Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for some of the gnarliest and most cringeworthy superhero costumes to hit the silver screen.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for some of the gnarliest and
00:06most cringeworthy superhero costumes to hit the silver screen.
00:25After the lacklustre results of the DCEU, Warner Bros probably didn't want to invest
00:29much in 2020's Birds of Prey.
00:31Despite this, the film actually turned out pretty good.
00:34However, it had its problems, one of which was the wardrobe of Janie Smollett's Black
00:38Canary.
00:42She plays a songstress turned hero with a super-powered sonic blast.
00:46As a result, she understandably wears attire appropriate to her role as a lounge singer.
00:50Still, none of her looks really resemble her traditional black leather garb, which is often
00:55adapted faithfully in the DC animated films.
00:58She spends the movie wearing either her nightclub clothes or punky streetwear, even when taking
01:02on a squad of black masks goons.
01:16This movie may be a beloved early entry in the superhero genre, but can we all agree
01:20that the costumes are utterly absurd?
01:23General Zod and his squad of Kryptonian soldiers sport black jumpsuits that look like they
01:27were pulled out of the closet of a disco band.
01:34It's a little hard to take an alien fascist seriously when he's wearing a silky black
01:38onesie with his bare chest exposed.
01:40Is he an evil Kryptonian general bent on dominating the Earth, or is he the lead singer in a goth
01:44ABBA cover band?
01:46Still, Terrence Stamp is a consummate professional, and ate the film up despite his attire.
01:55After the success of his 2012 super-power flick,
02:06Chronicle, filmmaker Josh Trank was tapped to direct the reboot of the Fantastic Four.
02:11It was an unmitigated disaster.
02:14The production suffered from both studio pressure and a young filmmaker out over his skis, and
02:19it stars four heroes and a villain in absolutely horrible costumes.
02:24They give up the team's trademark Four logo for a supposedly grittier and more realistic
02:31look.
02:32Johnny, Sue and Reed's costumes are just the black jumpsuits they wear when cosmic
02:36rays spark their super transformation.
02:38The thing is 100% mediocre CG, while Doom gets a body of weird metal plates.
02:44The suits are utterly unremarkable, and give a lacklustre face to a failed film.
02:56This 2000 film was one of the first successful mainstream comic book blockbusters of the
03:00modern era.
03:01The filmmakers knew that there could be backlash from comic book fans, and even included an
03:05inside joke referencing their comic costumes.
03:13For the most part, the black leather worked, and the heroes look great.
03:16The same could not be said of Wolverine's nemesis, Sabretooth though.
03:20He rocks a terrible blonde wig and large, feathered eyebrows.
03:24His wardrobe gives off vibes that are less psychotic evil mutant, and more bad leather
03:28jacket that was torn up by cats.
03:31The character received a more realistic upgrade in 2009's X-Men Origins Wolverine.
03:44Despite the mediocre reviews and box office results of 2003's Daredevil, Fox doubled
03:48down with this sequel two years later.
03:50Expectations were at rock bottom, and yet somehow, the film still manages to under-deliver.
03:56It's a little difficult to take a Ninja Warrior woman seriously when she is fighting
04:02in a cropped, ill-fitting corset that looks like it was bought off the rack at Spencer's
04:06in the mall.
04:07While the costume was accurate to the comics, in this situation it may have been better
04:10for the studio to go with a more realistic adaptation.
04:23This disastrously bad unreleased film from 1994 makes even 2015's Fantastic look good.
04:29It was intended to be a low-budget schlockfest, and in that regard it was a wild success.
04:41The low-effort costumes are something out of a Hollywood boulevard nightmare.
04:45The blue spandex suits, festooned with white embellishments like gloves, turtlenecks and
04:49belts might be comic book accurate, but that doesn't mean they look good on screen.
04:53From Johnny's horrific early CGI to Thing's horrible bodysuit, to Doom's clearly plastic
04:58armour, the costumes are a miss from start to finish.
05:10Before Wesley Snipes' Blade ushered in the dominance of the superhero genre, Baywatch
05:13star Pam Anderson brought this Dark Horse comic character to life.
05:17The film was an example of how being faithful to the source material can be a huge mistake.
05:29Both in the comics and the movie, Barb Wyatt is meant to be a sexualised hero.
05:33In that respect, the film is a success, and a cult classic.
05:37Still, it's a little difficult for mainstream audiences to be fully on board with lingerie
05:41gunfights.
