Marvel's X-Men never used their coolest costume designs, by artist Alex Ross. Comic books are a partnership between writers and artists, and the best superheroes are those created by a top artist and a talented writer. Iconic costumes go down in history, and are faithfully reproduced on the big screen, with fans looking on with delights. That's recently been demonstrated by production of The Batman, with every detail of Robert Pattinson's Batman costume examined in detail.
The X-Men have gone through more costumes than your average superhero. Marvel's merry mutants have been in print since 1963, and they've been relaunched countless times. Some iterations have stressed the mutants' individuality - Jim Lee's 1991 designs are the stuff of legend - while others have focused on a team look. But, surprisingly, some of the coolest designs of all were never used.
In the early 2000s, Marvel Comics decided the time was right for their latest relaunch. The surprise success of 2000's X-Men left them scrambling to create a good jumping-on point, and they decided the best approach was to turn to new talent. Superstar writers Grant Morrison and Joe Casey were placed in charge of the relaunch, and Marvel commissioned new costumes to support it. Enter Alex Ross, one of the most popular comic book artists of his generation; although he'd never been a massive X-Men fan, he'd loved the movie, and he sent in some stunning designs. These can be seen in the following images, ultimately published by Wizard Magazine in an X-Men special.
The designs are fantastic, notable because of the careful balance between a "team" look and individualistic details and colorschemes. They blend the tone and style of the X-Men movies with classic comic book costumes, and are designed to appeal to Grant Morrison's more "casual" approach. In a curious inversion, Cyclops' dark outfit is a riff on his brother Havok's, and there's a complete absence of detailing in order to focus on the red highlight. Wolverine's is interesting, clearly inspired in part by Dave Cockrum's design, with jagged slashes styled into the highlight in order to give a sense of savagery and brutality. Nightcrawler's incorporates his faith, complete with a cleric's collar; at the time these were commissioned, Nightcrawler was actually a Catholic priest.
In the end, Marvel decided to go with designs by Frank Quitely instead. He focused far more on the team aesthetic, creating the stylized "X" uniform that ultimately made its way into X-Men: Dark Phoenix. But Alex Ross' designs should be fondly remembered, and it's to be hoped they influence Marvel Studios as they bring the X-Men into the MCU.
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