Like most major franchises, Marvel’s various characters have been reimagined in various alternate universes. Legions of fans follow the pursuits of these characters on the various platforms on which a myriad of storylines play out, from the comics to the MCU.
Transformative fan works aren’t anything new, but the hipster trend is a fairly recent development in the long history of fandom. With the rise of hipsterdom comes a spike of popularity in hipster stories as well as fan art. Some of the younger superheroes already have a hipster vibe to their outfits and go full-on hipster thanks to these amazing artists. On the other hand, veteran superheroes get major wardrobe overhauls as if they’ve been on Queer Eye, especially those who aren’t as well-acquainted with pop culture, like old man Steve Rogers.
This is, by no means, a definitive list of fan art, but rather a small window into fandom and its wonderfully wacky and colorfully creative ideas. Not all of these are labelled specifically as hipster alternate realities, but incorporate elements of the aesthetic. Some of the pieces aren’t technically fan art either, as they’re commissions drawn by professional artists. The characters included are drawn from not only the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but also the various comics that Marvel has published over the years.
Note that there are mentions of a few major plot points, so definitely proceed with caution if you’re not up to date and concerned about spoilers.
Here are 25 Marvel Characters Redesigned As Hipsters!
Steve Rogers
Steve Rogers spend the first years of his life hanging onto Bucky’s coattails thanks to his frail physique. Later on, he runs around in a tight-fitting suit fighting for the good of not only America, but for all of humanity.
Now, TheLittleHobbit portrays him as a hipster that leans towards a posher aesthetic.
Hipsters can get a bad rap for being pretentious, but as wholesome and good-natured Steve is, it’s hard to seriously dismiss him as snobbish.
Besides, if he can (sort of) pull off that first gaudy Cap outfit in the ’40s, he can definitely pull off any outfit.
Peter Parker
Tom Holland’s portrayal of Peter Parker doesn’t exactly seem like the kind of kid who can grow a full face of scruff, but thesometimers’s hipster Spidey sure can rock a moustache.
With the fedora, skinny scarf, and skinny jeans, it seems like grown-up Peter spends a lot more time in Brooklyn than in his home borough of Queens. He stays with the aesthetic even when he’s out fighting crime, donning a fanny pack as he swings around the city. Plus, he’s got his camera on hand, taking photos of things you’ve probably never heard of.
Loki
Loki’s known for being a masterful shapeshifter, turning into multiple animals as well as impersonating other humans. In EmmaSeptimus’s drawing, Loki has become a hard-core hipster, complete with a flannel button-down over a T-shirt, most likely fair-trade organic coffee, a beanie and a scarf.
He’s probably working on his next great stream of consciousness novel on that laptop, complete with obscure and complicated references to Norse gods and mythology.
On the other hand, Loki could totally be going for the hipster vibe as a way to make fun of the aesthetic. He is the God of Mischief, after all.
Hulk
Let’s be honest: while Bruce Banner dresses fairly well, the Hulk isn’t exactly known for his fashion sense. But in this drawing by Stephen Byrne, the Hulk manages to pull off the hipster aesthetic.
He now sports a crisp undercut as well as a perfectly kept beard and moustache. He’s even using a pair of suspenders with his pants. All he needs is a plaid flannel button-down shirt and some fake glasses and he’ll achieve the ultimate hipster look.
Maybe Bruce will get in on the trend as well, or perhaps he introduced it in the first place.
Deadpool and Spider-Man
Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Peter Parker already gives off major hipster vibes, especially with his giant square glasses and skinny jeans in the movies.
Here, DakotaLIAR pairs Spidey up with Deadpool, who wears a hoodie and skinny jeans instead of his usual spandex. Peter, on the other hand, keeps his skinny jeans and beaten-up sneakers, as well as his poofy wind-swept hair.
Of course, Peter’s got an ironic Green Lantern bomber jacket on. And no, you can’t just buy it off the rack. It’s a vintage jacket, one of a kind.
Frank Castle
The Punisher doesn’t normally conjure up images of a hipster sipping coffee in an indie café, tapping away on a type writer. However, the Netflix series has inspired hipster-themed fan art, and with good reason.
