Over the years, The CW’s Arrowverse has brought a lot of characters – and their superhero costumes – to the small screen. But exactly how much does it cost to make the flagship show’s costume?
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During a recent panel at ACE Comic Con Long Island, Arrow showrunner Marc Guggenheim was asked just how much it costs to produce Oliver Queen/Green Arrow’s (Stephen Amell) costume. As he revealed, each new version of the suit costs around $5,000.
“I would say the Arrow costume costs us about $5,000 to make.” Guggenheim explained. “So every time we need to do a new costume, like sometimes they get damaged doing stunts. Sometimes, you know, like in Season 4, we created a brand new costume. It costs about $5,000.”
But as Guggenheim went on to joke, that number isn’t 100% accurate.
“And of course Maya [Mani, the Arrowverse’s costume designer] is going to see this and text me and be like ‘It’s actually more than that.’” Guggenheim added. “But I think it’s around $5,000.”
The topic of Arrowverse costumes – and their price tag – have come up quite a bit in recent years. Most notably, Ray Palmer/The Atom’s mech suit seems to be the most expensive, with a 2015 report saying that it costs $189,000.
“The only challenge is how expensive his costume costs, and the danger that we actually injure him doing stunts, because his costume actually costs not just more than a car — more than, like, your average American home,” Legends executive producer Phil Klemmer said. “So the scariest thing about Atom is I’m thinking, like, ‘When do you use a digital double, and when do you use Brandon?’”
So, there you have it. For the price of some of the Arrowverse’s costumes, you can buy anything from a Lord of the Rings-themed New Zealand tour (yes, really) to an average American house.
Arrow returns from midseason hiatus on January 18th, 2018.
