Joe Fixit persona. Joe Fixit was a personality that took over the Hulk for a while, and essentially turned the Hulk into a Las Vegas mob figure – complete with the pinstriped suit of a gangster circa 1930. The rage of the savage hulk was replaced with a cagier, street-wise intelligence and his color was changed back to grey.
In September 2019, Marvel released short teaser video of the Joe Fixit costume variant; so this will almost certainly (and unfortunately) be included.
6 Include – World Breaker Hulk
The Planet Hulk and World War Hulk mini-series were not only excellent, but they gave fans the most hardcore, no-nonsense version of the Hulk yet. This is many Hulk fans’ favorite Hulk costume/persona – it is basically the Hulk dressed as a Roman gladiator.
The costume had the stereotypical leather skirt, armored sleeve, and leather sandals (complete with straps that go up to the knee) of a Roman gladiator. This version of the Hulk seems more fitting to be a character in the Conan, Outlaw of Gor, or John Carter of Mars novels. If Marvel is going to give us Joe Fixit they better give us World Breaker Hulk too.
5 Leave Out – Captain America/Steve Rogers As The Nomad
When Steve Rogers abandoned the mantle of Captain America, but still wished to continue fighting evil-doers, he took the name Nomad for his alter ego.
The new name was kind of cool, but the costume is not something one would ever expect to see Captain America wearing. The costume consists of a skin-tight black body suit with a V-neck that travels sown to the waste. Accompanying the black body suit are yellow gloves, boots, and belt; and to finish the look a long cape that is black on the outside and yellow underneath. The only thing missing is a gold chain around his neck.
4 Include – Spider-Man As “Bag Man”
Spider-Man has not been officially announced as a character in the game, but Square has not ruled him out, and has allowed rumors about Spider-Man’s inclusion to run free. As a nod to fans of the Spider-man comics, his Bombastic Bag-Man costume should be included.
This costume originated from a visit to the Fantastic Four regarding his alien costume. Spider-Man had to leave the alien symbiote behind and was given an old Fantastic Four costume to wear; along with a paper bag to wear over his head to hide his identity. To complete the look was a “Kick Me” sign put on his back by Johnny Storm.
3 Leave Out – Red Hulk
Red Hulk should be left out of the costumes that are made available for many reasons. First (and most importantly), the Red Hulk was not actually the Hulk.
The Red Hulk was revealed to be General “Thunderbolt” Ross after months of speculation by readers. The whole Red Hulk affair was initially well-received, but soon lost its way and became a bit anti-climactic. There aren’t that many alternate looks for the Hulk; however, that is no reason to include a costume/look for him that was never actually him. The Maestro would be a much better alternative costume than the Red Hulk.
2 Include – Black Widow’s White Costume
Black Widow has almost no alternative costumes. She has almost always been shown in the same outfit – black body suit with a black belt featuring a buckle that is a red hourglass. Giving her a standard shield outfit would be a great alternative costume, but a true variant would be her white costume. This is essentially the same as her black costume, just white instead of black.
One would think this would be called the White Widow costume, but that superhero name has already been taken. It will be interesting to see what costume variants they actually give Black Widow.
1 Leave Out – Hawkeye’s Purple Tunic
When Hawkeye returned to the Avengers in the issue #98, printed in April of 1963, he wasn’t wearing his normal purple costume. Instead he appeared wearing a purple tunic cinched at the waist with a purple belt (Hawkeye really likes the color purple). This outfit looked more like a reject from the wardrobe department of a low-budget Hercules movie.
This might be the most impractical super-hero costume of all time – and is certainly in the running for ugliest. This costume lasted for eleven issues before Marvel came to their senses and reunited Hawkeye with his original costume.