Superheroes are no longer restricted to the niche that they used to be confined to. These days, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the biggest franchises in the world, and DC have struck gold with some of their latest movies. Our new concept, however, is inspired by Deadpool, the hilarious regenerating troublemaker we have come to know and love.
The base of the upper is a dark red and black nubuck, with a light grey mudguard around the toe of the shoe. Grey is also present on the laces and the lining, and a lighter red is present on the tongue’s lining together with the heel tab. The wings on the side of the sneaker are made from black leather with a metallic finish on the red crown eyelets. The Jumpman branding on the tongue, as well as the material behind the netting, add some contrast with their white coating. This upper is then matched with a red and grey midsole, and a light grey outsole.
Deadpool served as the inspiration for this sneaker, particularly his iconic red and black suit which is featured in both the comics and recent movies. This is clear from our use of red and black, but also the white Jumpman logo on the tongue is inspired by the white eyeholes on Deadpool’s face mask. However, we also used grey quite heavily on the shoe, which was influenced by the grey suit Deadpool would occasionally wear. We mixed the palettes of his two most popular suits to create a single shoe that we felt was an accurate homage to our favorite super anti-hero.
Superheroes and sneakers have had a very healthy relationship, originally with custom sneakers depicting one’s favorite characters, but now with official collaborations. Puma, New Balance and Adidas have all released Black Panther themed sneakers. And a special pair of Air Jordan 1’s even appeared on the feet of Miles Morales in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”
Earlier this year, Japanese sneaker brand Mizuno released its own Deadpool sneaker in collaboration with Marvel and streetwear/sneaker retailer Bait. Unlike our concept, their collaboration came completely in pink, with an image of Deadpool riding a unicorn on the insole. We decided to go the traditional route, however, and stick with the theme of Deadpool’s classic suits, but Mizuno’s sneaker showed that the demand for a Deadpool shoe is clearly there.
