The Reason Why Henry Cavill’s Superman Is Not Wearing The Iconic Red Briefs, Explained By Zack Snyder

The director of The Man of Steel and Batman v Superman explains why they decided not to include this iconic detail in the suit for Henry Cavill, back in 2013.

Superman is one of the most important characters in our culture. Not only in the field of comics, but also for his film adaptations , presence in television series or even in video games (not counting the infamous Superman 64, of course).

Now that Henry Cavill will no longer be Superman (sad news), it is a good time to analyze the vision that the British actor gave us of the DC Comics character.

Henry Cavill was Superman in a total of five films : Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, Justice League, Shazam! and Black Adam (in the latter as a cameo).

There is no doubt that his appearance is impressive, with a renewed suit where metallic blue predominates before red (except for the cape and the symbol on the chest, of course). Haven’t you noticed something strange in its design?

Indeed, Henry Cavill’s Superman does not wear the iconic red underpants , which is a Victorian symbol that has accompanied the character since his origins in 1933.

Superman without underpants?

It is a good question that, perhaps, you have never asked yourself. Henry Cavill’s Superman suit doesn’t have the red underpants , and there’s a good reason for that.

Henry Cavill’s debut (and the new suit) as Superman occurred in The Man of Steel , a film directed by Zack Snyder in 2013 , and produced by the emblematic Christopher Nolan, who years before had successfully resurrected Batman.

The film was praised by Superman fans, highlighting its seriousness, adult plot and good performances (as well as outstanding visuals).

In an interview with Digital Spy , director Zack Snyder explains why Superman’s costume in Man of Steel (and its sequels) doesn’t include the red underpants.

” I tried like crazy to keep the red underpants in the suit. Everybody else said, ‘You can’t put the underpants in it.” I looked at probably 1,500 versions of the suits with the underpants on ,” the film’s director acknowledges.

By desire it would not be. Snyder assures that one of his premises was to include the red underpants in the suit, but that there was no way to achieve it. In other words, they were not convinced at the design level .

The Man of Steel is a film with a serious tone , which is neither better nor worse than a more comical tone (like the one in the 1978 film directed by Richard Donner).

” The reason why his underwear is on the outside of his pants, is a holdover from the strong men of the Victorian era. I probably looked at hundreds of versions with underwear. The idea was scrapped because I couldn’t make it consistent with the world we were creating .

In other words, what Zack Snyder means is that the red shorts didn’t fit the subdued aesthetic of the 2013 movie , nor did they fit the story he wanted to tell.

After looking at more than 1,500 designs for the suit with the pants, he finally decided to do without them, opting for a more homogeneous suit with metallic blue as the main color . What did you think when you saw it for the first time?

Unfortunately we will no longer see Henry Cavill in Superman ‘s tights , as James Gunn (new director of the DC universe at Warner Bros) and Peter Safran made the difficult decision a few weeks ago . Will the new Superman measure up?