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I could do a whole thread about the design choices that are telegraphing "VILLAIN IN THE MAKING" with Walker's costume!!! So many!!! https://twitter.com/NeolithicSheep/status/1380699535996035075
FINE FINE YES I will do it 
Potential spoilers for #FalconAndTheWinterSoldier 
, mute now if you haven't watched it, or if you (understandably) have no patience for my pedantic design thoughts
Potential spoilers for #FalconAndTheWinterSoldier , mute now if you haven't watched it, or if you (understandably) have no patience for my pedantic design thoughts
SO. Where to begin. Let's start with the original Cap, who's had a lot of costume variants. Pic borrowed from this reddit thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelstudios/comments/ba89us/evolution_of_mcu_captain_americas_outfit/
Then let's look at some official art of Walker. Right off the bat, we can see a couple things telegraphing "not the same": instead of Cap's typical brown leather accessories with silver detailing, we have black rubber, velcro, plastic, minimal detailing. And...
... the blue is more cyan than Typical Cap, and the red has orange undertones. The red is particularly notable: Steve's red has cool undertones, so in shade it's magenta, highlights are pink. Even when it's faded it keeps the cool undertones.
Walker's red clashes against the green undertones in the navy fabric; it's warm with orange highlights and brown-toned shades, to evoke... blood. The opaque plastic detailing looks like veins, or exposed wounds.
Add in the black leather and the palette already feels more hostile. But there's more to it than color choice, of course! Let's talk about the first shot of Walker, compared to a bucket o' Steves. What's missing here?
Texture.
Texture.
Steve's uniforms always looked like they were made from a variety of fabrics and materials, and had taken a beating. They look lived-in and organic. Walker's looks plastic and manufactured, no variety except for the plastic-looking black leather and the vein-like arm details.
So you have an unsettling palette, weirdly inorganic fabric choices... let's flag (teehee) one more subtle thing before we get into the big guns.
Steve wore a lot of symbols. None of them were ever a direct reproduction of the US flag, especially not in grayscale.
Steve wore a lot of symbols. None of them were ever a direct reproduction of the US flag, especially not in grayscale.
The selling point behind Cap isn't that he represents America the nation, but the *ideal,* which serves the world. (Which.... there's a lot of imperialism to unpack there, but that's for another day.)
By contrast, Walker literally wears his agenda on his sleeve.
By contrast, Walker literally wears his agenda on his sleeve.
So now let's get into the bigger choices. First, the star + the A. Admittedly the A was hokey, but merging it with the star makes it suddenly a weird, sinister symbol. The left and right rays of the star are thinner, sharper; carving out the A makes it visually hollow.
Also big: the chest star isn't front and center. It's been moved to the weird place of Walker's right collarbone, making it look unbalanced. If his collar's been bugging you, it's because we're also used to Steve's symmetrical collar. Walker's asymmetrical collar is left loose.
It's all to show that Walker is *not* balanced, and the loose collar is an affectation that just makes it look worse. It's too thin to look cool like a motorcycle jacket's collar, and running the closures down the right of his chest calls to mind a different kind of uniform:
The second-biggest tipoff that Walker's a villain: the chest stripes. "Molly," you might be saying, "Cap also... had.... stripes?"
Well, *vertical* ones. And that's important for two reasons. It looks, again, natural: either as an extension of the pecs' design, or ab protection.
Well, *vertical* ones. And that's important for two reasons. It looks, again, natural: either as an extension of the pecs' design, or ab protection.
The horizontal stripes look bad, though. Wrong. And it's not just because they're at the wrong angle; there's the asymmetry of the buckles again, the clash of the red against the blue, and a fun thing with the shape of the stripes themselves.
That fun thing: the little central bump appears on all three of the chest stripes. I always find this shape use interesting, because it can evoke at least one of two things. First: machinery and manufacturing. Which adds to the artificiality of Walker!
But second... the V-shape they make, along with the distinct bump, is reminiscent of something our brains categorize as "danger".
And finally... we all know the mask's bad. But *why* is it bad? I saved it for last because we're bringing this thread full circle, folks.
First: this answer to the original thread runs through a bunch of the design choices that make it look Not Right. In a nutshell, they give Walker an innately furrowed brow and cover more of his chin/cheekbones. https://twitter.com/UrsulaV/status/1380725135565545474?s=20
I'd also add that the shape of the eyeholes is different. Steve's: larger, rounder, more exposed/expressive. Walker's are narrower, following the lines of the underlying bone that forms the cheekbones/eye sockets. More notably... there's hints of that red in the detailing.
For a costume that has such monotonous texture, it makes a notable change specifically for the under-eye guards here... using fabric that could mimic cords of exposed muscle.
The mask highlights the cheekbones, the jaw, the eye sockets... the skull. With those glimpses of red.
The mask highlights the cheekbones, the jaw, the eye sockets... the skull. With those glimpses of red.
Do you see it yet?
There's a lot of fun choices that went into telegraphing John Walker as a baddie on the rise, but picking the Red Skull's own red for Walker's palette is, perhaps, my favorite.
Also this you *could* hypothetically chalk up to budget, but it does feel deliberate to me, that Walker doesn't fit the role, and to increase the same unravelling vibe as the perpetually loose collar. https://twitter.com/knoxdiver/status/1380748954388807680?s=20
So yeah! There's your thread, thank you for obliging my pedantry. I will probably return with an "AND ONE MORE THING" in about *checks watch* seven hours? TBD.
AND ONE MORE THING (I made it half an hour, sob) https://twitter.com/dogearedlibrary/status/1380764675101487104
CORRECTION: It's been pointed out that there is one instance of the US flag being part of Steve's uniform... from Winter Soldier. Which is a loaded choice: https://twitter.com/TheEricGoldman/status/1380882820764028933?s=20
This shot makes it more visible; in general it's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kind of flag, part of the wing-like silver stripes, with Implications because of the Winter Soldier plot. Walker's costume makes the flags impossible to miss. https://twitter.com/redsharlequin/status/1380887459026849794?s=20
