Michael Wilkinson Talks Batman v Superman and Justice League Costumes

Michael Wilkinson costume designer for Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and now the upcoming Justice League: Part 1, spoke exclusively to Comic Book Resources on the costume designs for Batman’s armor, admitting it’s directly derived from the The Dark Knight Returns comic book.

Wilkinson also talks on Wonder Woman’s costume being inspirited by her warrior and Greek roots, dressing up Amy Adams as Lois Lane and now working on each of the Justice League costumes.

Was the armored Batsuit directly derived from Frank Miller’s “Dark Knight Returns?”

It was actually, yes. Zack’s a huge fan of Frank Miller — you probably know that because he directed “300,” which is another Frank Miller project — so we looked at that comic book.

The Wonder Woman design went with more muted colors instead of the bold red, white and blue fans are used to. What was the thinking behind that?

The most important thing for us is that Wonder Woman was taken seriously and that she had a sense of grit and strength when she stood up with these two other men, that she had an equal amount of power. So when we made her, we went back to her warrior roots and her Greek roots and gave her something that mimics the gladiator’s armor.

And you have the entire Justice League, a group you’re going to be costuming for their film as well.

Yeah, I am.

Did that present any unique challenges that “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman” didn’t prepare you for?

Well, I’m right in the middle of it. We have camera tests coming up very soon, with the new characters that we’re establishing. So it’s hugely exciting, overwhelming and just thrilling. So we’re really thinking about these new characters, how the power balances between the whole Justice League, what role they all play. How they’re all very diverse from each other.

They have a different relationship with power, how that’s expressed through their costume. A lot of work is going into it.

To read the full interview head over to Comicbookresources.com.