thrillingdetectivetales | [REFERENCE] Fury Costumes: Boyd "Bible" Swan

As you all well know, I'm basically obsessed with Fury, the garbage action movie from 2014 about a crew of tankers who, frankly, don't seem to like each other all that much. Despite its many, many, many failings as a piece of narrative visual media, a couple of the characters—and their super gay potential—really spoke to me. Since seeing it, I've committed to both one day coming directly for David Ayers' film career and also doing a tremendous amount of research into both the movie itself and the 2d Armored Division as a whole.

I'm pulling all my costume research together into a series of reference posts both for my own regular referral and in case anyone else wants to use it for any reason. Most of this information and all the images came from an auction lot on propstore.com, which featured such exciting Fury props as "Red's Head Remains" and "Boyd Bible Swan's (Shia LaBeouf) Exit Applique." The auction is long closed, but it has some very cool stuff still listed. If you're interested, you can check it out here.

Because there are often multiple props, I've consolidated some of the lots into one, so there aren't three different iterations of a satchel cluttering up the post. Join me now for an overview of Boyd "Bible" Swan's on-screen aesthetic!

BOYD "BIBLE" SWAN ACCESSORIES
Dog Tags

Blurb from propstore.com: "Dog tags were made for Bible during production, but not ultimately used in the film. [...] The aluminum dog tags are detailed with embossed identification information which read: 'Boyd S Swan 37563254 T42 43 0 John R Swan 42 Pleasant Hill Des Moines Iowa.'"

The most exciting piece of information relayed by these unused dog tags—which is a detail you can also find in David Ayers' original terrible, terrible script, though I don't recommend doing that because it's at least a half an hour of your life you'll never get back—is that Boyd is from Iowa, which renders the accent Shia LaBeouf is doing in the movie absolutely nonsensical. True delight.

Gold (Wedding?) Ring

Blurb from propstore.com: "Bible wears a gold ring on his right ring finger throughout the film. This faux gold plated ring is fashioned in a simple wedding band style."

While this is presumably a wedding band, you'll note that there's no true confirmation beyond that it was "fashioned in a wedding band style," which leaves it largely open for character interpretation. (You call it "grasping at gay straws," I call it "queer theorizing.")

Watch

Blurb from propstore.com: "Bible is shown wearing this watch in the film’s continuity photos, but it remains underneath his jacket sleeves on screen. This watch features a leather strap, a crystal cover, and a metallic case with an orange clock face."

Bonafide proof that Bible has terrible taste in both watches and romantic partners, the latter of which I'm basing on his deep and abiding devotion to a grown-ass man who calls himself "Wardaddy." I would demand that David Ayers explain what he was thinking, except that there is actually a U.S. tanker whose nickname was War Daddy. He even had a driver named "Red," and exclusively drove tanks called "In the Mood," so I guess we know who Mr. Ayers borrowed at least part of Fury's fuckboy aesthetic from.

Glasses

Blurb from propstore.com: "Bible wears glasses while he reads his bible in the middle of a war torn German town. These Savile Row 'temple cable' style glasses consist of 14 karat rolled gold frames with an amber colored acrylic lining. The glasses feature springy temple cables for comfort and hold."

Fun fact! This style of glasses starts at just over $600 on the Savile Row website, so aside from having terrible taste in watches and men, Bible also has expensive taste in glasses. They only get a few seconds of screen time, so have a few more shots, just to really appreciate them:

Coffee Kit

Blurb from propstore.com: "[I]ncludes a mini gas stove, a Turkish style coffee pot, and a mug. [...] This metal stove is constructed of a hollow core for placing a fuel canister with a burner. The entire stove fits in a metal cylindrical container. The metal coffee pot features a handle with a small length of twine tied to the end for carrying. The metallic mug is detailed with white and blue paint."

German Medal "Souvenirs"

Blurb from propstore.com: "Each crew member’s tank work station was decorated with various war trophies. Bible had a string of German medals hanging in Fury’s gunner area. This lot includes five German war medals attached to a shoestring. The medals include (listed from left to right): a Faithful Service medal, an Eastern Front Medal, a War Merit Cross, a Cross of Honor of the German Mother, and an SA Sports badge."

Army-Issue Bible

Blurb from propstore.com: "This copy of the New Testament features several hand-written prayer’s and bible verses on the inside cover and back cover, likely written by LaBeouf. The cover has several tears and the book is ripped in half down the spine, save for a single [thread.]"

