2014 Movie News Archives

July 15, 2014: Kryptonian Messages on Superman Costume for "Batman v Superman"

Henry as Superman Earlier this month I posted a detailed examination of the new Superman costume for "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", comparing it with the "Man of Steel" costume to pinpoint the subtle changes in the new design.

I recently acquired an even higher resolution version of the photo, and (with the help of a fellow Australian fan named Alex) discovered that the new Superman costume contains a fair amount of Kryptonian writing which has been included in the tweaked design.

The most obvious Kryptonian writing inclusion is the S-like character featured on the new rectangular "belt buckle". We also noted that there appears to be Kryptonian script throughout the gold "belt" elements around the waist.

Belt

But there are also two (maybe three) other areas on the costume where Kryptonian writing can be found, and they're a little less obvious.

The larger gaps on the wrist gauntlets sees Kryptonian writing inscribed between the first and second lines closest to the wrist. It's subtle, but it's there. You can't see it in the photo released, but I wouldn't be surprised if the extra line at the top of the boots is also an area where more Kryptonian writing might be found.

Wrists

Now, the other interesting inclusion of Kryptonian writing is a little harder to notice, although many immediately saw the line that it's written on. You see the "swish" line through the middle of the "S" shield on his chest? While many thought it was purely to try and emulate the logo seen throughout "Man of Steel" (and especially in the poster design), there's actually Kryptonian writing above and below that line. At first it simply appears to be a break up of the mesh pattern that permeates the entire costume. But upon closer examination, you can see that it is indeed Kryptonian lettering.

Shield

I contacted Dr. Christine Schreyer, the Linguistic Anthropologist who co-created the Kryptonian language for "Man of Steel," to see if she could shed any further light on what the Kryptonian writing might say. She replied, "I would say that this does appear to be Kryptonian writing, but beyond that I'm afraid I can't say more."

Beyond that, I guess we'll have to wait and see if production designer, Patrick Tatopoulous, graphic designer Kirsten Franson, or costume designer Michael Wilkinson can shed any light on what the Kryptonian text says and why they've incorporated it into the costume this time around.

Steve Younis



2014 Movie News

Listed below are all the Movie News items archived for 2014 organized into various categories:

“Superman/Batman” Movie News:

“Justice League” Movie News: “Man of Steel” Movie News: “Justice League: War” Animated Movie News: “Justice League: Throne of Atlantis” Animated Movie News: LEGO Animated Movie News: Christopher Reeve Movie News: Other Movie News:

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