While the unexpectedly topical Jessica Jones ended up being the more heavily talked-up of Marvel’s Netflix series, Daredevil hit first and made a major impact in its own right. Fans celebrated the series’ elaborate fight sequences, the dark rendering of a New York City recovering from the destructive events of The Avengers and Vincent D’Onofrio’s turn as the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk. But one element that wasn’t widely praised was Matt Murdock’s final costume, which drew harsh criticism for being underwhelming after a full season of build-up and for uncharacteristically (for Marvel) departing from the source material.
Now, concept artist Josh Nizzi has released a pair of earlier designs for the final suit, revealing that Matt Murdock potentially sported a more classic Daredevil look.
Structured as a season-length origin story, Daredevil opted to keep Matt Murdock wearing a home-made “ninja” getup inspired by Frank Miller and John Romita Jr’s Daredevil: Year One comic (and possibly also the unaired pilot of a ’90s Daredevil TV series tied-in to The Incredible Hulk) for most of its duration. The upgraded suit was commissioned at the midpoint and first donned for the final slugfest with Kingpin in the last episode. Thus far, previews for season 2 have all shown Daredevil wearing that same basic getup, though the idea of a second upgrade has not yet been ruled out by the producers or the cast.
While fans wait to see how things turn out in season 2, they can now take a glimpse at the concepts for Murdock’s costume below:
The first of Nizzi’s designs showcases a “practical” redesign that effectively preserves the color scheme and style from the comics (even retaining the visible “DD” logo) imagined in an armored-fabric form that resembles Captain America’s uniforms from The Winter Soldier and Civil War. The second, on the other hand, demonstrates a step toward the final design that wound up on the show in terms of increasing the “armor” look and de-emphasizing elements like the horns and the logo, while sporting a more muted shade of red. The final design (used for the show) was handled by Ryan Meinerding.
In the comics, Daredevil has worn all manner of costumes – some more popular than others. Originally designed wearing a yellow-and-black jumpsuit that reflected the “circus acrobat” implications of his name, he acquired the now-standard all-red number after only six issues. In the 1990s, often cited as a tough decade for comic book costume-design in general, he briefly wore a red, blue, and silver armored uniform still loathed by fans to this day. In the post-Secret Wars Marvel Universe, Daredevil has taken to sporting a predominantly black outfit with red accents.
While it is always interesting to see what might have been with regard to costume designs, these concepts may be of particular interest to Daredevil fans who would like to see the Man Without Fear adjust his vigilante duds one more time to something a little more reminiscent of his look in the comics.
Daredevil season 1 and Jessica Jones season 1 are now available on Netflix. Daredevil season 2 will debut on Netflix on March 18th, 2016, followed by Luke Cage season 1 later in 2016. Release dates for Iron Fist and The Defenders on Netflix have not yet been announced. Screen Rant will keep you updated on the Punisher spinoff as development continues.
Source: Josh Nizzi
