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Oh, Reilly? 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' Costume Designer Reveals Scarlet Spider Suit — Why Did Marvel Reject It?

One of the most talked-about aspects of Spider-Man: Homecoming is the new, high-tech suit that Tony Stark gives to Peter Parker.

By Alex HodgsonPublished 6 years ago 4 min read
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[Credit: Marvel Comics]

One of the most talked-about aspects of Spider-Man: Homecoming is the new, high-tech suit that Tony Stark gives to Peter Parker. With over 576 different webbing settings, web wings and even spider tracers, Stark has well and truly pimped out Spidey's suit. There's even a highly sophisticated artificial intelligence, which Peter names "Karen," that can assist the young hero in times of need.

We'd already seen the suit in Captain America: Civil War, but we never really knew exactly what it was capable of until now. And it's not the only suit that features in the film. Before Tony Stark turns up at Peter's house and samples some of Aunt May's meatloaf, Peter had to create his own Spider-Man costume — and it's fair to say that the upgrades Stark offers are very welcome.

[Credit: Marvel Studios/Sony]

Though it does its job of concealing Peter's identity, this suit does look very amateurish. The fingerless gloves and hoodie look awfully familiar, and many fans have noted that it is very similar to the Scarlet Spider costume worn by clone Ben Reilly in the '90s comics

Big budget movies will go through many different concepts before deciding on the final costume, so this wasn't the first design for the homemade suit. Marvel Studios' Head of Visual Arts Ryan Meinerding has posted one of these concepts on his personal Instagram account, and it's plain to see that the Scarlet Spider was his inspiration for this costume:

via Instagram

The Scarlet Spider's Costume Would Have Been Perfect

When Marvel brought finally made the deal with Sony to bring Spider-Man into the #MCU, one of the most important decisions they made was to keep Peter Parker young, and this led to the masterstroke of casting Tom Holland in the role. Holland perfectly embodies both Peter Parker and Spider-Man in both look and personality. One of the key reasons he was cast was because he would be able to play the character for a number of years — and in doing so, allow him to stay in school.

It stands to reason that the 15-year-old Peter wouldn't have the resources that Tony Stark does, so would need to cobble together a costume on a budget. The fact that Ben Reilly's costume is basically a red leotard with a hoody over it means that it would be much simpler for Peter to create. The already homemade nature of the costume leads itself to be adapted into a film with a young Spidey.

It Didn't Make The Cut — But It Clearly Inspired The Finished Suit

While this was an early concept, it's clear to see that the Scarlet Spider inspired the final homemade costume. The overall feel of the costume is very much like the Scarlet Spider but with the red and blue colors inverted; the iconic hoodie remains. The eyes have changed from Meinerding's design from the more traditional eyepieces to the goggles that appear in the film, but aside from that, the design is very similar.

Ben Reilly is a much-loved character in the Spider-Man mythos, being a clone of Peter Parker who took the mantle of Spider-Man for awhile. He was created by Miles Warren, the Jackal, from a sample of Peter Parker's blood and went on to become a hero in his own right. After a long and complicated saga, which shed doubt on which Spider-Man was the original, Ben was revealed to be the clone and died after sacrificing his life to save Peter's. He has since returned to the comics after 20 years.

Because of the iconic nature of Ben's character, it'll be no coincidence that Marvel elected to use his costume as inspiration for the homemade Spider-Man costume. The costume itself is very easy to make and it would be logical that a 15-year-old boy with no sewing experience would be able to create something like it. As we all know, Marvel loves a good Easter Egg and they would know how excited the fans would get by seeing Ben's costume on screen.

via Twitter

Another concept was revealed based on the costume worn by the Superior Spider-Man. In a somewhat controversial (but actually excellent) storyline written by Dan Slott, Otto Octavius managed to switch bodies with Peter Parker just before his body failed. As a result, Doctor Octopus became Spider-Man for over a year. But rather than turn to a life of villainy, Peter managed to psychically bombard Otto's brain with his own memories and his own sense of responsibility. From that moment on, Octavius vowed to fight for justice, but to do it in a more effective way than Peter ever did.

The costume used here was actually the second version of the Superior Spider-Man costume, but it's still very faithful to the comics. It might not be as iconic as the Scarlet Spider costume, but it's still a great costume all the same.

Ryan Meinerding is clearly a huge fan of the character as can be seen from the caption on his post, he never thought that the Spidey mask he made when he was 17 with his mother's sewing machine could have came in useful for a movie costume design. But as we can see, the costume looks fantastic.

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About the Creator

Alex Hodgson

I'm a massive superhero fan who loves to put my thoughts down in writing. Spider-Man is my favourite, but I'm also a lover of the Arrowverse. Follow me on twitter @AlexJHodgson

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