Road To INFINITY WAR: Rare Concept Art And Stills Reveal Alternate Costume Designs For THE AVENGERS

The Avengers was a groundbreaking movie for the MCU and you'll never believe just how different Earth's Mightiest Heroes could have looked; in fact, you won't believe what Joss Whedon had planned...

By JoshWilding - Jan 21, 2018 06:01 AM EST

Filed Under: Avengers

Can you believe it's been nearly six years since The Avengers was released? When the movie hit theaters, it was nothing short of groundbreaking but it seems almost tame by today's standards; just look at how many characters Avengers: Infinity War has in comparison! With that on the horizon, we've decided to take a look at the incredible concept art which made its predecessors a reality.

These rarely seen pieces of concept art and photos provide a fascinating glimpse into just how different The Avengers could have been and after kicking things off with a look at the Battle for New York, we're now delving into different designs for characters like Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury, and Maria Hill. So, all of Earth's Mightiest Heroes then!

Here, you'll find vastly different takes on all of those heroes, including much improved costumes for Captain America, a far more monstrous Hulk, an Ultimate Thor, and much more besides. These are all seriously cool, that's for sure. Many of these have never been seen online before now, so click either one of the buttons to check them out and then let us know your thoughts in the usual place.

Star Spangled Avenger

Captain America's suit in The Avengers was a big problem for a lot of comic book fans and these designs look an awful lot better than what the costume designers ultimately came up with.

Tony Stark Suits Up

Comic book artist Adi Granov played a huge role in coming up Iron Man's look during Marvel Studios' Phase 1 and it's fair to say that it's a shame he no longer appears to work on the character.

The God Of Thunder Returns

There was nothing wrong with Thor's appearance in his solo movie but Joss Whedon wanted to give the character a more casual look in this ensemble and that's where these designs come in.

A New Hulk

With Mark Ruffalo taking over from Ed Norton for The Avengers, The Hulk had to be redesigned from scratch, so Marvel went back to the drawing board and looked to the comic books for inspiration.

Tony Stark Leaps Into Action

After Loki throws Tony Stark from Stark Tower, he uses his new armour to break his fall and this piece of artwork gives us a much better idea of how the complicated sequence was conceived.

Cap's Ready For War

This is so much better than what ended up on the big screen! It's clear to see how the comic books inspired this look but it also seems to be an updated version of his World War II costume.

The Director Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Nick Fury looked pretty badass in The Avengers but his long leather coat is missing here and the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. instead looks a little closer to what we're used to seeing in the comics.

Iron Man's Arsenal

Iron Man showed off a lot of very cool weapons in The Avengers and but these alternate designs show him using good old repulsor rays and what looks an awful lot like a machine gun of sorts!

The Jade Giant Is Reborn

With The Hulk undergoing some major changes for The Avengers, Marvel's artists went through a lot of different designs but it's clear to see that they wanted a change from The Incredible Hulk.

Black Widow Suits Up

We saw Black Widow kicking butt in Iron Man 2 but the character's costume underwent some big changes moving into this superhero ensemble and these show some tactical alternatives.

Captain America's Armoury

Steve Rogers' new Captain America suit was designed by Agent Coulson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and this artwork shows how the armoury where it was held was dreamt up.

Ultimate Thor

These designs were clearly inspired by The Ultimates as Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder bears a striking resemblance to his Ultimate comic book counterpart in this latest artwork.

Captain America On Ice

One of the most disappointing things about The Avengers is that we never got to see more than a glimpse of Cap's rescue from the ice. This photo shows where the inspiration came from.

Clint Barton Takes Aim

Marvel clearly never considered giving Hawkeye a costume resembling anything other than what his Ultimate comic book counterpart wears. So, no purple Wolverine style mask then!

Some Very Different Hulks

The Hulk was brought to life with some truly incredible special effects in The Avengers and these paintings show how Mark Ruffalo's features were used to inspire how he ended up looking.

Maria Hill

Many fans remain annoyed about the lack of Maria Hill's screentime in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and these designs reveal that she could have looked quite a bit cooler in this movie!

Nick Fury Starts Taking Shape

As you can see, Nick Fury looks an awful like the version we ended up seeing on screen in these designs as he's been given his trenchcoat and looks ready to kick ass and take names.

