10 Controversial Marvel Costumes That Divided MCU Fans

There have been plenty of creative highs across nearly two decades of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, there have also been steep missteps that have nearly derailed this massive multimedia saga. The best and worst things in the Marvel Cinematic Universe reflect the franchise's polar opposite artistic corners. In the corner of controversial MCU material are superhero costumes that divided fans. While several outfits have scored rapturous praise, others have become go-to punchlines online, and for good reason.

It's not one shortcoming that binds these criticized garments. Some were lambasted for straying too far from what was worn in a respective character's source material. Many opted for a "realistic" design with minimal color, resulting in them vanishing from the mind as soon as they appeared on-screen. Still others were realized through less-than-ideal means (like digital effects work) that made them creative misfires. 

These garments stand in sharp contrast to the most beloved Marvel attire. They may not be pretty to look at, but it's well worth exploring the most divisive MCU costumes and why they gained such contentious reputations.

In the comics, Clint Barton/Hawkeye fights crime wearing a head-to-toe purple outfit, as well as a cowl that doubles as a mask, with a little "H" adorning this part of the attire. It's a delightful costume that exemplifies the endearing silliness of vintage comics. When it came time for the character's major live-action debut in 2012's "The Avengers" (following a cameo in the previous year's "Thor"), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) didn't get as comics-accurate of a costume as others in the superhero ensemble. Instead, he donned a black/brown leather outfit devoid of either colors or sleeves.

This suit was a frustrating one for many, even beyond its lack of fidelity to Hawkeye's roots. For one, he just didn't fit in with the other members of the titular team, who were rocking bright blue spandex or red caps. Hawkeye's original "Avengers" costume also makes no sense from a functional perspective, with his arms being exposed in the midst of battle. Ironically, in trying to avoid the "preposterousness" of his purple comic book outfit, "The Avengers" created new illogical elements with a far less exciting costume. 

In subsequent appearances, Hawkeye's outfit inched closer and closer to his comic book origins with new, slightly more purple uniforms. Anything was an improvement over the initial eyesore he donned for "The Avengers."

Captain America's (Chris Evans) first outfit in "Captain America: The First Avenger" was largely successful, embracing the vivid colors and sillier aspects of his comic book origins. For "The Avengers," however, Cap got a modern look that didn't work on any level. Fans have often dubbed Captain America's "Avengers" costume as one of the worst things to come out of the MCU and a staggeringly misguided choice in an otherwise excellently executed blockbuster.

For one thing, the textures are just wrong. Steve Rogers looks like he's fighting crime in tight plastic that could break at any moment. Even the weird-looking star on his chest or his excessively busy belt are underwhelming. More urgently, though, is the "helmet" that operates like a hoodie. Making it so explicitly connected to the rest of the outfit is a puzzling choice, as it gives poor Rogers a smushed look when he's wearing it. Suddenly, Captain America's crime-fighting suit looks more like a jacket than anything else. 

Is it any wonder everyone, including Chris Evans, have lambasted this Captain America outfit? Thankfully, the character saw vastly superior costumes in the years that followed, even donning his "First Avenger" garb once more for "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." 

In the comics, Kro, a principal leader of The Deviants and an enemy of the Eternals, is a horned red-skinned creature resembling Satan. In his various incarnations, he's depicted with a golden headband and suit littered with sparkling jewels, a signal of his stature within Deviant society. 2021's "Eternals" translated that attire by ditching it entirely. Kro (Bill Skarsgård) struts around in no clothes throughout his entire, albeit minimal, screen time. He doesn't even have red skin; the adversary instead materializes with dark blue and purple hues that are hard to perceive in nighttime scenes.

Kro's radical redesign, and lack of a concrete costume, was widely criticized alongside the presence of The Deviants in "Eternals." These CG beasties capsized the more practical, tactile tendencies of "Eternals," while refusing to commit to Kro's outlandish comic look signaled that the production was uncomfortable with adapting Jack Kirby's ludicrous sensibilities. Even for those unfamiliar with the source material, Kro's generic look left them wanting more. 

