Chris Evans' Ears And Chin Posed Some Costume Challenges For Captain America's Avengers Helmet

Even going back to the 1940s, Captain America always had one of the silliest costumes in superherodom. Decked out in the colors and symbols of the American flag, and outfitted with a shield that looks like a stubborn decal left over from a model airplane, Captain America has always projected a form of patriotic tackiness that reminds one of overheated Fourth of July picnics, mosquito bites, and stale hot dog buns. Captain America was popular enough to survive the 1940s, however, and remains popular to this day.

Indeed, one must admire Marvel Studios for taking a wet blanket character like Captain America and selling him to audiences as something exciting and dynamic. The version of the character played by Chris Evans has, as of this writing, appeared in nine of the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (10, if you count the scene in "Thor: The Dark World" wherein the shapeshifting trickster Loki took his form). Many now like him again.

One of the sillier aspects of Captain America, however, is his helmet. In the original comics, the Captain wore an unusual hood that covered the top of his head and his ears. The hood was attached to a domino-style mask that covered his cheekbones as well. The hood had holes cut in the sides for his ears. Captain America's neck was covered, but his chin, nose, and mouth were left uncovered. It's a standard superhero mask on the page, but looks ridiculous in live-action.

In Jason Surrell's book "Marvel Studios' The Infinity Saga — The Avengers: The Art of the Movie," which is getting a re-release in July, the MCU's many designers admitted that redesigning the Captain America cowl for a modern film was a struggle. It was also difficult designing for an actor like Evans, who possesses such a strong jawline.

One might also note that, in the original costume, Captain America's hood sported a pair of small white wings. Those wings might be fine in a drawing, but they look ridiculous on an actor. In Albert Pyun's 1990 film "Captain America," the titular character (Matt Salinger) wore a page-accurate costume, including a cowl that was an extension of his shirt, the wings, and the exposed ears. As one can see in the photo above, the ears presented a problem to the film's costume designers. Instead of using Salinger's actual ears, they merely outfitted his hood with rubber ears.

When the time came to update the costume for Joe Johnston's "Captain America: The First Avenger" in 2011, visual designer Ryan Meinerding said that he had to cull many Marvel Comics looking for a costume that was true to the page yet still realistic enough for a flesh-and-blood actor to actually wear. In his own words:

"The best research is usually to reread some of the comics. [...] I reread The Ultimates and the Captain America Omnibus that features Ed Brubaker's run. There are a lot of great Cap moments in each volume. From a practical costume-design point of view, we looked at a lot of military clothes that are commercially available. There are undershirts and cargo/military pants being designed for military applications that are fantastic sources of inspiration for a group like S.H.I.E.L.D. or for a costume like Cap's."

The Ultimates was a spinoff line of comics launched in 2000 that reset the entire Marvel Comics timeline, reimagining their most popular characters in the modern day. The costumes and attitudes were altered slightly, including Captain America's helmet. The helmet from the Ultimates most strongly informed the headpiece worn by Chris Evans.

Meinerding noted that his personal mandate was to cover up Captain America's ears, even though they were traditionally exposed in the comics. He felt that the mask and helmet just looked better that way, and "The Avengers" director Joss Whedon agreed. Meinerding also felt it was finally okay to stray from the idea that Captain America's cowl was part of a one-piece costume. When looking at the Captain America costume from "The Avengers" in particular, there had to be a realistic texture, and a covered neck, but also no exposed ears:

"These variations were done to cover Cap's ears. [Costume designer] Alexandra Byrne had gotten to a certain point with a cowl that exposed Chris' ears, but Joss and Marvel didn't think it worked. Up until that point, we were treating the cowl as the same material as the costume, but these revisions were aimed at bringing the helmet look back from 'First Avenger' while covering the ears. The neck was always a problem due to the wrinkling that happens when Chris would move his head around." 

Meinerding also noted that the filmmakers wanted Evans' chin exposed because, well, it's a nice chin:

"Joss really wanted to try and do the iconic Cap look without adding a chin strap. Chris has a chiseled jaw line, and it was great to allow that to become part of the design."

In "The First Avenger," there was more leather and military-grade strappage at play. For "The Avengers," the filmmakers went with something more cartoony. The ultimate design is still a little silly, but it does look more streamlined.

It's still a pity about that absurdly big "A" on his forehead. It looks like he was stamped by the USDA.