Homemade SpiderMan Villain Costume: Dr. Curt Connors (a.k.a The Lizard)

Ever since The Amazing Spider Man came out a year ago, I basically have been infatuated with Dr. Curt Connors a.k.a The Lizard. I found the giant special effects version of this character as frightening, realistic and had this sort of “Godzilla,” like feel to it. Ever since then I basically spent a year thinking about how great it would be to become The Lizard for Halloween.

I decided to scour the internet to see how many people have attempted this and surprisingly I didn’t see much. I saw one where a guy made a large head and then had the required lab coat and pants but to me it looked so cheesy and not life like. I have always strived to be unique characters on Halloween as I enjoy the sort of celebrity status of everyone oohing and awwwing and wanting to take pictures with me. For one night a year, I get to feel like a huge star. I figured the unique but underutilized Lizard costume would help me achieve that feeling.

First I researched the various versions of The Lizard. The movie took out the snout part and I definitely wanted to incorporate that back into the costume. I guess my goal was to have a hybrid of the comics as well as the movie version. I am confident I was able to achieve this goal.

I actually found a foam latex mask online and was able to order that. Using Aquacolor makeup, I painted it which took 4 hours and 3 different layers, I wanted it dark and as realistic as possible. I also found the movie licensed Lizard hands and feet that looked incredibly realistic for the price I paid for them, many people throughout the night complimented me on those. A lab coat from a thrift store was easy to find and I cut it at the arms and legs to make it look like I had torn out of it when I transformed. For the tail went to Menards and purchased a foam latex wire device used in gardening to keep the structure of bushes correct. I then wrapped it in dish mats I found at the Dollar Tree to make it scaly looking. My tail cost $4 and looked great!!!

The most difficult part of the entire process was blending the lines of the foam latex mask into my head to hide the seams. I used liquid latex to achieve this. At first I failed because I used too much and it looked chunky but once I knew less is more, the latex really helped the lines blend in to my actual skin. Talking was difficult as well but its a small price to pay for my favorite costume to date that I have made.

Reaction wise it was terrific. I went bar hopping in downtown Minneapolis and I took so many pictures with people I cant even count. I definitely stood out and most importantly, my makeup and costume held up extremely well. I had comic book geeks telling me how much they loved it and that most people do Batman villains on Halloween and not Spider Man. I got stare after stare with people wanting to touch my face but were all respectful when I said no.

Overall it was one of the best nights of Halloween I’ve ever had. It was well worth the year long obsession to fantasize about becoming The Lizard and using my creativity to my advantage. Only bummer was that I didn’t find a Spider Man the whole night to take a picture with. I would have crushed him like a bug!!  Long live Dr Curt Connors aka The Lizard.

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