I have to say, I was incredibly excited by this find. As character props go, where Bible is concerned, this is like the prop. It's his nickname and his entire identity wrapped up into one—admittedly, probably because David Ayers doesn't understand fleshing characters out beyond archetypes with a single dimension, but the building potential is very good and I love writing religious queers, so. Anyway, I got curious about what the prayer on the back was so I "enhanced" the image (for a given value of the term) and did my best to parse it:

[L/READ] THIS OUR FALLEN
COMPANION BY YOUR [????]
LORD – COMFORT THOSE OF
US REMAINING HERE [??]
US SEEK YOUR KINGDOM
YOUR LIFE IN THIS [AGE?] [???]
& BRING US INTO YOUR KING-
DOM IN THIS AGE [TOGETHER?]
[LORD?], THE FATHER OF ALL
[????D] S[??] COMMAND US
[????????] ONE ANOTHER, LEAD
US FROM PREJUDICE TO TRUTH
DELIVER US FROM HATRED
CRUELTY & REVENGE & IN
YOUR GOOD TIME ENABLE US
ALL TO STAND RECONCILED
BEFORE YOU THROUGH [???]
CHRIST OUR LORD [??????]
& REIGNS [??????????????????]
THE UN[?????????????????]

Satchel, Canteen, & Accoutrements

Blurb from propstore.com: "[Includes] a satchel, a handkerchief, two tin ration cans, [eight] single dose morphine syringes, eleven packets of wound tablets, a box of cane sugar, four first aid packets, a D-battery flash light, and a canteen. The canvas bag features a large outer pocket, a small outer pocket, two large interior pockets, two small interior pockets, two straps with metal buckles to close it, two straps with metal clips for carrying, and is detailed with “U.S” in bold black letters. The [aluminum] canteen comes inside a canvas pouch [and] features a hard urethane screw top lid secured with an aluminum chain. The canvas pouch features soft cotton interior lining, two canvas flap closures with snap buttons, a black metal webbing hook, and is detailed with “U.S.” in black lettering.

Here's a closer look at the contents:

Duffel Bag

Blurb from propstore.com: "The duffel bag is made of a nylon blend material and is detailed with Boyd’s name in bold black letters. The bag features a handle and shoulder sling with a metal carabineer clip [and] has some grease and mud [stains.]"

If I ever had any doubts that David Ayers doesn't give a shit about consistency, this duffel bag has proved it. You all might remember a few short paragraphs ago, where Boyd's dog tags read "Boyd S. Swan" and provided the number "37563254." If you'll direct your attention to the image above, you'll see very clearly that it reads: "Boyd P. Swan, 176 85 617." /FLIPS ENTIRE TABLE

ETA: Having just rewatched the film for like the eighth time in four months, Bible is very clearly wearing what I presume to be an ID bracelet like the one pictured below. You can see a flash of it when he wrestles Don away from the German soldier just after their return to camp, but it was not included in any of the costume auction lots. Who even knows what middle initial or serial number it was inscribed with.

Now that we've got all of Bible's traps and trimmings out of the way, it's time to look at the meat of his uniform. I've consolidated all of the text from the uniform lots into one info post and dropped a series of images in afterward, just to save some time.

BOYD "BIBLE" SWAN UNIFORM

Blurb from propstore.com: "The uniform consists of a tanker helmet, a pair of dog tags, green wool BDU shirt (Size 15 x 32), a green herringbone jacket (Size 38 R), a tanker jacket, tan leather gloves (Size large), a [gold] band ring, a stained leather gun holster, a [Colt M1911A1,] green wool pants (size 34), a green nylon web belt with a brass buckle, a camo scarf, a pair of green nylon lace up gaiters, and a pair of leather boots. [...] The herringbone style shirt features metal buttons and cuts short at the midriff. [...] The shirts and jacket are all decorated with TEC 5 chevrons stitched into either shoulder. The included dog tags hang from a length of ball-chain and read “Boyd S Swan.”

Made of brown wool, the button-up BDU shirt features TEC 5 chevrons stitched to both sleeves, [two button-sealed breast pockets,] and exhibits some light wear with grease staining to the collar, cuffs and over the torso. The herringbone jacket (Size 36 R) is made of thick green cotton and cuts short at the midriff. Both sleeves are decorated with corresponding rank patches and a series of metal buttons line the frontal closure. [...] Worn as a top layer, the cotton and wool-lined tanker jacket [(size 40 R)] also displays the TEC 5 chevrons stitched on each sleeve. [Pockets are located on either side of the jackets frontal zip closure.]

The included wool trousers (Size 34) [are made of green wool,] looped with a beige web belt, [and feature a button closure at the front of the waist.] Made of leather, the gloves show various grease stains and feature a wrist strap for adjusting the size. The camouflage scarf ties securely around the net and is decorated in various shades of green. The boots (Size 8) are made of brown leather and rise slightly over the ankle. The gaiters lace around the shin and feature buckles which run beneath the boot.

The tanker helmet is constructed of a resin shell lined with leather interior and features leather ear flaps with embedded earphones. A fabric wrapped cable runs from each headphone into a single plug labeled “PL-54”. The helmet is detailed with three strips of black tape along the top, various leather straps, metal buttons, and goggles. Both the frame and lens of the goggles are made of different urethane blends and held together with two metal buttons. The goggles were worn using an adjustable elastic strap."