In 2018, Marco Reus returned to action after 259 days on the sidelines wearing the PUMA FUTURE 18.1. Eight years on, PUMA is bringing the boot back – and with it an unusual story.
On 10 February 2018, Marco Reus played for Borussia Dortmund for the first time since his serious knee injury. He had partially torn a cruciate ligament in the DFB-Pokal final against Eintracht Frankfurt in May 2017. Against Hamburg, the then 28-year-old was named in the starting line-up, and coach Peter Stöger handed him the captain’s armband. Dortmund won 2-0. When Reus was substituted in the 71st minute, the Südtribüne applauded him off.
He was wearing one of PUMA’s newest football boots: the FUTURE 18.1 NETFIT. The new FUTURE line had been unveiled in November 2017, while Reus was still sidelined. He was one of its faces all the same, alongside Antoine Griezmann. From January 2018 the boot was available in the “Fizzy Yellow” colourway – bright yellow with black graphics and red accents. That day, Reus finally played in the boot he had helped promote – with one change: he had taken the laces out.
What NETFIT Promised on the PUMA FUTURE 18.1
With the FUTURE, PUMA replaced the evoPOWER in 2017. The 18.1’s key innovation was NETFIT: a net laid over a knitted, sock-like construction. Instead of running through fixed eyelets, the laces could be threaded through the net at any point, letting players adapt the lacing to the shape of their feet. PUMA had originally developed the technology for running shoes.
Reus had removed the very feature the FUTURE 18.1 was designed around. By May 2018 he was already training in its successor, the FUTURE 2.1. A few weeks later he played at the World Cup in Russia, having missed the 2014 and 2016 tournaments through injury.
PUMA kept developing the FUTURE line in the years that followed. Reus, meanwhile, left Dortmund after 12 years to join LA Galaxy in 2024, where he still plays. Now the boot he wore for his 2018 comeback returns.
PUMA Reissues the FUTURE 18.1 as a Limited Remake
Released to mark the start of the tenth FUTURE generation, the FUTURE 18.1 ULTIMATE REMAKE carries over the original’s distinctive colourway and NETFIT lacing system. The outsole is new: it comes from the current FUTURE 10 and has an electroplated, iridescent finish. Reus is once again the face of the boot.
The remake is limited to 500 pairs worldwide and comes in a special box. The boot has been on sale in the PUMA online store since 13 November 2026.
