Every Spider-Man fan has a favorite version of the hero's costume, whether from comic books or from movies. For some, it's the alien symbiote costume, which later bonded with Eddie Brock to become Venom. For others, it's the Tony Stark-designed Iron Spider Armor, introduced in comics long before its cinematic debut in Avengers: Infinity War. However, for Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, the original costume is classic for a reason.
In an interview conducted for the milestone 900th issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, Feige was asked to name his favorite costume from a list that included the classic, the Iron Spider, 2099 and, yes, even "The Bombastic Bag-Man" (from when he was forced to leap into action wearing an old Fantastic Four suit and a paper-bag mask).
"Of that list, Bag-Man is my favorite to say, because it's so specific," Feige conceded. "I would buy a Bag-Man figure, but, of course, it's the classic."
That's a reference to the traditional red-and-blue costume in which Spider-Man debuted, in 1962's Amazing Fantasy #15, by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. That iconic costume has been repeatedly modified, and replaced, over the decades, but the web-slinger inevitably returns to some version of those classic threads.
Spider-Man's Classic Costume 'Registers With the Human Soul'
"I really do believe, and I'm sure you've spoken to smarter people than me," Feige continued, "but I do think that the classic-costume Spider-Man registers with the human soul. I've seen little kids who do not know who Spider-Man is, see his face or see his outfit or see that mask and are drawn to it. There's something about the way those lines and those colors and those eyes hit the optic nerves of a human that draws them in. I actually think it's one of the greatest designs in human history."
And in case you're wondering, Feige is also a fan of Spider-Man's underarm webbing, a part of Ditko's original design that's frequently omitted from subsequent artistic interpretations. But his reasoning isn't only aesthetic; it's functional.
"I like the Web-Wings," he said. "And, again, in the Tom Holland and Jon Watts movies, we added them, because it's that unique Ditko look. And, of course, you'd want to fly between buildings. He covers more ground that way and uses less web-fluid."
Boasting 13 covers, The Amazing Spider-Man #900, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the web-slinger, is now on sale from Marvel Comics.
Source: Reddit