05:42Barb has a few different styles, often preferring black leather, heels and halter tops.
05:59Many looked to the HBO release of Patty Jenkins' sequel to Wonder Woman to provide a much-needed
06:04escape during this difficult year.
06:06With fan favourites Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal joining the cast, it seemed like a
06:10can't-miss film.
06:12Unfortunately, it did miss, with Cheetah's look just one of its many issues.
06:23Thanks to some magic wishes, Barbara Minerva transforms into the DC baddie over the course
06:27of the film, looking sillier with each transformation.
06:30Her pleather Cheetah print jacket eventually transitions into a CG-heavy Cheetah-human
06:35hybrid.
06:36Said to Diana's golden angel, Cheetah is utterly forgettable.
06:49This film was so bad, even its star, Dakota Johnson, got in a bit of trouble with the
06:53studio for her negative comments on the promotional tour.
06:56Honestly, the costumes are just a minor flaw in a movie full of problems.
07:05Both Madame Webb and her three Spider-Women disciples spend only a few minutes of screen
07:09time in their hero costumes.
07:11While the outfits themselves aren't awful, the complete lack of masks on any of the heroes
07:15seems to defeat the point of having a secret identity.
07:18The Spider-Men we do see, both those in the Amazon and the film's villain, feel more
07:22like Spider-Man knock-offs than fully realised characters.
07:34Kelly Berry is more than willing to take criticism and poke fun at herself.
07:37She even showed up to the 2005 Razzie Awards to accept her Worst Actor trophy for Catwoman.
07:43Berry herself truly deserves none of the blame for the disaster.
07:50The cheesy music, bad CGI and terrible writing made the film virtually unwatchable to most
07:54viewers.
07:55Worst of all, however, was her costume.
07:57It's a little insane to see a super-powered cat burglar leaping across rooftops in a leather
08:02bra, leather pants, bare midriff and open-toed high heels.
08:06Superhero costumes don't have to be fully utilitarian, but suspension of disbelief has
08:10its limits.
08:20After a decade and a half of X-Men films, Fox chose one of their most terrifying enemies
08:25to face the rebooted mutant heroes.
08:27They cast Oscar Isaac as En Sabah Nur, the ancient Egyptian mutant known as Apocalypse.
08:35When you are bringing one of the scariest villains in Marvel comics to life for the
08:38first time on film, you want to get it right.
08:41What you want to avoid, however, are comparisons to the Power Rangers villain, Ivan Ooze.
08:49Between the bad make-up, silly headdress and thick-layered leather armour, the entire look
08:53is an utter failure.
08:54I mean, it's difficult for audiences to fear a villain that can't even turn their head.
09:10The costume of this Marvel Comics villain is understandably difficult to translate to
09:14the big screen.
09:15In the comics, the deadly assassin sports a full bodysuit complete with a white target
09:19on his head.
09:20I mean, it's a little silly, so when he made his film debut in 2003's Daredevil,
09:24the filmmakers understandably wanted to go in a different direction.
09:28Unfortunately, the direction they chose was bonkers.
09:34They swapped the bodysuit for a massive fake gator-skin overcoat.
09:38When out in public, he wears a simple black beanie, concealing a target-shaped scar on
09:42his forehead.
09:43Bullseye's look, from head to toe, is pure 2000's schlock.
10:00After the much-lauded sequel, X2, the third instalment of the X-Men films nearly ended
10:04the franchise.
10:05Among its many faults is the look of Vinnie Jones' Juggernaut.
10:09The ex-football star-turned-actor was forced into an absolutely ridiculous bodysuit.
10:19While the comic version of Juggernaut obviously takes major liberties with human proportions,
10:23this adaptation is just weird.
10:26The skin and hair look fake, and his chest straps look like cheap BDSM gear.
10:30And worst of all is his helmet.
10:32The helmet of Sitarak is a majorly important object in Marvel Comics.
10:36The film version is meant to be carved out of solid stone.
10:39Instead, it clearly looks to have been carved from styrofoam.
10:51Modern-day audiences can be forgiven for forgetting all about the 1984 Supergirl film, until she
10:57was referenced in The Flash.
10:58It was meant to be a direct sequel to the Dick Donner Superman films, though Christopher
11:02Reeve refused to appear in a cameo.
11:05While Supergirl's costume is a fairly solid replication of her comic book look, the same
11:09cannot be said of the movie's villain Selina.