Frank Castle spends his downtime reading books like Moby Dick, The Crack-Up and Cyborgs and Barbie Dolls: Feminism, Popular Culture and the Posthuman Body.
He even has a full beard now, and jokes about getting a man-bun.
FionaCreates leans into these little details and depicts Frank with his hair in a bun and magnificently groomed facial hair, topped up with a Starbucks to-go cup.
Thor
Apart from being the God of Lightning, Thor is known for his majestic blond mane, which tragically got cut in Thor: Ragnarok. Nonetheless, if Thor were to become a hipster, he would 100% grow his hair out again and graduate from perfect stubble to full-on beard, like in this piece by Jojomonsterz.
His iconic armor has been transformed into some pretty impressive bicep tattoos, partially hidden by a button-down with rolled up sleeves.
Since the hammer Mjolnir features prominently throughout various storylines as his weapon, it also makes sense that Thor would lean towards this lumberjack hipster aesthetic.
Bucky Barnes
Bucky has also gotten plenty of hipster makeovers, like this one by buckybbarnes, which hits all the hipster marks. Doc Martens? Check. Starbucks? Check. Skinny jeans with rolled cuffs? Check.
This Bucky has even pulled his hair back into a small messy bun and finished it off with a flower crown.
As chill as he is here, Bucky doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to go on any missions any time soon, but if he does, he’ll finally have his hair out of his eyes. It’s a wonder how he’s able to get anything done with his locks flying about.
Black Widow
Trained as a spy, Black Widow is usually seen wearing a black suit to accommodate her agile movements. It makes sense then that Hipster Natasha would stick with the dark clothing in Stephen Byrne’s drawing, albeit with more ornaments than her spy persona.
Even when reimagined as a hipster, Natasha still intimidates and exudes power, with her black leather jacket, shorts over fishnet tights, oversized ornaments, and an eye-catching black widow tattoo.
Trained spy or not, she’s definitely still a force to be reckoned with, especially when she hasn’t had her organic coffee yet.
Shuri and T’challa
The first time we see Eric Killmonger in Black Panther, he’s sporting some wire-rim glasses that can only be described as peak hipster. Plus, given he never wears glasses again and it’s unlikely that he’s sticking contacts in his eyes every morning, the hipster glasses are probably not even prescription.
It looks like Killmonger’s influence has reached Shuri and T’Challa.
In this drawing by Oldzio, Shuri already has a sharp sense of style, and sticks with her chokers in her Minnie Mouse-esque outfit.
T’Challa, on the other hand, wears a print button-down. While not strictly hipster in style, maybe it’s a step towards full hipsterdom for T’Challa.
The Maximoff Twins
In the MCU, Scarlet Witch wears a sleek outfits, like herr ed leather coat, red corset, and black leggings. True to her superhero name, she really sticks to the witch coven aesthetic. On the other hand, Quicksilver has a sportier vibe, which makes sense since he can move at such high speeds.
In this drawing by rngrn, the twins adopt a more casual aesthetic, and look like they stepped out of a catalogue for an independent clothing store. Wanda is now in an oversized sweater and long skirt, and Pietro has swapped his athletic attire to something more in line with athleisure.
Luke Cage and Iron Fist
Sure, Luke Cage and the rest of the crew drag Danny Rand in The Defenders without mercy whenever he says something incredibly stupid. But they seem to be on semi-good terms in this fan-made cover by dio-03.
Luke’s got his bright yellow shirt buttoned all the way up, and finished off with an eye-catching purple bow. To top it all off, his belt is a chain and lock, because that’s the hipster thing to do.
Danny isn’t quite as dapper as Luke, but is nonetheless rocking the hipster look with his fanny pack.
Clint Barton
Let’s be honest: Clint may be the original Hawkeye, but he’ll never be as hip and up-to-date on trends as his young partner-slash-protégé Kate Bishop.
In this drawing by Caroline Layne, he racks up hipster points by opening up an indie coffee shop, complete with a poster of Thor’s underground band.
