The X-Men are a group of mutant heroes no stranger to switching up their wardrobe when their line of work calls for it, and in new fanart, the original members of the team get redesigns that are far too intricate, unique, and epic to ever premiere in comics!
Shared on Instagram by Chris Ouellette (@cjolet), this account specializes in bringing his one-of-a-kind art style to the masses by creating stunning nerd-works that impress on more levels than one as Chris colors his work as well.
Also trying his hand at drawing other heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe like the always popular Spider-Man and Hulk, Chris has found a creative sweet spot with a series of character-swapped pieces that see X-Men greats like Jubilee and Cyclops switch powers and designs with one another, along with Emma Frost and Professor X, Colossus and Jean Grey and even Wolverine and Psylocke getting the same creative treatment, all to impressive results!
New X-Men Fanart Designs Are Purposely Too Epic To Draw In Comics
A team initially consisting of Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman, and Jean Grey aka Marvel Girl, these core five X-Men seem to change their looks more often than most, with their very first blue and yellow body suits giving them a humble costume origin that has come a long way in the years since. Wearing outfits ranging from their annual Hellfire Gala attire to subtly tweaked cosmetic upgrades to full-blown redesigns (like the always popular costumed looks of the 90s incarnation of the X-Men), this merry band of mutants now have yet another visual style to call their own, with Chris and his incredible illustrative talents being the only one that can make them work.
Drawing the five founding members of the X-Men spread across the image, Chris’ vibrantly colored, organically detailed, and highly comic-esque art style gives each mutant a unique redesign that fits them well while highlighting their iconic visual themes without losing anything in translation. Riffing on Cyclops’ popular 90s look, Chris gives Cyke more blue than gold costuming but adds just enough extra yellow accents to make his look pop. Next, Chris designs a more busy but extremely faithful costume for Jean Grey in relation to what she’s currently wearing in comics, with Chris’ remix of Beast’s look going all in on his detailed fur and striking red and blue suit and gloves. Angel, seen here in his Archangel form, gets a familiar-looking outfit that does a great job of bringing his organic but sharp design to life, with Chris rounding out the crew with a fully iced-out Iceman giving fans his best Wolverine impression.
Furthermore, Chris directly calls out why his design would never work in a monthly Marvel comic by captioning the piece with the confession, “Basically I decided to draw fun costumes that would be a b!tch to draw multiple times in an issue,” turning these remixed looks into ones that are purposely too difficult for anyone but Chris to pull off properly. So while the X-Men will never stop reinventing their superhero looks in comics, Chris Ouellette’s (@cjolet) set of costumes will go down in nerd history as the designs that were too epic for Marvel to handle!
Source: @cjolet
