The buzz surrounding “Ant Man”, Marvel’s latest installment of their ever-expanding superhero franchise has critics toting it as one of this summer’s hottest blockbusters to date. Leading frontm an Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man himself, who scaled things down to gravity-defying heights. In the movie, former criminal Scott Lang struggles to draw out his inner strength and master the mind-bending abilities of the Ant-Man suit. Originally designed by Hank Pym decades before Lang discovered it, the suit has the power to shrink the wearer while maximizing physical strength. Protagonist Scott Lang must become the Ant Man in order to fight and prevent Darren Cross from terrorizing the world using his modern day Yellowjacket suit.
Costume Designers Sammy Sheldon and Ivo Ceveney were the team behind the high-tech and fully functional superhero suit. Using nature as inspiration, the pair researched various types of insects, studying their size, shape, colors and textures. Keeping a color palette using shades of red and black, the team rose to the challenge of creating a suit with an insect-like quality. The armored suit carries a heavy moto-inspired quality, and when under the spotlight, the insect inspiration lends a layered, textured effect.
In contrast from the nostalgic 60’s Ant Man suit, the designers took a modern approach when creating Yellowjacket suit for Darren Cross. Sleek and streamlined, the Yellowjacket suit allows for similar shrinking tech to the wearer, yet it’s body-skimming design resembles the armored shell of an exoskeleton. After the credits, fans caught a sneak peek of the Wasp suit, intended for front woman Evangeline Lilly, who plays Hope Van Dyne.
Delicate yet deadly, this metallic suit with layered stripes of blue and orange, and transparent sleeves, is made for business. Although the Marvel Cinematic Universe remains mute about Lilly’s appearance as Wasp in the upcoming Captain America movie, we can’t help but speculate after this mega teaser trailer. As we bide our time for news, fans can console themselves by getting to work on some seriously tough cosplays for Comic Con.
Written by Jade Nicolette
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The comparison between the retro 60s Ant-Man look and the modern Yellowjacket redesign was interesting, especially how the exoskeleton idea makes Cross feel more menacing and engineered.
I liked how you pointed out the moto-inspired feel of Ant-Man’s suit; it really does read more like tactical gear than spandex, which helps sell the shrinking tech as something grounded.
The contrast between Ant-Man’s heavier, textured build and Yellowjacket’s streamlined body suit was a good catch; it visually sets up hero versus villain without needing much explanation.
Calling the Wasp suit delicate yet deadly feels accurate, especially with those transparent sleeves adding a lighter touch compared to the more industrial feel of the other suits.
I appreciate the nod to Hank Pym’s original design influencing Scott Lang’s suit, especially since the film balances legacy tech with newer upgrades like the Yellowjacket.
Your mention of the suit maximizing strength while shrinking size really highlights why the bulkier armored look works, instead of going for something sleeker like other Marvel costumes.
The detail about designers studying real insects explains why the textures feel so layered on screen; I hadn’t connected that to the subtle red and black palette choices before.
That post-credits tease of the Wasp suit still sticks with me, and your description of the blue and orange striping makes it sound even sharper than I remembered.