11:15She has more wardrobe changes than a Beyoncé concert, none of which are especially flattering.
11:20Her plethora of looks feature the worst of what 1980s fashion had to offer, making it
11:24virtually impossible to take her seriously, even for a moment.
11:31The Joker, Suicide Squad
11:43Director David Ayer had to deal with overbearing studio interference to get this movie made.
11:48Unfortunately, the studio can't really take the blame for one of the film's most egregious
11:52errors, The Joker.
11:59In addition to Jared Leto's supposed behind-the-scenes antics alienating his co-stars, his look was
12:04something out of a nightmare.
12:05Ayer eschewed any number of comic-accurate looks for a more modern wardrobe.
12:14In lieu of a purple and green suit, the DCEU Joker wears couture clothes, is covered in
12:19tattoos and sports a metallic grill.
12:22While this version was rightfully unhinged, the attempt to be edgy and new was a total
12:26flop with viewers.
12:42After years of development hell, director Andy Muschietti delivered the Scarlet Speedster's
12:47first solo outing in theatres.
12:49It could not have been more of an unmitigated disaster if they tried.
12:57The many criticisms of the film extend to the wardrobe, especially the villain Dark
12:59Flash.
13:00I mean, what is even going on with this look?
13:02Admittedly, part of the problem is that the most pivotal scene, the infamous Kronobowl,
13:07is a CGI-heavy mess where the characters get lost against the overly busy background.
13:11In a different movie, with less reliance on computer-generated embellishments, this costume
13:15might not have looked that bad, but it did.
13:24Green Lantern
13:32When DC and Warner Bros chose to bring Green Lantern to the silver screen, they made a
13:36bold choice.
13:37His entire costume would be generated with CG.
13:40Bold, however, doesn't always mean good.
13:43Unfortunately, the CG costume, particularly the mask, was both poorly rendered and poorly
13:47received, and of course, the film itself was a huge flop.
13:59Since its release, star Ryan Reynolds has repeatedly made fun of both the movie and
14:03the costume.
14:04In both Deadpool and the 2018 follow-up, Reynolds included several jokes poking fun at himself
14:09and a film he'd like to forget.
14:16Captain America
14:23Twenty years before his first appearance in the MCU, the star-spangled hero made his debut
14:27in a straight-to-video cheese fest.
14:29The low-budget Marvel film leaned hard into its comic book origins, choosing to give Steve
14:34Rogers a comic, accurate look.
14:36Unfortunately, on camera, it reads like a cheap, rubber Halloween costume.
14:43The wings are extremely silly, and if you look closely, you'll notice that those are
14:47fake ears attached to the headpiece.
14:50The worst bit about it, however, is his shield.
14:52It seems as though the props department didn't even try to make his trademark weapon look
14:56like actual metal.
14:57Instead, it looks like a cheap plastic replica.
15:09Though it had its moments, particularly with Sabretooth, 2009's X-Men Origins Wolverine
15:14was generally not well-received.
15:16The most despised aspect of the film by far, though, was its handling of Deadpool.
15:20At first, he's just Wade Wilson, a wise-cracking, sword-wielding mutant in a sleeveless combat
15:25super-suit.
15:26Later, however, their experiments on Deadpool absolutely ruined the character.
15:34They choose to play with his trademark wit by literally sewing his mouth shut.
15:38Instead of a costume, they have him bare-chested, scarred and retractable swords coming from
15:42his arms, and Cyclops' optic blast.
15:45I mean, everything about the character and his look was an insult to the beloved Merc
15:49with a Mouth, and like Green Lantern, Reynolds would later poke fun at himself.
15:59The Joel Schumacher Batman movies of the 1990s
16:23combined the camp of the 1960s TV show with the aesthetic of Tim Burton's 1989 update.
16:30The result was a pair of very messy movies.
16:32Batman & Robin was by far the worst when it came to wardrobe.
16:43The villains, Poison Ivy and Mr Freeze, went in opposite directions.
16:46Ivy wore a very plain green spandex suit and sported a nightmarish hairdo, inspired by
16:51the 60s.
16:52Mr Freeze, on the other hand, wore a silly, over-the-top suit of icy armour.
16:57But the Bat-Family costumes really take the cake, from the cod pieces and butt-plates
17:02to the nipples.
17:03Oh, the nipples.
17:04This version of Batman was as far from a Dark Knight as you could possibly get.
17:15So what's your least favourite movie hero costume?
17:17Let us know in the comments below.