This Is Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft: A First Look at Tomb Raider’s Rebooted Style

Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in Warner Bros. Pictures and MetroGoldwynMayer Picturess action adventure Tomb Raider...
Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures’s action adventure Tomb Raider, opening March 16, 2018.Photo: Graham Bortholomew/ Courtesy of Warner Bros.

More than two decades have passed since Lara Croft first swung onto the scene in 1996’s Tomb Raider and became a video-game legend—celebrated for her fierce, feminine strength and memorably brought to life by Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider in 2001. Now, a new portrayal of the iconic character from Oscar-winning actress Alicia Vikander is due out next year, and a first look at the on-set photos reveals a fresh take on her tomb-raiding style that remains spiritually faithful to the original.

Though Croft’s look has changed with each game, the most dramatic shift took place in 2013, when a new Tomb Raider title effectively rebooted the series with an origin story. With the help of the costume designers, Colleen Atwood and Timothy A. Wonsik, Vikander’s version hews closely to that game, starring a younger, more vulnerable woman at just 21 years old. And so, shots against the South African surf show that her clothes are far more practical than the unapologetic sexiness of Jolie’s. Gone are the ultra-short spandex shorts, exchanged for olive-green cargo pants, slung low and held in place by a thick leather belt. An athletic tank top reveals the barest sliver of stomach, while black combat boots ground the look. It’s a more modern interpretation of Croft that feels utterly of the moment—covered up, yes, but as strong as ever.

Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft in Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures’s action adventure Tomb Raider, opening March 16, 2018.

Photo: Graham Bortholomew/ Courtesy of Warner Bros.