The Most Disappointing Superhero Movie Costumes

From the men who can leap tall buildings in a single bound to the women who are worshipped like gods, superhero movies and the people who star in them represent escapism at their most extreme. However, despite bursting to the brim with magic, aliens and deities, these comic book adaptations must still find ways to keep grounded so that audiences can relate to the characters on screen.

Obviously, nuanced scripting and strong acting are both key to the success of superhero movies, but if the visuals don't feel realistic too, then it won't take long for audiences to feel disjointed from the events playing out on film. These days, the special effects on display are usually adept at bringing our favorite heroes to life, yet one thing that many films still struggle with is the costumes.

Whether the costume designers choose spandex, leather or even something more natural, it's not always easy to remain faithful to the source material without making our heroes look ridiculous. In real life, the majority of these comic book outfits would look strange without being modified somehow and unfortunately, the movies don't always get it right. Join us as we take a look at the most disappointing movie superhero costumes that helped ruin some of our favorite comic book characters.

Aside from the depiction of Matt Murdock's radar senses, little else worked in the first movie adaptation of Daredevil. From Ben Affleck's serviceable performance to the radical way that director Mark Steven Johnson reworked the character of Bullseye, this portrayal of the Man Without Fear gave critics and fans of the source material no shortage of disappointment.

Effort was made to keep Daredevil's superhero costume faithful to the comics, retaining that unique shade of crimson, but the whole thing looked like a passed over relic from the old days of post-Matrix cinema. Awkward leather, unnecessary zippers, and a mask that didn't quite seem to fit Ben Affleck's face all detracted from the character in ways that Murdock didn't deserve.

Because of this, the pressure was on for Marvel's Netflix adaptation to improve Daredevil's costume in a way that felt more realistic — and for the most part they succeeded, even if we didn't see the outfit in full until the end of Season 1. Modifications that made it seem like something Murdock could have designed in real life may have been less faithful to the comics, but they were still a huge improvement over the threads handed to Affleck for his movie in 2003.

Considered one of the greatest players in NBA history, Shaquille O'Neal has since gone on to record a number of rap albums and star in his own reality TV show, but one of his most impressive feats occurred in 1997, when he headlined his own superhero movie. Unfortunately, the film itself was less impressive, even bordering on embarrassing at times, despite the fact that Steel is associated with superhero legend Superman in the comics.

Much of the film's general lack of quality is summed up best by the makeshift costume that O'Neal was forced to wear in the titular role. Essentially a poor man's version of Iron Man, Steel's armor looked more like the suit that Tony Stark built first in a cave while being held captive by terrorists. While Steel's signature sledgehammer remained, the shield, cape and helmet were all removed to avoid any links with Superman, who Steel briefly replaced in the comics following the Son of Krypton's death. After Steel bombed hard at the box office, O'Neal avoided lead movie roles for a long time after, instead refocusing his energy on returning to sports alongside the occasional TV appearance.

It seems strange looking back now that the very genre that made Ryan Reynolds a superstar in the Deadpool franchise almost killed his career just a few years earlier. Following lackluster roles in Blade: Trinity and X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Reynolds appeared in what was arguably his worst superhero movie to date, Green Lantern. Starring as the Emerald Knight, Reynolds' first headlining superhero gig failed to earn back its production budget and squandered the potential of a fascinating DC character in the process.

Plastic-looking CGI became par for the course in Green Lantern, barely animating the numerous aliens and planets on display with any kind of soul. One way that these special effects could have worked well, though, was in the construction of Green Lantern's suit. Because his costume is another green construct created by the ring in the comics, director Martin Campbell and his team reasoned that CGI could be used to create the suit in their film too. Unfortunately, what the post-production team came up with looked even more fake than the aliens that surrounded it, detracting even further from Reynolds and his struggle to make something out of the paper-thin script.

Created in 1990 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Captain America's comics debut, Albert Pyun's film adaptation was eventually released direct to video in 1992, and remains one of the most critically disappointing superhero movies of all time. Starring Matt Salinger, the son of author J. D. Salinger, Captain America took painful liberties with the source material and would have been better off staying on ice permanently.

Lacking both a reasonable budget or script, Captain America is best viewed now as a curio for diehard Marvel fans eager to see how one of their favorite heroes has previously been treated on film. Those same purists might be turned off, though, by the cheap-looking costume that doesn't look fit to be worn by a superhero, particularly in contrast with the new films starring Chris Evans. From top to bottom, the outfit appears to have been made in a costume store, but it's the rubber ears that will haunt viewers long after the credits finally roll.

Spawn will always hold a special place in the superhero hall of fame for being the first comic book adaptation to star an African-American character, preceding Steel by just a few weeks in 1997. However, that's where the accolades end. Encapsulating everything that was wrong with comics in the '90s, this interpretation of Todd McFarlane's iconic anti-hero was barely coherent and ended up receiving a hellish score of just 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

In the original comics, Spawn's costume is integral to his identity, and the cloak in particular plays a vital role in the use of his powers. Here, though, Mark A.Z. Dippé and his team were forced to recreate the demonic cloak using subpar CGI that even failed to pass muster when the film was first released in the '90s. On top of that, the awkward musculature of the suit made it look like Spawn had just crawled out of a cheap video game rather than the comics pages. As one of the most popular anti-heroes of the '90s, Spawn deserved better than this, even if he is the reluctant leader of Hell's army.