The Jade Giant

It's clear to see that the very early Hulk comics inspired this monstrous take on the Green Goliath and his skin has taken on something of a grey hue in the image on the left.

Black Widow's Stingers

Black Widow's stingers got a little bit of screentime in The Avengers but it wasn't until the sequel that Joss Whedon utilised a design similar to the one we see on the right with that blue glow.

Thor Takes Flight

In these very cool shots of Thor, the God of Thunder appears to be flying and these images bear a striking resemblance to what ended up making it on to the big screen in 2012.

Where's The Purple?

And you thought the X-Men movies were bad for black leather! It seems colour never really factored into Hawkeye's costume, hence why there's only a very small glimpse of purple here.

Ears Or No Ears?

Marvel clearly couldn't decide whether or not Captain America's ears should be covered up in The Avengers, hence why Chris Evans clearly had to go through a number of costume fittings.

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62 Comments

1 2

Fritzthecat - 1/21/2018, 6:22 AM

First? Nice artwork.

RocknRolla - 1/21/2018, 6:54 AM

@Fritzthecat - agreed. Caps outfit was good, just needed that detached helmet look and it would've been great.

TheManWithoutFear - 1/21/2018, 6:23 AM

I like that Maria Hill look. I hope we see Maria soon. Hopefully hiding out with Fury getting to the bottom of the Skrull problem.

Nightwing1015 - 1/21/2018, 6:24 AM

I'd say Fury and Hill's more comic accurate SHIELD costumes are better.

Repian - 1/21/2018, 6:26 AM

I'm still waiting to see Nick Fury at war, and I think Infinity War is the perfect opportunity for that to happen. Also with a combat suit.

Scarilian - 1/21/2018, 8:30 AM

@Repian -

Pretty sure they used a similar design for Captain America in The Winter Soldier. Would be interested to see Nick Fury wearing it.

Supercat6376 - 1/21/2018, 6:30 AM

Maria Hill looks badass. Same with Fury.

MrDandy - 1/21/2018, 6:38 AM

Cool art but that Cap suit still looks terrible. It's a good thing the Russo's came in and nailed the modern look for the character.

Inktown03 - 1/21/2018, 6:50 AM

Nick fury looks flamboyant

Kumkani - 1/21/2018, 6:53 AM

Such a weird pose. And that alternate Captain America look is perfection. But the thing with concept art is you draw how exactly you want things to look. It's the ideal. Real materials, real lighting and on camera may not look as good.

Also those Thor pieces are great

Kumkani - 1/21/2018, 6:56 AM

And you thought the X-Men movies were bad for black leather!

Yeah, but that costume doesn't look like it's made of leather Josh

LandGrizzle - 1/21/2018, 7:09 AM

HOLY SHIT I’m almost done coming to this site. I can’t view a damn without wothout it redirectinf me some shitty ad for an Amazon gift card. The pop ups are unreal!!!

Antithesis - 1/21/2018, 7:17 AM

One of those hulks looks like Nathan fillion.

HeavyMetal4Life - 1/21/2018, 7:25 AM

Some look pretty cool. I like the WW2 style Cap suit. And the tactical look for Nicky fury and Maria hill. Hope we get that in either Captain Marvel or the last 2 Avengers films.

GhostDog - 1/21/2018, 7:44 AM

Cap's outfit wasn't really that bad. It was the shitty helmet that killed it.

Still, I would've preferred his AOU suit to be his first post-WWII outfit.

Or something like this:
Scales and all

BloodyBed - 1/21/2018, 8:04 AM

guise, do you think chris evans could play a good indiana jones?

1 2

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Road To INFINITY WAR: Rare Concept Art And Stills Reveal Alternate Costume Designs For THE AVENGERS

The Avengers was a groundbreaking movie for the MCU and you'll never believe just how different Earth's Mightiest Heroes could have looked; in fact, you won't believe what Joss Whedon had planned...

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The Director Of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Iron Man's Arsenal

The Jade Giant Is Reborn

Black Widow Suits Up

Captain America's Armoury

Ultimate Thor

Captain America On Ice

Clint Barton Takes Aim

Some Very Different Hulks

Maria Hill

Nick Fury Starts Taking Shape

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