One of the key praises of Black Panther are the gorgeous costumes on display throughout the movie. In addition to the casual wear of Wakandan citizens, Black Panther gets a new, sleeker suit in the movie. While the suit is full of new technological powers in the film, costume designer Ruth Carter was focused on making it look as good as possible. The Oscar-nominated designer turned to a surprising source of inspiration in crafting the new suit: Man of Steel. Carter took elements of Superman's costume and applied it to Black Panther's, resulting in a sleeker costume that highlighted Panther's physique.
When I observed Superman's suit and his texture, I could actually see the musculature underneath was silver. I thought this is fabulous for the Black Panther.
Man of Steel costume designer Michael Wilkinson created Superman's suit in three layers, one of which included a silver metallic rubber that served as a muscle layer. The look was done in order to make Superman look like he was an actual man of steel, but Black Panther's Ruth Carter thought that it would be an amazing look for her own superhero subject.
Ruth Carter told Inverse that Black Panther's costume was designed with the thinnest, nylon-like jersey material. Carter was warned not to use this material because it doesn't work well with stunts, but Carter went with it anyway because she knew how good it would make the hero look. The silver material gives off the impression that vibranium is laced into the suit and it has the added benefit of highlighting the musculature of T'Challa. It certainly creates a more imposing costume and it's really cool to learn the thought process that goes into making these complicated costumes.
While the suit looks good, the thinner material means that the costume is lighter and more breathable, which was probably quite a relief for Chadwick Boseman. The suit that his character wore in Captain America: Civil War was a lot heavier and sealed off any air from coming and going. The newer suit, in comparison, was easier for the actor to wear, which is a good thing considering that he wasn't a huge fan of his Black Panther costume at first.
If you'd like to see this Black Panther costume in all its glory, you can see the movie, which is out in theaters right now. For more Marvel movies heading to theaters, be sure to visit our Marvel movie guide. For everything else that isn't from Marvel Studios, here's our 2018 movie release schedule so that you can plan out all your future theater visits. For more movie news stick with CinemaBlend and we'll keep you updated with more information as soon as it becomes available.
