12 years in and with many successful movies under their belt, it’s easy to forget how difficult it was for Marvel to translate the Avengers, many of whom weren’t that familiar to general audiences, to the big screen. One major challenge came in cracking their costumes – how best to translate the comic book looks to live-action, making them more realistic and believable without losing the appeal of the source material? Just one of the heroes who needed a lot of work to nail their MCU apparel was Thor. As this cool newly unveiled concept art reveals.
Concept artist Charlie Wen has shared a piece of his from pre-production on 2011’s Thor on his Instagram account. Wen explained that this is one of several black and white concept pieces he did at the time as they were trying to figure out Thor’s costume. He reveals that this version was based on the Ultimate comics Thor. Most notably, he doesn’t have a cape in this take. Also pay attention to how Mjolnir has a much longer hilt than it would end up having.
It makes sense that Marvel played with the idea of getting rid of Thor’s cape. A cape is a pretty traditional superhero trope, and the MCU has typically tended to eschew the usual cliches in an attempt to keep things fresh and modern. For instance, the lack of secret identities. In the end, though, Thor’s billowing red cape is just too awesome to leave out. The God of Thunder is as classical and mythical a hero as they come. Simply put, he needs his cape.
If you dig this Thor concept art, be sure to follow the link below to Wen’s account to check out the rest of his work, including several more alternate attempts at Thor’s outfit and much, much more. Remember, Chris Hemsworth will next return as the Asgardian Avenger in Thor: Love and Thunder, which will feature another Thor in the form of Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster. That’s hitting theaters on February 11th, 2022.
