"Man of Steel" features the biggest changes to the Superman costume ever seen on screen. The second Zack Snyder movie doesn't make quite as many changes. To the casual eye, it looks like the costume in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" is the same. But a closer inspection shows subtle and drastic differences in color, shape, and design of the costume. In the first Zack Snyder film, they established that Superman’s costume is from Krypton. He goes into the Kryptonian drop ship (or Fortress of Solitude) and comes out with a costume that is similar to the clothes worn under the ornate armor of the Kryptonians.

01 of 07 "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice" Superman Costume "Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman" costume. Warner Bros In the sequel, it’s not clear how Superman could get a new costume, but subtle clues in the design changes may give us the answer. Costume designer Michael Wilkinson said,

“To get ready to design the costumes for Batman v Superman, I really did my homework. I immersed myself in the long histories of these iconic characters. I studied how they have been portrayed over the last 75 years on film, on TV, in comic books, graphic novels and video games. I studied what they mean to people, what they stand for, why they are important. I started an exhaustive search for new materials and technologies -- original ways of portraying these characters that would be unlike anything audiences have seen before. I wanted the costumes to help make the characters inspirational and relevant to modern audiences. We tweaked the Superman suit only slightly from our suit from Man of Steel. We streamlined ,plus sharpened the details of the costume a little to suit the more earthly (less alien) context of this film." Read on to find out some of the big and little changes made to the Superman costume for "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice".

02 of 07 Superman's Costume is Brighter in "Batman v Superman" "Man of Steel" vs. "Batman V Superman" Comparison. Warner Bros Pictures Superman's colors are as recognizable as Superman himself. Ask anyone what colors he wears and they'll say red and blue. It hasn't always been that way, however. When George Reeves wore the costume for the 1950's television show "Adventures of Superman" it was actually white, grey, and brown because it looked better in black and white. The 1978 movie took the vibrant colors from the comics and made Superman a technicolor marvel. In the movie "Superman Returns" they left the colors but darkened the overall tone. The pastels were replaced with maroon, navy and mustard yellow. The "Man of Steel" Superman costume was designed by Jim Acheson and Michael Wilkinson and they had a huge job in front of them. Redesigning a superhero costume that was virtually unchanged for over 50 years was a big task, but they managed to do it. Wilkinson said,

"James and I wanted to link the suit to the clothes of Krypton, so we showed that on Krypton, the citizens wear a protective "chainmail" skin suit like Superman's suit, with the same texture and detailing." The darker color scheme was described by Zack Snyder as “just a modern esthetic.” For "Batman v Superman" the costume was lightened slightly. While the comic book costume is a bright red, yellow and blue the costume in the first movie had very little contrast. With the new changes, it brightened and lent the costume more contrast.

03 of 07 Superman's Boots Are a Different Shape and Color in "Batman v Superman" "Man of Steel" vs. "Batman V Superman" Comparison. Warner Bros Pictures One of the more subtle changes to the Superman costume is the boots. The "Man of Steel" costume is red and has the familiar “V-Line” from the comics and looks like the same fabric of the rest of his costume. This is the most faithful part of the costume. The "Batman v Superman" costume has the same shape but has yellow or gold lines to accentuate the boots. There’s also a second line below that creates an even stronger line than before. Also, the soles of the shoes are thicker and have a squared off toe. The Superman boots for "Batman v Superman" are heavier than before. ​

04 of 07 Superman's Legs Have More Subtle Details "Man of Steel" Licensing Expo 2012 and "Batman v Superman" San Diego Comic Con. ComingSoon.net, ComicBook.com Superman's costume has always given the impression of Spandex although it's not the material used. The first Zack Snyder Superman movie gave it a distinct texture with designs that run across his torso and legs. The costume in the first movie had lines that ran down the side of each leg. For "Man of Steel" the costume is made up of a bunch of different parts.

"The Superman suit is made up of separate layers." Wilkinson said, "There’s an under-layer of sculpted detail mounted onto a bodysuit. Over the top of this, we stretched a thin mesh over-suit that is printed with a dimensional chain-mail texture. Then, the final foam-latex elements are affixed -- the ‘S’- glyph, the cuffs, the side-body details, etc." The Batman v Superman costume has these details too, but they're sleeker and the same color as his costume to blend in with his legs.

05 of 07 Superman's Belt and Trunks Are a Different Shape "Man of Steel" vs. "Batman V Superman" Trunks (Lightened to show details). Warner Bros Pictures Superman has always worn a thick yellow belt around his waist and red briefs. Originally Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel for DC Comics designed Superman's costume after circus strongmen who wore tights and briefs on the outside. At the time they were a common sight and made him recognizable as a strong man. These days we don't see a lot of circus strongmen, which makes the character dated.

“The costume was a big deal for me, and we played around for a long time,” Snyder says. “I tried like crazy to keep the red briefs on him. Everyone else said, ‘You can’t have the briefs on him.’ I looked at probably 1,500 versions of the costumes with the briefs on.” The new Superman costume got rid of the belt and the briefs but kept accentuating lines around his waist and a centerpiece that looks like a round buckle. The "Batman v Superman" costume makes changes in the lines around his waist but also changes the shape of the centerpiece from oval to square. It also has a small Superman symbol in the center, which is a nice touch. "There’s a little embroidery there that is a tip of the hat to the trunks,” says producer Chuck Roven. He added that the director and the costume designers came up with many different designs that preserved the trunks, but ultimately just couldn’t find a way to make them work with Snyder’s new vision of a revamped Superman." The gold piece around the waist now has a series of ornate shapes that look like the Kryptonian script. Wilkinson said, “Zack had a great idea to have some Kryptonian script subliminally included in the details of the suit, so we made that happen.” Look for Kryptonian lettering on his waist.

06 of 07 Superman's Gauntlets Are Bigger Costume Comparision: Cuffs. Warner Bros Pictures In the comic books, Superman wears a top with sleeves that end at the wrist. This has been the standard going all the way back to the 1950s. In 2011 DC Comics did a revamp of the comic book costumes and changed Superman's traditional spandex uniform. Now it looks more like armor and has sleeves that end in a shape implying cuffs. The official site "Learn About Krypton" calls them "gauntlets". Wilkinson said, "We wanted to create a costume that was both appealing to a modern audience, and grounded in the mythology of the story. It was important for us to explain why the suit looks like it does -- so throughout the film, we showed how the suit fits into Krypton's traditions and aesthetics." In "Man of Steel" Superman has cuffs on his sleeves. James and I wanted to link the suit to the clothes of Krypton, so we showed that on Krypton, the citizens wear a protective "chainmail" skinsuit like Superman's suit, with the same texture and detailing. All the Kryptonians have gauntlets and, along with the chainmail pattern, helps to link Superman's suit to Krypton. For "Batman v Superman ' these have been changed slightly. They're now more evenly spaced and go further up his forearms. Instead of looking like cuffs they now look like a part of his sleeves and give his arms a more powerful look.​