Despite a number of rumours and teases in the run up to the film’s release, Superman’s black suit was absent from Justice League, with Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel opting to stick with his classic blue and red costume following his resurrection in the DC blockbuster.
As we discovered last month, the black suit – which in the comic books was an integral part of Kal-El’s resurrection story following ‘The Death of Superman’ – was created for the movie, although Henry Cavill’s Clark never wore it (instead it appeared briefly in the background of a deleted scene).
During an interview with Digital Spy, Justice League costume designer Michael Wilkinson has revealed why they chose not to make use of the black suit, stating that it just didn’t fit with the story they wanted to tell:
“The black suit is something that has fascinated us as filmmakers from the get-go. We saw a glimpse of it in the nightmare sequence from Man of Steel when Superman was wading through skulls, and 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.
“But as the tone of the film developed and we were in pre-production, the filmmakers felt that the classic red and blue suit seemed 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.”
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Are you disappointed that we didn’t get to see Superman donning his black costume in Justice League, or do you agree that the traditional suit was more appropriate to the story? Let us know in the comments below…
Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.
Justice League reunites Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice stars Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Connie Nielsen as Queen Hippolyta and Robin Wright as General Antiope alongside J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) as Commissioner Gordon, Amber Heard (The Danish Girl) as Mera and Ciaran Hinds (Game of Thrones) as Steppenwolf.
Originally published March 24, 2018. Updated December 3, 2022.
