Each season of Bridgerton has made fans burn for a new hero and heroine, and the ton is ready to fall in love with “Pirate Colin.” Gone is his boyish, buttoned-up look. In Bridgerton Season 3, Luke Newton’s character returns from his travels transformed, inside and out, in a way that’s making fans swoon.
“His confidence has changed,” Newton explained in a Netflix featurette. “He’s got, like, this element of swagger to him now.”
A New Man
Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell addressed Colin’s glow-up and the vision behind it in the same video. “I think the internet has dubbed Colin’s new look ‘sexy pirate,’” she said. “It’s not too off from what we were intending.”
The costume design team actually took inspiration from the Marlboro Man, according to Tudum. The rugged figure became iconic in ads that ran for more than four decades, beginning in 1954. (He later became more controversial as the public learned more about smoking-related diseases.) For Bridgerton’s purposes, the sartorial transformation underscores how Colin has changed as a person.
“He really feels like he’s gone through some self-discovery and become a man,” Newton told Tudum. “Colin has been heavily influenced by all the different places that he’s been to and all the different people that he’s met.”
Transforming Mister Bridgerton
In Seasons 1 and 2, Colin was “a little more dandyish,” as costume designer John Glaser put it. Newton explained to Bustle in April that his earlier vibe was more buttoned-up, literally and figuratively. “This season we explored having the buttons open and showing that rebellious side to Colin, who doesn’t want to follow the rules,” he said.
With his newfound maturity, Colin will be ready for a perspective shift. And, as the promos have shown, that includes how he looks at his longtime friend Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan). “There’s always been that romance between them, mainly from Penelope’s feelings,” he said. “It’s gone over Colin’s head. … Colin always held the power in their relationship because of how she felt toward him. It was fun to play the complete swap of that, of how she gains this power and confidence.”
Bridgerton Season 3, Part 1 arrives on May 16.
