MCU: First Look at Thunderbolts' Black Ops Costume Designs (Photos)

A deleted set of black ops costumes from Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* made their way online, giving viewers a different look at the film's core team of heroes. Utilizing over half a dozen major heroes and villains from various sects and eras of MCU history, the costuming for Phase 5's final movie became an interesting challenge.

New concept art from Thunderbolts* showed three of the film's main cast members donning similar "black ops" style costumes. While the main group of heroes and antiheroes who returned in this movie all came with their own unique looks and outfits, Marvel floated around the idea of having them match visually earlier in the story.

Concept artist Aleksi Briclot posted images of Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, formerly known as the Winter Soldier, donning an all-black outfit, complete with combat boots and a one-armed vest. While the MCU veteran shows off a classically dark look in this image, his metal arm (which has become his signature look in the MCU) still shines through.

Briclot explained how he was "going for a dark casual look" for Bucky, embracing a costume that would make him largely invisible in a crowd. This was later changed due to Bucky not being part of the team at the start of the movie, as fans see him taking on a new role as a United States congressman:

"Concept art for Bucky previously known as the Winter Soldier for 'Thunderbolts.' Played by @imsebastianstan
I was going for a dark casual look, avoiding the Black Ops look I’ve used for the other teammates. Part of the brief was that at some point you couldn’t notice him in the crowd, avoiding any super hero look. (Except fog the arm as it seems an important visual signature for him, I know it’s tricky…)If you’ve seen the movie I guess it makes sense as he’s not joining the team at the beginning. (Here I don’t want to spoil more) part of the job here was also trying some haircuts (I’ve produced different variations just for this) and of course the arm!"

Another set of images puts Hannah John-Kamen's Ava Starr, more famously known as Ghost, into the spotlight in her own black ops costume. This look largely resembles the costume she wore during her first MCU appearance from Ant-Man and the Wasp, including a dark mask with circular red eyeholes and a large piece of technology hanging from her shoulders over her chest area.

Briclot confirmed that he started from the familiar costume fans had seen before and looked to add "a BlackOp vibe" to match her development as a character:

"Concept art of Ghost for the movie Thunderbolts*.
I’ve started from her previous look and was going for a BlackOp vibe following her dramatic development as well as the tone of the movie."

Lastly, Briclot posted a look at a unique costume for David Harbour's Red Guardian in his second MCU appearance. This image takes the essence of what fans have seen from his past costumes and adds a black hue across the entire outfit, only leaving hints of red on his arms, legs, and torso.

The "darker vibe" is something Briclot specifically pointed out for this costume, describing it as "less Santa Claus and more Spec Ops:"

"Concept Art for Red Guardian in the movie 'Thunderbolts*.'
Played by @dkharbour.
I was dealing with a darker vibe on this proposal, less red and more dark following the tone of the movie. Less Santa Claus and more Spec Ops. This was exploration!"

In the end, the Thunderbolts team had varied results in terms of how their costumes compared to their most recent MCU outings. While Wyatt Russell's U.S. Agent did not change his look much, other characters like Ghost and Red Guardian donned superhero outfits that had not been seen before in past MCU films.

Thunderbolts* is Marvel's most recently released movie, pitting a team of antiheroes from MCU history alongside each other for the first time. Featuring characters like Yelena Belova, the Winter Soldier, the Red Guardian, Ghost, Taskmaster, and U.S. Agent, this team is tasked with stopping Sentry, one of the most powerful villains in MCU history, from wreaking havoc. Thunderbolts* is playing in theaters worldwide.

What To Expect From Thunderbolts' New Costumes in Future MCU Movies

By the end of Thunderbolts*, the team had been rebranded as the New Avengers, setting them up for a rivalry with Sam Wilson's new team of heroes. They also all got new sets of threads by the time the film's post-credits scene began playing, complete with a highly-branded tracksuit on the Red Guardian filled with sponsorship logos.

Considering the team sees the Fantastic Four's ship flying into their Earth's atmosphere in that scene, the costumes they are wearing are expected to come back for at least some of Avengers: Doomsday. The team is wearing matching black garb that gives each hero a slightly updated look, although some of the costumes look vastly different than anything in past movies.

With more than half a dozen teams expected to take the spotlight in Doomsday, it is still unclear how much development the New Avengers will get in terms of character progression or costume updates.

However, this group of heroes is sure to play a massive role in the film behind Yelena Belova and Bucky Barnes, all while they meet new characters from other universes and fight off Robert Downey Jr.'s terrifying Doctor Doom.