Giving Kro a costume, let alone some snazzy garbs, would've made him more memorable. Abandoning it entirely resulted in an otherworldly foe that left little of an impression. The comics's drastically superior vision only made the deficiencies of this forgettable baddie extra insulting.

When 2002's "Spider-Man" became a huge hit, it wasn't hard to find another iconic villain for Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker to contend with in "Spider-Man 2." Iron Man, though, has an infamously poor rogues' gallery of baddies, giving Marvel Studios a tall task following the success of 2008's "Iron Man." Eventually, director Jon Favreau and company had Tony face off against Mickey Rourke as super-powered tech baddie Whiplash/Ivan Vanko for "Iron Man 2."

Audiences got their first look at this iteration in 2009, with the initial images focusing on a shirtless Rourke (with an arc reactor on his chest) standing in front of a crowd with rings and harnesses all over his arms. There was no sign of the sensational to be found (let alone the Vanko's CG robot suit from the film's finale), just some guy standing around in the bright sunlight. These first images spawned immense criticism from fans, who fretted that he didn't look like a formidable Iron Man opponent. 

Bewilderment over how the character didn't resemble the comic adversary also persisted. These mixed responses only amplified how Iron Man stories struggle to pull off crowdpleaser villains.

When it was announced that the Inhumans would be going to ABC as a TV show (succinctly titled "Inhumans") rather than a big-budget movie, it was clear these heightened aliens would lose their ludicrous qualities from the comics. The budgetary constraints of television made it impossible for Black Bolt (Anson Mount), Medusa (Serinda Swan), and the other Inhumans to look as they did in their classic comic adventures. Even so, the first glimpse of their live-action incarnations inspired hostility across the web.  

Despite their high place in society, the Inhumans Royal Family donned what looked like cheap Halloween costumes. Medusa and Crystal (Isabelle Cornish) got the especially short end of the stick, with particularly rubbery attire smeared in unpleasant-looking colors. Black Bolt, meanwhile, lacked his forehead tuning fork, while his black leather clothes seemed like a secondhand Bryan Singer "X-Men" costume. From every angle, these atrocious outfits were repulsive. Unlike some translated comic garb, though, they didn't get any better once in motion.

The dismal reception to "Inhumans" largely hinged on its abysmal visuals, including its underwhelming costume work. Surely, there was a better way to translate the Inhuman's outfits into the cost-efficient domain of broadcast television.

In May 2016, what once seemed impossible finally came to pass: Spider-Man entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe. A deal between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios allowed the web-crawler, now played by Tom Holland, to show up in "Captain America: Civil War" before headlining his own set of solo films. It was a tremendous moment that opened up massive possibilities for a fresh take of the iconic character. When audiences finally got a look at this new Spidey, however, his slick computer-generated outfit scored some heavy-duty detractors.

While productions like "Green Lantern" always planned to have its titular superhero covered in digital duds, Tom Holland actually did wear a radically different practical Spidey outfit on the "Civil War" set that was replaced in post-production. This ditched attire has drawn its share of fans who preferred the practical approach, though it was likely abandoned due to its similarities to Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man costume (specifically in the thickness of the lines and that chest spider emblem).

In most "Spider-Man" movie rankings, Holland's exploits tend to be among the most well-received, with his later outings featuring improved takes on the revered outfit. However, his initial MCU appearance, while historic, delivered a costume that looked too fake for many. 

The perpetually troubled production of the fourth "Captain America" movie included endless revisions over how its foes would appear in live-action. "Captain America: Brave New World's" Serpent Society were based on outlandish comic characters who wore brightly colored outfits resembling various snake species. During the lengthy reshoots, Rosa Salazar's pink-haired Diamondback was deleted entirely, and a new leader, Sidewinder (Giancarlo Esposito), was added. All the while, the Serpent Society was reformatted into a mercenary group wearing "practical" tactile gear devoid of vibrancy.

