Top 10 Superhero Costume Blunders
Somebody find these heroes a fashion consultant! Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we'll be counting down our top ten superhero costume blunders.
For this list, we'll be counting down the times that a superhero swapped out their iconic costume for a bonafide fashion disaster. Thankfully, none of these superhero fashion faux-pas stuck around.
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#10: Azrael as Batman
After the Caped Crusader had his bat-back bat-broken in a fight with Bane, he selected the anti-hero Azrael to fill his shoes as The Dark Knight while he recuperated. In hindsight, this wasn’t a great call. Not only was Azrael more violent and ruthless as Batman, but he replaced the classic costume with this mess of pouches and pointy bits. What are those things on the sides of his legs even for, besides posing a hazard to anything he bumps into? Why does he have what looks like an ARC reactor? Thankfully Bruce eventually got over his spinal injury and put Azrael, and this dreadful costume, in the past.
#9: Raven’s New 52 Costume
A long-standing member of the Teen Titans, the brooding Raven has always sported a simple but effective costume made up of flowing robes and a deep hood over glowing eyes. It’s a straightforward look that says “I am a spooky, spellcasting creature of darkness”. That is, until she was revamped in the “New 52” event, after which her costume said: “Ahhh, ahhh, there is a beetle or perhaps some form of mollusk attached to my scalp, please help,” The rest of the costume is ok, if a bit on the cheesy side, but we just can’t get over that utterly baffling piece of headwear.
#8: ‘90s Thor
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As we’ll be illustrating multiple times, the 90s were not a great time for fashion, and not even Asgardian heroes were immune to some of the terrible trends going around. In the 90s, and to “celebrate” the final issue of his long-running book, the God of Thunder traded in his signature helmet and chainmail sleeves for this ridiculous looking number that checks off almost all the bad trends in superhero costumes at the time. Flowing rocker hair? Check. Giant shoulder pads? Check. Lots of pointless straps and buckles? Check. All it’s missing is a ton of pouches. Thor even put his trusty hammer Mjolnir on a chain, because….well, because Spawn was cool at the time, that’s why.
#7: Flashpoint Zatanna
After tampering with the timeline by going back and preventing the murder of his mother, The Flash found himself in a twisted alternate reality nicknamed the Flashpoint universe. Of all the alternate versions of DC characters to appear in this dark universe, none have us scratching our heads more than Zatanna, who appears in a ridiculously skimpy outfit composed entirely of a black leather vest, black undies, and pants that ride lower than any pants we’ve ever seen. With no visual connection to her classic costume and looking totally ridiculous, we’re glad this version of the character didn’t last.
#6: Daredevil’s Black and Red Armor
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When you’re a character known for acrobatic grace and speed as well as ninja-like stealth, outfitting your costume with a bunch of heavy and no doubt noisy metal panels might not be the best idea. In the 1993 storyline “Fall from Grace”, the Man Without Fear’s classic red outfit was damaged, forcing him to adopt this new armored version. Visually, it’s not the worst costume, with a decent color balance and some interesting details… but we can’t help but imagine that it weighs a ton, and makes the defender of Hell’s Kitchen sound like a broken dryer whenever he takes a single step. Not exactly stealthy.
#5: '90s Wonder Woman
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Another unfortunate victim of bad 90s fashion choices, Diana spent a period of the 90s out of her traditional Amazonian garb and looking more like she was getting ready for one heck of a night on the town. With a blue mini-jacket sporting her classic stars over a black bra and bike shorts with the Wonder Woman logo, there’s not a lot about this look that really screams “superhero”, though thankfully her trademark bullet-deflecting bracelets got to stick around. And because it was the 90s, there just had to be straps and buckles. Thankfully, fellow Amazonian Artemis was keeping the classic outfit in use at the time.
#4: Wolverine’s Bandana Costume
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We’ve seen a few stories where Wolverine has had his indestructible claws and bones leached of adamantium, leaving him with bone claws and in dire need of some calcium. But none quite so weird as the time Genesis actually tried to restore his adamantium in a failed procedure that caused him to go into a feral state. After regaining some control thanks to Elektra, Wolverine covered up the top half of his face with a bandana and donned a torn-up version of his classic costume. The costume stayed for a little while but was eventually ditched when Wolvie got his adamantium back.
#3: The Invisible Woman’s Bikini Costume
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Despite being no slouch in the looks department, the Fantastic Four’s Sue Storm, aka The Invisible Woman, has mostly managed to escape the ridiculous levels of sexualization often heaped on other female superheroes. That is, except for an unfortunate period in - you guessed it - the 90s, when her standard-issue FF costume was switched out for what amounts to a swimsuit with an utterly ridiculous cleavage window in the shape of a letter 4. Look, there’s nothing wrong with sexy costumes in comics - but does that really look like something Sue Storm would put on, let alone design? The answer is a resounding “no.”
#2: '90s Namor
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For water-based characters like DC’s Aquaman and Marvel’s Namor, trying to come across as anything other than “lame” is like swimming against the tide. For Namor’s part, his attempt to fit in during the 90s meant two things: rocker hair and spikes, spikes and more spikes. Not that Namor’s usual green swim trunks aren’t exactly the height of fashion, but everything about this look screams “trying too hard.” The spiky look was quickly abandoned in favor of a still pointy breastplate and gauntlets, but even those were dropped soon in favor of a return to those lil’ green trunks. By comparison, they look downright snappy.
#1: Superman Red & Blue
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Why fix what isn’t broken? Superman’s classic costume is iconic, timeless, a veritable institution. But that didn’t stop artists from trying to reinvent it in….you guessed it...the 90s. After losing his powers, the Man of Steel developed energy-based powers that required a blue and white containment suit. Later on, Superman was split into two separate beings: one in the blue outfit, and the other in red. It’s a story no one asked for, and two costumes nobody likes: a generic looking bodysuit devoid of recognizable Superman iconography except for the S shield. The two were eventually merged, and a return to the classic costume came sometime after.
