Shocker's Costume In Spider-Man: Homecoming Explained

The Marvel Cinematic Universe often keeps the characters' costumes as comic book accurate as possible. From Iron Man's (Robert Downey Jr.) many elaborate armors to Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) brilliantly sentient Cloak of Levitation, it's clear that much work goes to making the costumes work. In fact, as "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" VFX supervisor Eric Leven told Looper, even comparatively small things like the cowl in Sam Wilson's (Anthony Mackie) Captain America costume often need painstaking attention to get just right.

That being said, the MCU isn't afraid to give characters heavy-handed redesigns if the situation calls for it, either. Perhaps the most obvious example of such a reimagining is Michael Keaton's terrifying Adrian "Vulture" Toomes. The "Spider-Man: Homecoming" villain's massive turbine wings and outlandish helmet with green, glowing eyes cut a far more menacing figure than the comic book version of the character could ever hope to be. The same movie also contains another heavily redesigned character, Herman "Shocker" Schultz (Bokeem Woodbine). Shocker inherits his title and shock glove from Jackson Brice (Logan Marshall-Green), whom Toomes fatally expels from his team after Brice threatens to reveal his operations. 

Though both characters' clothes contain subtle nods at the comic book Shocker's padded, yellow-and-brown full-body outfit, it's worth noting that they both still wear street clothes ... which is somewhat surprising, since the comics version of the character specifically requires the protective garment in order to survive the effects of his powerful vibro-shock gauntlets himself. So, why are both MCU versions of Shocker able to wield their gauntlet with no ill effects? Here's Shocker's costume in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" explained.

Apparently, there's no need to wear a padded costume when the dangerous supervillain equipment you're wielding has built-in protective features. Pretty much every cool and terrifying gadget Vulture's gang has access to is repurposed from gear that appeared in MCU movies that came before "Spider-Man: Homecoming," with some brand new extra features courtesy of Phineas "The Tinkerer" Mason (Michael Chernus). While the vast majority of their equipment seems to be from the aftermath of the climactic Battle of New York in "The Avengers," Shocker's gauntlet is actually an upgraded, electrified part of the suit Crossbones (Frank Grillo) wears to fight Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) in "Captain America: Civil War."

If this sounds like the kind of weapon that could potentially take your arm off, well, it absolutely is. Fortunately, the Tinkerer thought ahead and built in a "power dampener," which allows the Shocker to use the gauntlet without any danger to himself. Seeing as this dampener provides the same protective effect the Shocker costume does in the comics, it's only natural that the MCU Shocker doesn't need a special suit and is free to fight Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in his street clothes.