If there’s one thing that separates the Marvel Cinematic Universe and DCEU from the superhero movies of yesteryear, it’s their confidence. With some notable exceptions (we’re talking about Blade), the superhero action movies of the ’90s and early ’00s were a little embarrassed about the comic books that inspired them.
This led to a lot of films jettisoning the source material’s classic, colourful costumes in favour of sleeker, more tactical outfits. This was probably most noticeable during the X-Men movies, which swapped out the merry mutants’ bright suits for rather dull black leather. This wasn’t done to annoy fans. In fact, the film makes a joke about Wolverine not wanting to wear “yellow spandex”.
Last year X-Men producer Ralph Winter explained to Syfy Wire the decision to change the costumes wasn’t done to annoy fans. It was done to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. “There’s a joke in the movie about yellow spandex, which was directed at the fans,” he explained. “It wasn’t to [irritate] them but to say ‘Hey, we hear you. We understand what you want. We understand you don’t like the idea of Wolverine being taller than 5’4″. We understand you’d rather have everybody in the traditional garb. But we also have to make a movie that reaches a wide audience to justify the budget.'”
In the words of Bob Dylan, though, “the times they are a-changin'” and in recent years, we’ve seen big-screen superhero suits get closer to their comic book counterparts. In fact, it’s got to the point that when something doesn’t match the comics, fans can get a little irate.
Now, with Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin joining the MCU in Spider-Man: No Way Home, there’s a chance to right a horrific historical wrong. No, we’re not talking about his costume looking like something a Power Ranger villain would wear. We’re talking about a glaring omission from his Raimi-verse design. His man bag.
The Green Goblin always carries a man bag full of all his tricks and treats. It’s ludicrous and makes very little sense, but it’s a staple of his design going back to his first appearance. Raimi got rid of the bag favouring his glider holding his weapons which makes more sense but is a lot less fun.
The newest ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ poster offers a clearer look at Willem DaFoe’s helmetless Green Goblin. #NoWayHome pic.twitter.com/9c0stOZkrF
— Lights, Camera, Pod (@LightsCameraPod) November 25, 2021
A new poster for No Way Home has revealed that Kevin Feige and Jon Watts have given him the bag, however, and we can’t wait to see what he’s got inside it.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is part of Marvel’s Phase 4 and hits cinemas on December 15. If you want to know more about the future of the MCU, check out our list of the five Marvel characters Keanu Reeves could play.