Given how much coffee Clint chugs in the comics, it makes sense that he’d run a little café as a hipster.
The gang’s all there as well, with Bucky even sporting an undercut and man-bun. Kate might not approve of this particular brand of rugged hipster aesthetic, but Clint’s other friends don’t seem to mind at all.
Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain Marvel, and Angela
This piece posted by AlwaysBeClothing features several Marvel characters as hipsters. It’s a collaboration piece by Danica Brine, Nick Bradshaw, Joe Quinones, Alex Sinclair, Todd Nauck, Kris Anka, and Mike Vasquez.
There are so many elements in this amazing piece, particularly Captain Marvel and Star-Lord’s looks. She’s now got an undercut and large glasses, whereas Star-Lord has gone full lumberjack hipster with his plaid flannel, vest, beanie and perfectly maintained facial hair.
Who knows? Maybe the crew will have a major wardrobe change the next time we see them.
War Machine
Rhodey is mostly known in association to Tony Stark, but as his shirt says in this drawing by Petite Madame, he’s no one’s sidekick. He doesn’t have superpowers himself, but thanks to his armor and training as a soldier, he’s able to hold his own in a fight.
This hipster version of Rhodey has him in a T-shirt instead of his high-tech suit or military uniform.
He’s even got little pins attached to the shirt, because being a hipster is all about individualism, and what kind of hipster would Rhodey be if he didn’t customize his top?
Vision
We love this drawing of Vision by cargsdoodles but the original tumblr isn’t up anymore. After a little digging though, it seems like Caroline Layne is also responsible for this amazing hipster redesign.
When Vision isn’t in his superhero cape, he dresses like he’s stepped straight out of a J.Crew catalogue with his knit sweaters and crisp shirts.
Here, he’s chosen to tie his sweater around his neck. He completes the look with large shades and headphones, seamlessly integrating a hipster element to his usual style.
Thanos
Thanos may have wiped out half the universe in Avengers: Infinity War, but at least he’s doing it in style. In this piece by The Geek Keenan, Thanos wears a plaid flannel button-down shirt and a knit beanie that proudly shows that he’s a Seattle hipster, unlike those pesky Brooklyn Avengers.
He’s sitting in a little indie café, which he probably owns and runs now that he’s essentially in charge of the universe.
It makes one wonder how the Infinity Gauntlet works with this new aesthetic, but maybe Thanos has redecorated the gauntlet.
Dazzler
Dazzler is more commonly associated with the X-Men, but she also spends a decent amount of time with other superheroes like Spider-Man, even battling and beating the Hulk at one point.
Since she originally starts out as a singer known for the brilliant lights that accompany her performances, it’s no surprise then that Dazzler would keep up with the latest fashion trends like in this piece by MannyHernan.
The outfit isn’t as flashy as her disco getup, but with her oversize glasses and scarf, Dazzler still makes a strong sartorial statement.
Spider-Gwen
Spidey fails to save Gwen at the end of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but in the Earth-65 alternate comic timeline, Gwen is alive and well and kicking butt as Spider-Woman, aka Spider-Gwen. Not only does she fight crime using the powers she gets when bitten by a radioactive spider, she looks good rounding up bad guys.
Luciand29 puts a hipster-y spin on Spider-Gwen’s sleek white costume by giving her wide-framed glasses and positioning her hood so that it’s more of a fashion statement than a practicality.
To finish it off, Hipster-Gwen arches an eyebrow, because she’s cooler than you and she knows it.
Gertrude Yorkes
Gert, aka Arsenic from Runaways, is a cynical teen with a psychic bond with a dinosaur. Her look in the Runways Hulu series does have a bit of a hipster-y vibe thanks to her oversized clear-frame glasses and eclectic fashion sense. In the comics, her outfits can be a little plainer than her TV counterpart.
While not explicitly a hipster redesign, EJSCreations’s drawing of Gert does seem like a cross between feminist punk and hipster, especially with the layering of sweaters. In this drawing, she’s noticeably thinner than the original character design.
