‘Black Panther’ Costume Designer Was Inspired By ‘Man Of Steel’s Superman Suit

The friendly rivalry between Marvel Studios and Warner Bros.’ DC Extended Universe has pushed both studios to give audiences the best films they can. With Marvel’s latest victory, the record-breaking Black Panther, the film’s costume designer, Ruth Carter, claimed that Superman is to thank for her ultimate design of the hero’s super suit.

“When I observed Superman’s suit and his texture, I could actually see the musculature underneath was silver. I thought this is fabulous for the Black Panther,” Carter shared with Inverse, citing Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel as a major reference point.

With vibranium being the major resource in Wakanda, the costume designer noted that T’Challa would use it in everything, giving the suit a shiny quality.

“We’re gonna use that suit, make it ‘vibranium,’ because it needs to feel laced in vibranium and have luminosity,” Carter shared. “The muscles needed to have the highlights that the silver would give underneath.”

Carter wasn’t the only one who was influenced by the vibranium, with production designer Hannah Beachler also using the element as a source of inspiration.

“The idea behind it was there was always these circles and it has to do with vibration and sound and a lot of the stuff that we’re doing is sonic and based on sound and vibration, Vibranium is about vibration and soaking that vibration in,” Beachler shared with ComicBook.com. “Then we started bringing it in as a design language and a lot of the society is based on that vibration and sound as communication and sound as life as well as water and air. Bringing that in really was a part of creating … Bringing that tradition and creating its own tradition. I created this text that I wrote about this is why we have so many round things.”

Of the many things that Black Panther has been praised for, it has been the blend of traditional African elements and advanced technology, proving the effectiveness of both Carter and Beachler’s designs.

Black Panther is now in theaters. It will be followed by Avengers: Infinity War on May 4th, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.

Whose suit do you think is better, Black Panther’s or Superman’s? Let us know in the comments!

[H/T Inverse]