Sam Rockwell's Man from the Future walks into a Los Angeles diner in a torn clear raincoat over an olive flight suit buried in circuit boards, wires and scrap, and announces that he's come back to save the world from AI. It's an easy costume that people will recognize from the poster, and the cheaper it looks, the better it works.
How to Make Man from the Future Costume
Olive Flight SuitLong Clear RaincoatMaroon Cuffed BeanieDark Brown Full BeardGreen Circuit BoardsElectronic Components KitHookup Wire SpoolsBlack Control KnobsGlass Vials with CorksClear Vinyl TubingRed LED Wrist WatchOlive Webbing BeltYellow Waist PouchFingerless GlovesSaveTap any item in the photo to shop itClick any item in the photo to shop it
| # | Item | Description | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olive Flight Suit | The base is a faded olive-green military flight suit with a zip front, and everything else is attached to it. A coverall in sage or olive drab is the closest match. Buy a size up so it fits over a layer. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 2 | Long Clear Raincoat | A long, hooded, see-through coat with sleeves, worn open so the chest shows through. Scuff it with sandpaper, tape up a few tears and rub on a little grey paint so it looks dirty and torn, as it does in the film. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 3 | Maroon Cuffed Beanie | A dark red-brown knit beanie worn low over the forehead. Wrap wire around it before you put it on. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 4 | Dark Brown Full Beard | A full, bushy beard on ear loops. His beard is brown going grey, so dust it with a little grey hair powder or dry shampoo and don't comb it. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 5 | Green Circuit Boards | Blank green circuit boards in mixed sizes. Glue and tape them across the chest and shoulders in an overlapping pile; the green boards are what make the front of the suit look like a pile of electronics. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 6 | Electronic Components Kit | Resistors, capacitors, LEDs and jumper wires in one box. Hot-glue them onto the boards and let leads and wires stick out in every direction. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 7 | Hookup Wire Spools | Coloured wire to wrap around the boards, down the sleeves of the coat and around the beanie. The film has far more wire than looks sensible, so keep winding. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 8 | Black Control Knobs | Dials and knobs with printed scales. Glue a handful onto the middle of the chest between the boards. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 9 | Glass Vials with Corks | Small glass jars with cork stoppers. Strap them in a row across the lower chest on elastic or tape, as the cylinders are on the film suit. Leave them empty or add coloured water. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 10 | Clear Vinyl Tubing | Run a length of tubing from the shoulder across the chest. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 11 | Red LED Wrist Watch | A black bracelet watch with red digits. He wears a small red-digit timer on his wrist and holds it up in the diner. Set it to a countdown number. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 12 | Olive Webbing Belt | A wide green belt worn at the waist. A second belt is worn crossed at the hip, so buy two. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 13 | Yellow Waist Pouch | The film has a yellow, rusty pouch hanging low at the front. A plain yellow waist bag worn low on a belt is the nearest match; scuff it with a brown marker or paint. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
| 14 | Fingerless Gloves | Plain black fingerless gloves. | 🛒 Check on Amazon |
The look follows the diner scene in the film. It works because it looks put together in a hurry: he's a man who has done this 117 times. Attach everything to the suit with hot glue, zip ties and tape, and cover the whole front with boards and wire so no green fabric shows between them. Wear mismatched, worn-out boots.
Cheaper version. If you don't want a flight suit, use an olive field jacket with olive cargo pants. It reads almost the same once it's covered in boards.
Safety note: In the film he tells everyone the device is a bomb, but it's really a countdown. Don't make it look like a bomb. Skip anything that resembles explosives, and keep the timer visible and obviously fake, since a wired suit can cause a real panic in public places or at airports, schools and events. Check the venue's rules. Use only dead, empty components; don't connect any batteries to your wiring.
Getting the details right
- The chest is the costume. The raincoat, beanie and beard say "scruffy person", but the pile of boards, wires and vials on the chest says "Man from the Future". Give it more wires than seems sensible.
- Keep it heavy and messy. Rockwell's costume weighed about 40 pounds, and he said he was miserable in it. You don't need to match that. Layers of wire and tubing give the right bulk.
- Say the line. Walk into the party and say "Good luck, have fun, don't die."
Costume ideas to go with it
- The diner group: each friend can be one of the people he recruits, from a party princess to a pair of teachers. Bring a phone jammer.
- The rat: the man's plan involves a million rats, so a friend in a rat costume is a good joke.
- More time travelers: for another visitor from a doomed future, see the Terminator. For a junkyard, wasteland look, try Mad Max.
About Man from the Future
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die is a 2025 science-fiction comedy directed by Gore Verbinski and written by Matthew Robinson. It premiered at Fantastic Fest in 2025 and was released in the U.S. on February 13, 2026, by Briarcliff Entertainment. It was made for $20 million and grossed $9.7 million worldwide.
Sam Rockwell plays the Man from the Future, who arrives at a Norms diner in Los Angeles and says artificial superintelligence has destroyed humanity. This is his 117th try at recruiting the right group of customers to stop it, and he uses them to stop a nine-year-old boy in the neighborhood from building the AI. The cast also includes Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, Tom Taylor and Juno Temple.
