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If Captain America’s boots look familiar, it’s no surprise.
The Captain, played by Anthony Mackie, sports a pair of customized kicks in “Captain America: Brave New World” that are based on the Nike Kobe 9 Elite Protro high tops, costume designer Gersha Phillips revealed.
Speaking with Variety, Phillips explained she used the sneakers for both Danny Ramirez, who plays the new Falcon, and Mackie. “We built both of their boots on these Kobe high tops. It gave much more structure and helped with their movement,” said Phillips. “It gives them really good support, ankle support, instep support, and everything for all the jumping and the work that they had to do.”
“Captain America: Brave New World” is Mackie’s first time in the lead role of a Marvel movie. He joined the MCU as Sam Wilson/Falcon back in 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” opposite Chris Evans as the title character. This time around, Sam must put aside his differences with U.S. president Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross (Harrison Ford, taking over for the late William Hurt) to investigate a conspiracy theory tied to an assassination attempt and the global battle for adamantium possession.
In one scene, Sam is invited to the White House by President Ross. Phillips said she custom-made Sam’s suit. “I showed them a picture of Sterling K. Brown or something similar to that, and Anthony was in love with it. That was the vibe we wanted for that scene, so that’s what we ended up building.”
Marvel’s Ryan Meinerding, head of visual development, was a close collaborator when it came to building the Captain’s two suits.
“It was really important for everybody that it (the suit design) tied into the Steve Rogers suit.” Phillips continued, “All the fabric is a surface print, and we tweaked the colors a little bit.” For his chest plate, Phillips wanted it to be a hard shell, not soft. She said, “If you look at the first suit he’s wearing, it’s his old suit from the series.”
The blue suit he wears later is “more heroic.” Said Phillips, “I remember zipping it up on Anthony. I said, ’Is this too tight, Anthony? But he liked it because it held his body in pretty well.” Phillips added that Mackie paid her the greatest compliment. “He did say to me that it was one of the most comfortable duds he’s ever worn.”
