The premise behind this is that all the components are readily available to a high school kid. It always bothered me how Peter could whip up a Spider-Man costume over night. This was especially evident in the first film, when one day he's in a poorly constructed wrestling costume, and the next he's in a professionally made spandex costume with rubber webbing and a honeycomb pattern. This all looks beautiful, but a nerd with no fashion sense pulling this out of nowhere at the last moment seemed like a big stretch to me.*
So to rectify that problem, I've decided a costume where everything is commercially available from things a high school nerd would have access to. Places like Target or Amazon.
This consists of:
Hoodie, jeans, gloves, and a ski mask & cup googles. All readily available. I couldn't see Peter making all the line work for the full web pattern (at least at first, Reed Richards or someone with technology/money/skill could always give him the classic costume later) but a kid sharpieing in a giant spider on a hoodie? That seems doable. I wasn't going to have the pattern on the ski mask, but its just so damned iconic, I needed to have it. He's just not Spider-Man without it.
Protective gear, helmet, shin guards, motocross chest guard, and obligatory athletic cup. The idea of a teenage geek fighting crime in a concrete jungle without something to at least help with the inevitable scrapes and bruises.
Web shooters. These are gauntlets originally designed to hold shotgun shells. Here they house the web fluid. Paired with carpal tunnel gloves, which have a pocket on the inside of the wrist, usually for a splint, but with the splint removed, make an excellent pocket for the shooters themselves. Conductive thread on the middle and ring fingers of the gloves let Peter's trigger the device without it going off every damn time something touches it (this is the same science behind why the iPhone only works with your fingers, and not a stylus). Perhaps Peter set it the trigger is set to his specific genetically enhanced Spider-Man biometrics, so no one else but him could use it.
Last but not least, Gillies. Irish dancing shoes. I was looking for something for him to wear that was thin enough for his powers to work through, but not something as simple as socks. Something that will hold up better. A ballerina friend of mine suggested these, thin leather shoes perfect for Spider-Man. (Thanks Erin)
Costume can be worn with hood up and zipped for full effect, or down and unzipped for a more casual look. Everything here could fit in a backpack for easy transport/hiding.
So ta-dah, let me know what you think in the comments.
*I'm aware the whole idea of getting spider powers from a bite is a big stretch in and of itself, but that's the whole conceit of the plot. Magic fashion powers, however, are not part of the package.
*Update* KRAVEN!
This one has far less explanation than Spidey, simply, this is a darker interpretation of Kraven. He has tattoos of every animal he's ever hunted, (notice how the lion tattoo references the classic, but somewhat hokey, vest) with a special place reserved for our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Also, kickass Lemmy style manscaping.
I wish I had time to paint it up like I did for Ol' Webhead, but I just didn't have time. I do have a whole lineup of a brand new Sinister Six, so maybe I'll re-upload this when I'm done the others.
Joe!
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot for coming up with a challenge and making it happen. You rule and so does your redesign.
You and i were thinking along the exact same lines. How cool is it that we each came up with something so wildly different from each others.