A Long-Awaited Marvel Moment In Deadpool & Wolverine Had Grown Men Sobbing On Set

In 2000, when Bryan Singer made "X-Men," visual effects weren't yet slick enough to fully realize full-scale superhero mayhem in a realistic fashion. It also came at a time when American culture was deconstructing a lot of the pop media tropes of the decades that came before, whimsically subverting dominant paradigms. "X-Men" was a big hit, and startled audiences by jettisoning some of the goofier, more colorful aspects of the comics on which they were based, and replacing them with a modern, steely "cool" that many appreciated. 

The X-Men's technology was all silvery and metallic in Singer's film, and the costumes — colorful and outlandish on the page — were streamlined into minimalist black leather. There is a line of dialogue in "X-Men" denigrating the original costumes. When Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) tries on his black leather outfit for the first time, he asks if he's expected to go out in public like that. Cyclops (James Marsden) quips back, "What did you expect? Yellow spandex?" Wolverine, you see, wore yellow spandex in the comics. 

In the 24 years since "X-Men," superhero cinema has risen and fallen. Costume designers quickly figured out ways to make superhero costumes look practical on real-life human bodies. As such, Wolverine's yellow outfit no longer seems strange, and modern audiences can more easily accept it. Indeed, Wolverine's yellow costume will be donned by Jackman in the upcoming "Deadpool & Wolverine," due in theaters July 26. 

This will be the 10th film to feature Wolverine, but the first to feature the character wearing the classic yellow outfit, a moment 50-year-old fanboys have been waiting decades to see. Indeed, executive producer Wendy Jacobson recently had an interview with the YouTube channel HeyUGuys, and recalled the moment Jackman first arrived on set in the costume, grown men broke down weeping. 

Wolverine's costumes have long been illogical. Even when the character was first introduced in 1974, his bright yellow outfit didn't look anything like a wolverine, a small, dark brown furry critter with little round ears. Eventually, in 1975, Wolverine's costume evolved to have notably blue highlights on the yellow tunic and pants. His mask also featured outside facial "wings." That costume was also featured heavily in the celebrated 1992 redux of X-Men, and for many people, the yellow-and-blue costume is sort of the default outfit for the character.

But, man, that yellow costume sure activated the nostalgia glands of the "Deadpool & Wolverine" filmmakers. Jackman and Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds posed for a lot of photos and screen tests in their superhero costumes, and everyone seemed to like them. Jacobson knew they had tapped into something important. She said: 

"It was one of the craziest things. [...] It was the camera test. It was before we started shooting. To see both of those guys, first of all, in costume together, was just mind-blowing. But Hugh walking out in the yellow and blue, I mean, there were grown men, like, sobbing on set. So we knew it was a special, very special thing."

The movie costume is more detailed than in the comics, of course, but the color scheme was just right. 

So kids, if you want to see your dad cry, take him to "Deadpool & Wolverine." He'll weep openly for his lost youth and Jim Lee drawings that once brought him such bliss. Those moments are gone now. Lost to time. Only Hugh Jackman can bring men bliss.