25 Marvel Movie Characters Compared To Their Comic Versions

They all started from the same place, but some evolved quite a lot when moved to the big screen

Kylin

• Published in Disney
• March 22, 2022

In May of 2008, the world was introduced to the first of many, MANY, Marvel movies. Since then, Marvel and Disney have accumulated a whopping 27 movies, intertwined within the same or same enough universe, and many more are on the horizon.

Obviously, these movies are based on the expansive Marvel Comics universe and characters. A literal endless source of inspiration and story-outlines for movie writers.

Though there’s no denying the talent of the writers, casting agents, and actors in each role. A LOT of quality work went into the casting and character design and development.

Of course, there will be the same old banter about what the movies got wrong, how the comics were better, how the casting wasn’t right. Blah, blah, rinse, and repeat.

Chris Evans is literally Captain America/Steve Rogers incarnate, just as Chris Hemsworth is the picture-perfect Thor, and Robert Downey Jr is basically Tony Stark, (minus the engineering genius and billionaire status). But in spite of these examples of perfect casting, it’s interesting taking a look at the original comic versions compared to their movie versions.

So, that’s exactly what we did. We nabbed 25 different Marvel characters to compare between comic design and movie design.

Some characters are surprisingly untouched, while others had a great deal of artistic vision that strayed far from the comics. Keep scrolling to see what we found.

1. Scarlet Witch

Scarlet Witch got a costume update, even though they gave a nod to the original costume design in an episode of WandaVision

2. Loki

Loki, the God of Mischief, Thor's adopted little brother and Odin's son keeps a lot of the same color scheme and majestic helmet.

3. Hawkeye

Another example of the muted color scheme, Hawkeye also lost his helmet when he moved to film.

4. Wasp

Hope Pym better matches her counterpart, Scott, in the Ant-Man movies.

5. Odin

It appears the Asgardians in MCU have forgone the furs in place of better armor.

6. Ancient One

Ancient One had quite the makeover between Doctor Strange comics to the movie. From an old bearded man to the ageless Tilda Swinton.

7. Mantis

Mantis seems transformed from a warrior-like alien to a leather-bound meek alien.

8. Nick Fury

From a form-fitting outfit to Sam Jackson in a trench coat, Nick Fury had a fitting alteration to his movie self.

9. Agatha Harkness

Not quite the haggard-looking old lady in the comic, but she ultimately keeps her outfit.

10. Gamora

Gamora's comic outfit was a LOT sexier than movie Gamora.

11. Quicksilver

Quicksilver goes from green to blue and sports some fancy facial hair in the movie.

12. Groot

Looks like the MCU's Groot doesn't have a need for clothes.

13. Maria Hill

Besides a change in hairstyle, Maria Hill dresses very similarly.

14. Valkyrie

Thankfully they kept her badass Asgardian cloak, but overall Valkyrie gets a proper upgrade to her warrior costume.

15. The Grandmaster

Somehow without needing the addition of blue skin and long gloves, Taika Waititi was able to perfectly transform Jeff Goldblum into the Grandmaster.

16. Tony Stark

Stan Lee himself has been quoted saying that Robert Downey Jr. was born to play Tony Stark, and we 100% agree.

17. Black Panther

Wakanda forever! MCU seems to have toned down King T'Challa's costume from the comics, but it also feels more stylish somehow.

18. Vision

A lot of these we find that the original bright comic colors take a moody turn in their color scheme. The Vision has a very similar design between comic and movie, but his colors had a major change.

For funsies, here's Paul Bettany getting made up as Vision

19. Aunt May

With each iteration of Spider-Man, Aunt May gets a bit of a glow-up. From old lady to hot Auntie by the latest movie.

20. Black Widow

Dressed to kill, Black Widow's main getup in the movies is a skin-tight one-piece suit that helps her movement and holds weapons easily.

21. Captain America

The first Captain America movie definitely shares the likeness to it's comic book counterpart, but in later movies, Cap moves on to a more sophisticated and less kitschy costume.

22. Heimdall

Heimdall loses the fur in place for some smart-looking leather. Otherwise, the dude still has his epic helmet and sword.

23. Bucky Barnes

What I would GIVE to see Sebastian Stan in the comic version of Bucky Barnes' outfit.

24. Ant-man

The only noticeable difference between comic Scott and movie Scott seems to be those antennae on his helmet, which make him more ant-like.

25. Thor

Besides the helmet, Thor pretty much looks exactly the same on-screen as on paper. Even Chris Hemsworth embodies the God of Thunder really well.

Some of these updates were pretty drastic, but being as dated as the comics are, maybe it’s not that much of a surprise. Did you have a favorite alteration?

Or was there another character we missed that you would have liked to see a side-by-side comparison of? Let us know in the comments section below.

And be sure to share this with your fellow (comic or movie) Marvel fans!

Kylin