Where is my Super-Suit?

Oh hey, I forgot, while I was gone at GenCon, they unveiled the new movie Superman costume. Or at least, they unveiled it as much as they could while also leaving it partially veiled by shadow. If you haven't already seen the image, here it is, courtesy of the Superman Homepage.

I hate to say much of anything about it without a better shot, but there are a few things worth mentioning even now.

• The Hair: Set reports and other pictures suggest that Cavill will be rocking the spit curl, and not this Dean Cain-esque style. I certainly don't mind it as it is, but it'd be nice to see that.
  
• The Cape: I like the way you can see how it attaches to the costume. I further like that it's not tucked into the tight collar, the way Brandon Routh's was. Reeve could get away with it, largely because of the wider neckline.
  
• The Boots: The classic shape, though the element that in comics typically looks like some kind of embellishment or seam has shrunk on these to a bit of top-of-the-boot piping. These are higher than Routh's, but look to be a bit shorter than Reeve's. No complaints.
  
• The S-Shield: Hey, it's an Earth-2 Superman movie! Seriously, every screen version of the S-shield has been a bit different, and this is only about as big a departure from the trademarked version as Routh's was. It looks a lot like the shield Superman wore back in the early '40s (see here or here, for example). It'll be interesting to see it in a more head-on shot.
  
• The Belt: The buckle looks pretty traditional. No extra S-shields there.
  
• The Texture: Hoo boy. Superman looks like he's wearing snakeskin or something. I frankly miss the simple cloth, and Superman's the character who should be able to do that, what with being invulnerable and all. This textured vinyl just looks uncomfortable. The resolution's not good enough to see if it's going the "Superman Returns" route of having a texture that's repeated S-shield shapes. But then, it didn't distract from "Superman Returns," and I suspect it'll be a minor issue.
  
• Additional Design Elements: Here's where I part ways a bit with the costume designer. From the cuffs, the visible leg, and the spot above the belt, it looks like there are parts of the costume with a different color and a smoother texture. It's similar to what Shane Davis did in "Superman: Earth One," and I think it's generally pretty unnecessary. You don't need to add stuff to Superman's costume; you don't need to make it busier.
  
• The Briefs: What briefs? It's impossible to tell whether or not they're a part of this costume. If they aren't, and the costume is taking a hint from the "Earth One" costume, then that might be a good thing. One of the biggest problems of that design was that the briefs interrupted those fields of color, and the fields were reversed after the interruption, making it look like a coloring error. Leaving the briefs out, but breaking up the color in other ways, is actually a design compromise I can handle.
  
• The Colors: It's hard to tell, since the image is washed-out in a style that Snyder's done before. I hope the suit is bright and bold and pretty primary-colored, rather than the darker, more subdued tones we saw on Brandon Routh. It's definitely too early to tell, and what's more, it's going to depend a lot on how they filter and color-correct the movie.
  
• Overall: Damn, Cavill has the look. Seriously, he's the first live-action Superman--except perhaps Dean Cain--who looks like he really has the Superman size down.
  
• Any excuse to make a bulleted list these days. Sheesh.