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A mask or helmet or any such wearables is mostly used for protecting one's head from injury or in this case protects one's identity. But for Spider-Man as depicted in Captain America: Civil War and Deadpool the eye part in the mask actually seems to move according to the eyes.

Why does the eye part of the mask move and how? Isn't a mask kinda fixed stitched material? How does it track the eye reaction which the hero makes inside the mask?

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    Because an ordinary fabric costume would be too low-tech for someone recruited by Tony Stark.
    – Ixrec
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 8:33
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    Do the eyes of Deadpool even move like they do for Spider-Man? If not then you might not want to confuse this question by asking about two entirely different characters from entirely different movies set in entirely different universes.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 8:55
  • @Ixrec Tony Stark didn't recruit Deadpool, though.
    – Napoleon Wilson
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 8:55
  • @NapoleonWilsonBoth had digitally made cstume eye and they change shape as like a real eye do but in ASM movie it was not like that as per my knowledge
    – Ankit Sharma ♦
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 9:05
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    Honestly, I think the best analogy would be to compare these guys to The Mask. Remember, they're comic book characters. When they were original drawn on paper, there are certain liberties that could be taken with regards to how materials actually move in order to make the characters more expressive. True, no real-life fabric would move in that way, but if you make it realistic, you get that terrible live-action show from the 70's. So CGI was used to make it more like the comics and less like reality.
    – Darrel Hoffman
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 13:43

2 Answers 2

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While we do not know exactly HOW does the eyes of the Spider-man suit in Civil War move according to Peter Parker's own eyes, we definitely know WHY.

When Tony Stark goes recruiting the young Peter Parker, he notices Peter's self made costume, with ridiculous goggles. Peter specifically says that he cannot focus on his vision correctly without the goggles, because he cannot handle all of his super-senses at once (yet ?).

Part of Tony Stark's plan was to bribe Parker by offering him a high-tech costume, which would correct the goggles problem by adding some tech (and CGI) to the mask. Indeed, when Spider-man steals Captain's shield, his eyes get smaller and you hear kind of a mechanical sound.

For Deadpool, however, I'm fairly certain no tech was ever mentioned as to why his eyes move. So here's my answer : To make the character more expressive :p
Expressions were added on the mask with CGI in post-production to make him more charismatic, that's all.

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    +1 Deadpool dosen't need any reason as to why this happens as he is Deadpool and things like that happen with Deadpool
    – Cearon O'Flynn
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 11:14
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    "you hear kind of a mechanical sound" What that sound present in the actual movie? I know it was in the trailer, but I remember being pleasantly surprised that I didn't hear it during the movie since I found it a little obnoxiuos in the trailer
    – Etheur
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 15:59
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    Yea, watched the movie again and I did hear that mechanical sound . My guess is it might be some kind of magnifying tech(say what!) or as the others have pointed out , might be to add the expression to the character.
    – pradyot
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 17:50
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    I've watched the movie twice now and heard the sound multiple times throughout the airport scene. It sounds like a camera zooming in and out.
    – TaylorAllred
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 19:04
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    That sound is the typical sound of a mechanical camera iris changing focus/zooming: youtube.com/watch?v=fIL6uH1NsaM
    – cde
    Commented May 16, 2016 at 6:24
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To give a faceless character a face with emotions and reactions to what is going on around them. People need to connect with a character and it is hard to do so when they have no expression. It feels odd to the audience so they add the expressive eyes and the audience once again connects with the character.

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    This... it has much more with trying to convey emotion than anything to do with a technical "need"
    – Matthew Whited
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 14:16
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    @MatthewWhited Agreed. The question is about the IN-UNIVERSE explanation of the mechanics and usefulness, not about why the filmmakers did it. (The reason the filmmakers did it is exactly what Rincewind says: so audiences can relate more!)
    – BrettFromLA
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 16:43
  • In universe it would be the same reason... though if it were real they would probably prefer to not have the emotion (besides sarcasm such as deadpool) be shown. Having fear of your enemies being hidden behind a mask would help portray an image or fearlessness.
    – Matthew Whited
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 16:50
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    I'm still upvoting this, because I don't believe there is an in-universe explanation, and this is in fact the one and only reason. If you look at the books, I believe you will see Spidey's mask doing this there too. If this is a problem for you, just tell yourself this is movie/comic shorthand (like "hacking" taking 30 seconds and being done with custom full-screen GUIs).
    – T.E.D.
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 17:57
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    Hey my first 'good' answer! :D
    – Rincewind
    Commented May 12, 2016 at 18:24

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