Once "Brave New World" hit theaters, this iteration of the Serpent Society garnered criticism on many fronts, but especially for their forgettable outfits. Stripping away their colorful attire wasn't just a deviation from the source material, but also deprived the characters from displaying their individuality. On-screen, the Serpent Society was indistinguishable from the goons in "White House Down." A legend like Esposito deserved way more distinctive garments.

It wasn't easy bringing "Captain America: Brave New World" to the silver screen, and the Serpent Society especially went through creative uncertainty. Unfortunately, all that effort resulted in a villainous group with costumes that elicited little more than shrugs. 

It's no secret that "Iron Fist" is especially reviled among Marvel fans. The Netflix series secured terrible reviews scorching nearly every aspect, from the fight choreography to Finn Jones's phony lead performance to the dreary pacing, among other shortcomings. Its commitment to a more "grounded" version of Iron Fist resulted in a torturously tedious endeavor devoid of fun or personality, epitomized by the absence of any costume for this iteration of Danny Rand.

In the comics, Iron Fist wears a green-and-yellow costume. The show only has the outfit appear in archival footage (of a different incarnation of the Iron Fist) and referenced it through training bandanas during "Iron Fist's" two-season run. Otherwise, it was totally absent, much to the chagrin of long-time fans. Instead, Rand just wore hoodies and schlubby clothes throughout his stint as a superhero. None of these garbs were especially creative, and failed to minimize the pain viewers felt missing out on seeing Rand don the classic Iron Fist costume.

Then again, it's perhaps for the best that "Iron Fist" eschewed the classic outfit. It's unlikely that intertwining that costume in a TV show this widely reviled would've done it much favors.  

In addition to its lack of dramatic stakes and weird storytelling decisions. the excessive use of lackluster digital effects work was one of the worst things about "Thor: Love and Thunder." Along with giving some of the cast a tough time during the shoot, it birthed one of the most reviled MCU costumes in recent memory with Jane Foster's (Natalie Portman) Mighty Thor getup, particularly when it came to her helmet.

The Asgardian garb covering Foster's head was largely computer-generated in "Love and Thunder," with Thor similarly donning a separate, equally-derided CG helmet. Per the "'Thor: Love and Thunder' Marvel Studios: Assembled" episode, this decision was made to give the actors more flexibility during filming. What might have seemed reasonable during principal photography ended up looking garish in the final product. Whenever Jane Foster put on her helmet, the momentousness of her super-powered self was undercut by how fake-looking that CG accessory was. 

The fact that a helmet would've been so easy to make and wear on set makes it extra baffling that "Love and Thunder" went the digital route. Chalk it up as another flaw that sank this Taika Waititi directorial effort. 

In "Daredevil's" first season, lawyer Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) fought crime under the Daredevil alias, wearing an all-black ninja outfit. This famously stripped-down attire was rooted in some of the most famous "Daredevil" comics, but wasn't the bright red garment commonly associated with the vigilante. However, after 12 episodes of build-up, "Daredevil's" Season 1 finale delivered a proper red costume for Murdock to don. Once audiences got a look, however, the reception was far less positive than the widespread praise that greeted the entire season.

This Daredevil outfit has several faults contributing to its underwhelming nature. For starters, the cowl covering Murdock's eyes looks wrong and too tight. It's also littered with too many black spots, patches, and pockets that overcomplicate things. Was a straightforward red spandex suit too "silly" for this universe? Busting out a new costume after audiences connected with his all-black look wasn't an inherent problem. Nevertheless, it should have fired on all cylinders to compensate for the sudden absence of those initial ninja robes.

Instead, this iffy vision of Daredevil's classic attire was a serious step down from his normal outfit. Hinging so much on the grand reveal of this costume just made its faults all the more apparent, weighing down the impact of the season finale.