Titans' Starfire Does Jack Kirby Superhero Costumes Better Than The MCU

Starfire's costume in Titans season 3 owes more to Jack Kirby than the MCU's upcoming Eternals movie. The Titans TV series has endured a rocky road thus far. With sweeping changes to the season 1 finale, a soft reboot in season 2, and a new home for season 3, Titans has never been afforded the opportunity to find its feet, while fans have been less than receptive to plot elements such as Nightwing's origin story and Donna Troy's death. Played by Anna Diop, Starfire was a far cry from her comic counterpart in Titans' first 2 seasons, never truly embracing her identity or heritage. However, an official Titans season 3 promotional image finally reveals Starfire in her traditional superhero comic costume - and the getup has enjoyed a positive reception online.

On the other side of the superhero divide, Marvel Studios is currently in the process of juggling delayed MCU movies and incoming Disney+ TV shows in the midst of a global pandemic. Falling victim to these changes is the Eternals movie, which has been pushed back to late 2021. The Eternals made their comic debut in 1976, created from the pen of the legendary Jack Kirby. Although he turned his hand to a variety of comic stories, bright, sci-fi, futuristic costumes that melded mythological influences into a distinctly alien context were a hallmark of Kirby's. His depiction of comic book technology can be seen in both Marvel and DC, and the otherworldly Eternals highlight this style better than anyone - in comic form, at least.

Marvel offered a glimpse at the MCU Eternals costumes at last year's D23 event, and the Kirby influence was clear in their color palettes, patterns, and futuristic flavors. However, the designs also fell strictly within the confines of the established MCU tone. Marvel's movie franchise typically attempts to ground its superhero costumes within a sense of realism, and even the characters hailing from outer space wear uniforms that remain in-touch with our contemporary world. As a result, it could be argued that the MCU costumes for Eternals, while still bearing the influence of Jack Kirby, are somewhat muted in comparison to his famous comic artwork.

The same cannot be said of Starfire's costume in Titans season 3. The flame-wielding Tamaranean was created by Marv Wolfman and George Perez at the beginning of the 1980s. Shortly beforehand, Jack Kirby had spent a brief but influential spell at DC working on titles such as New Gods, which incorporated the same space mythology themes as Starfire. Fast-forward to 2020 and the unveiling of Titans' Starfire superhero costume, and the influence of Kirby truly is evident. The melding of metallic gold with rich, bright purple is straight out of Kirby's playbook, while the futuristic gauntlets and jewels are close to something one might see from an Eternals story. Despite being alien in origin, Starfire's costume also has a distinctly organic quality - something Kirby was renowned for building into his science-fiction worlds.

In essence, Starfire's costume is similar to the live-action designs revealed previously for the MCU's Eternals - but with one glaring difference. The Titans outfit foregoes the usual touch of MCU realism, instead opting for something bold, bright and bombastic. Compared to the more diluted Eternals MCU costumes, Starfire's Titans ensemble is ripped directly from the pages of a Jack Kirby comic, even if he was already back on Marvel's payroll by the time Koriand'r made her DC debut. Without trailer footage or updated promo images, it's possible that Eternals' finalized MCU costume designs will take more cues from the group's creator. Until then, however, fans of Jack Kirby's artwork will find a stronger thread of influence over in Titans.

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