Marvel has officially announced the framing of this year’s Hellfire Gala, confirming earlier promises that it would become a regular event. It is, however, significantly scaled back on a publishing front this year. Instead of a multi-issue crossover event, as we got last year, this year’s Gala is a single one-shot. However, that certainly hasn’t stopped Marvel from having fun with their tie-in covers! The outfit reveals for 2022 have begun, and here at WWAC, we’ve got opinions. Without further ado, here are this year’s non-mutant attendee reveals so far:
Captain America:
Kat Overland: Love everything about this, the glasses, the vibes, the enormous lapels. The gloves!! This Sam is honestly cooler than most iterations of Sam we get, which I love, and the glasses are a perfect way to finish off the whole thing.
Wendy Browne:: Sam understood the assignment.
Nola Pfau: It’s amazing, comparing this one against Tony’s (below), how effective a simple suit can be, with the right design notes. This is beautiful.
Kayleigh Hearn: Right away, the fascinating thing about these Avengers Hellfire Gala covers is that they’re dressed for the gala. Last year, the Avengers, FF, etc. came to the Hellfire Gala in-uniform, which underlined the tension and uncertainty between the X-Men and the rest of the Marvel Universe that has gradually dissolved. And hopefully, that’s a good thing, given that the Avengers will be playing mediators between the X-Men and the Eternals in the Judgment Day event.
Back to Sam: this is a great look! Sharp and stylish and accessorized perfectly with the red shades. I could definitely see this design turning heads at the actual Met Gala.
Captain America The Lesser:
Kat: This has corporate villain written all over it, which is…a weird pick for Steve. I conceptually like the wide pinstripe, and a three piece suit, but the grey vest is not giving particularly well with the rest of the color scheme for me. The haircut isn’t helping with the sort of sinister vibe of the whole thing. Great boots though.
Wendy: He looks like he should be out solving mysteries or committing dapper crimes.
Nola: I get that the pinstripe is evocative of a flag, and I do like it for that, but he’s a tommy gun short of a crime movie. I do wonder what the significance is of Steve and Sam both having Krakoan gateway plants. I know they’re part of the invite package, but they’re prominently displayed with these two in a way they’re not with the others.
Wendy: And why is Steve ‘alas poor Yorick’ing so hard with his?
Kayleigh Hearn: This is a classic Magneto “pondering his orb” dramatic, semi-villainous recline, so I was also thrown by this cover. (“Wait, is that Fabian Cortez or someone?” Bitch, the Captain America shield is right there. […so you’re saying Fabian stole Captain America’s shield?! – Ed.]) Pinstripes! Sure! Putting a modern spin on a 1940s suit makes sense, thankfully there’s no fedora. Not a terribly exciting look, but I get it.
Iron Man:
Kat: I know tech geniuses IRL tend to eschew upscale looks for casual, but this is the Hellfire Gala! He’s too rich to not be in a tuxedo, high tech or no. If I were Emma, this outfit would be a slap in the face to my hostessing skills.
Wendy: I expect no more and no less from Tony, I suppose. He doesn’t need to dress up to impress, and he’s only there to glean as many techy secrets as he can get. I’m sure annoying Emma is also part of his fashion motives here, but I hope she just rolls her eyes and moves on.
Nola: I think the art itself is hurting this one. The top-down angle, the fact that he’s so small against the background…it’s like they’re embarrassed to show him? I like the idea of a translucent tech suit, but I definitely feel like Tony can do better (in a CAVE! With a BOX OF SCRAPS!).
Kayleigh: Krakoa should chew Tony up and spit him right back through the gate for trying this. Next!
Captain Marvel:
Wendy: Okay casual Tony is one thing, but Carol could have tried a little bit harder here.
Nola: It’s weird how Carol is slowly becoming more and more indistinguishable from Outback Dazzler. That aside, this evokes that bar her MCU counterpart liked to hang out in more than it does Gala attire. It’s like she missed the text of the invite, but I want to hang at whatever lesbian bar she’s attending instead.
Kat: Absolutely thought this was Dazzler and the cape lining was actually some dazzling.
Kayleigh: A blonde with light powers dressed in blue, decorated with an eight-point star? Yeah, I was excited for Dazzler too. (A pop star should absolutely be front and center at a gala like this, right?) Had there been more red in the suit’s design, it probably would have signaled “Captain Marvel” more directly. And I like that she’s in a suit! But it’s far from a definitive look.
Scarlet Witch:
Wendy: Not being a regular Scarlet Witch fan, I had to look up to see if this wasn’t just one of her actual costumes.
Nola: That’s basically my exact take! This doesn’t look significantly different than Wanda looks we’ve seen before, save that her hair lifts the trick that Storm used last year. Still, I guess I can forgive her for not picking a look that’s…to die for.
Kayleigh: Wanda Maximoff is a messy witch who loves drama. How is she going to top dying at a party to steal all the attention from the mutants and their new planet? Anyway, to go with the consensus: it’s a pretty design, but not very different from what she could be wearing in any random Avengers book. It’s expected, even obvious. The cosmic floating hair is lovely, but using “chaos magic” as a concept could have pushed this look so much farther. Please, for the love of god, someone do Jack Irving next year and come to the Hellfire Gala in a giant inflatable hex sphere.
Want to see more coverage? You can see the mutant looks revealed over here!
