10 Extremely Comic-Accurate Superhero Movie Costumes

Filmmakers face a very difficult task when they have to bring a comic book character to life. On the page, the only limit is the artist’s imagination, but what works in a comic book might not work – or even be possible – in live-action. As such, fans never know whether a movie will deck out its stars in the same duds worn by their comic counterparts or completely redesign the costume. For instance, while Batman always gets to keep his cape and cowl, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has never once worn the classic yellow outfit. Some superhero movies, however, feature characters who could have walked straight off the page. Join us, then, as we take a look at the 10 most comics-accurate costumes ever featured in a superhero movie. If your favourite isn't on the list, be sure to let us know in the comments section. 10) The Rocketeer All those movies focusing on pulp fiction heroes in the 1990s actually adapted their star’s costumes to the screen very faithfully – The Shadow had his hat and scarf combo, Dick Tracy kept his yellow suit and even The Phantom squeezed Billy Zane into a purple unitard. Our favourite of these, though, is The Rocketeer. Partly because it's the most elegant outfit – with its brown leather jacket and art deco helmet – but also because not one element of it is altered from the original comic book creation by Dave Stevens. The look – particularly that helmet – is integral to the character’s appeal, so hopefully the recently announced reboot will keep it intact as well. 9) Ghost Rider (Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance) Nicolas Cage might have been ill-cast as Johnny Blaze in the Ghost Rider movies, but the visual realization of the character was much better handled… at least in one of the films. In 2007’s Ghost Rider, Johnny’s hellish form is far too clean and adorned with too many chains and spikes to really work. In the 2012 sequel, Spirit of Vengeance, however, the look is much improved. Gone are most of the spikes and the leather jacket is suitably fire-damaged and worn. Most effectively, the skull is no longer gleaming white but blackened by the flames, as per the depiction of the character in the comics. If only the rest of the film had such a dedication to detail and reverence to the material it might have been a whole lot better. 8) Hellboy Ron Perlman was perfect casting in Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy movies, as he just nailed the sharp-tongued attitude of the character. Thankfully, del Toro and his team nailed the character’s look as well. A demon with sawn-off horns, a cigar in his mouth and a trench coat, Hellboy is one of the coolest-looking comic book characters outside of DC and Marvel. Nevertheless, he could have been a difficult one to realize in live-action, though. For instance, the make-up and prosthetics might have looked poor, or they could have gone down the boring route and made him out of CGI. In the end, however, it worked brilliantly, and the big red guy looks just as awesome as he does when drawn by creator Mike Mignola. 7) Spider-Man (Captain America: Civil War) Spider-Man has actually been served routinely well by costume designers in his six movie outings so far, but we’ve plumped for Tom Holland’s MCU iteration for the purpose of this list. Trust Marvel to give us a webslinger closer to the comics than ever before, right? The Spidey that turns up in the instantly iconic airport fight scene in Civil War could have walked right out of the first Spider-Man comics. His squat spider-symbol and semi-hidden utility belt that stores his spare web cartridges are straight out of the character's early designs. in fact, the only thing it's, missing is the armpit webbing (though that was quickly phased out of the comics anyway). Another nice touch is giving the eyes the ability to shrink and widen, something that allows more emotion through the mask. However, another hero already beat Spidey to the punch on that one… 6) Deadpool When Deadpool was first brought to the screen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Wade Wilson was so mutilated tha he was visually a completely different character. For his own solo movie, it was as if 20th Century Fox wanted to apologize for the previous travesty and so gave Ryan Reynolds the chance to wear a completely accurate rendition of the Merc with the Mouth’s classic outfit. It's a little more muted than in the comics and it is missing the short tail on the hood, but apart from that the look is exactly what the fans always dreamed of seeing on the big screen. And, beating Civil War by a few months, they even used CGI eyes to achieve the character’s signature facial expressions. 5) Iron Man This was an easy one for Marvel, really. Iron Man has such a unique look on the page that it's pointless adapting the character if you are going to redesign his suit. The look sported by Robert Downey Jr. in the Marvel movies gets extra credit for how it continually evolves but always takes inspiration from the comics. From the original prototype suit based on the character’s original appearance to the bulky Hulkbuster armour seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron, the shellhead's design is first and foremost inspired by the source material. Captain America and Thor only don’t make it onto this list because they both lack a distinctive feature of the comics character (the head-wings and helmet, respectively). They're still both awesome costumes, though. 4) Rorschach For better or for worse, Zack Snyder’s Watchmen stuck as close as it could (mostly) to the seminal graphic novel. However, while some of the team’s costumes were heavily redesigned – like the Batman-ed up Nite Owl – others were very faithfully recreated. The best one for this is Rorschach's iconic look. Though you could argue that his coat and hat are less flea-bitten than in the comic, the main thing is that the character retained his ever-changing ink blot test mask. In the comics, Dave Gibbons redesigned the pattern on it panel by panel – amazingly, this was kept for the film. Though slightly strange in the otherwise gritty movie, it did fit in with Snyder’s stylistic cinematography. Overall, it's a very good example of a costume being reverential to the material, but making it work for the film as well. 3) V For a character who styles himself as more of an idea than an individual, the Guy Fawkes inspired outfit of vaudvillian vigilante V is integral to his success. Thankfully, then, this was perfectly brought to the screen in the 2005 movie adaptation of Alan Moore’s classic dystopian comic. The film also gains points for keeping the brilliantly cast Hugo Weaving covered up. In the vein of Sylvester Stallone’s Judge Dredd, imagine if they had cast a big Hollywood name as V and he had whipped off his mask every five minutes? The mystique of V is a core part of his character, so V For Vendetta deserves praise for replicating his outfit so well and then making sure it stayed on. Plus, how many superhero costumes have inspired a hacktivist group? 2) Superman (Christopher Reeve) Colourful spandex is definitely not in fashion in superhero movies anymore, but sometimes, that's all that is needed. For the original comic book film, 1978’s Superman, Christopher Reeve was decked out in a figure-hugging costume. It might look rudimentary to our modern eyes, but there's no denying it's the most faithful Superman outfit ever seen on the big screen. Instead of Brandon Routh’s darkened reds or Henry Cavill going commando, Reeve’s Supes is proud to wear the bright crimson briefs and cape (complete with the oft-removed yellow insignia on the back). It also helps that Reeve completely owns the outfit, looking like a grand hero rather than a crazy man wearing his underwear on the outside. 1) Batman (Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice) The portrayal of Batman in Batman V Superman, with his brutal, murder-happy ways, might have been controversial, but the costume(s) Ben Affleck wears in the film is one of the most spot-on lifts from the comics we have ever seen in a superhero movie. As the plot borrows heavily from Frank Miller’s revered The Dark Knight Returns, Batfleck’s bulky grey suit with the bloated bat symbol is a complete replication from the graphic novel. Furthermore, the metal armour Bats wears in his fight against Superman is also a direct rip from the suit used in the exact same scenario in the comic. With Michael Keaton’s being too rubbery and Christian Bale’s too militarized, Batfleck gets the trophy for the most comic-accurate Batsuit in cinema history.