With the Marvel Cinematic Universe refusing to slow down as the imminent release of Black Widow sets the superhero franchise off into Phase Four, superhero costumes are seeing more and more accurate on-screen translations. Long gone are the days of leather-bound Daredevil and X-men that joke about wearing yellow and blue.
With the new trend of embracing even the strangest of super-suits, we can wave goodbye to CGI costumes and the lackluster trope of heroes just sort of wearing clothes. Seeing the Red Guardian and Taskmaster in functional versions of their suits has gotten us thinking about the design successes that have come before, but what are the most comic accurate costumes we've seen on-screen to date?
Gladiator Hulk - Thor: Ragnarok
One of the most widely known and fan-favorite Hulk stories is that of Planet Hulk, one in which Hulk finds himself fighting in an alien gladiatorial arena. It's no surprise then, that when the time came to give Thor somewhat of an MCU reboot by teaming him up with the Green Goliath, that elements from that story made their way into the film.
Complete with helmet, war paint, and that armor sleeve thing that Hulk probably doesn't even need, this costume doesn't just pay homage to the original, but straight up renders it in all of its CG glory. The only thing that would have been better is if they'd actually included Beta Ray Bill.
Spider-Man - The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Ok, hear us out! With two reboots and more costume variants than you can shake a web-shooter at, it would be strange if we said that the most comic book accurate Spider-Man red and blues came from the most ill-received film. It would be strange, but that doesn't make it any less true.
Adopting a look closer to that popularised by artist Todd McFarlane (e.i. the big eyes and gymnastic inspired movements) this suit ditches the practical tech of the Stark-designed Holland costume or the weird protruding webs and lenses of Maquire's threads. The costume department really nailed this one, even if it deserved to be in a better film.
Doctor Strange - MCU
Doctor Strange might be remembered as one of the more paint by numbers films in Marvel's film run, failing a little to bring the true otherworldly weirdness of some of his comic book adventures over to a cinematic experience. All that was missing were his usual yellow gloves.
Luckily the rest of his costume was a dead ringer, a bold move considering Marvel has been too scared to put Hawkeye in his iconic purple tights. While Cumberbatch might have been missing a couple of Hands of Hoggoth in his solo outing, he was sporting quite a fetching pair in Thor: Ragnarok that we'd love to see again.
Batman - Batman v Superman
Look, regardless of where you stand on Batman V Superman or The Justice League, one thing can be said about Ben Affleck's take on the caped crusader. The costume department did a bang-up job of capturing The Dark Knight Returns version of Bats' costume in live-action.
While the color pallet may be missing a little blue, it definitely makes Batman a lot more imposing than some of his battle armor and bat-nipple clad colleagues, incorporating some comic book levels of bulk for good measure. Only time will tell if the next costume along will take the title for "Most Comic Book Accurate" bat-costume.
Kid Flash - The CW's The Flash
The Flash on The CW seems to have gotten pretty bold when it comes to adapting DC characters to the small screen, look no further than Gorilla Grodd and King Shark for proof of that. One on-screen costume that doesn't get enough praise is that of Keiynan Lonsdale's Wally West, A.K.A. Kid Flash.
The long-running TV show's continuity has gotten just about as complicated as its comic book predecessor by now, so Wally has gone through all of the Flashpoint associated motions. While he's yet to officially don the red-onesie himself, it has to be said that the yellow Kid Flash costume is one of the most accurate TV costumes going.
Rorschach - Watchmen
Portrayed by Jackie Earle Haley in Zac Snyder's Watchmen (2009) their isn't much that can be said about this one, just look at the two side by side. While the argument can be made that it's not exactly a difficult costume to stay faithful to, remember that even Haley looks like an unmasked Rorschach so it's perfectly cast to boot.
The accuracy here isn't really surprising considering the film takes dialogue and even panels straight from the comic book. Regardless of what the original creator thinks of the film (Alan Moore declined a credit believing it to be an impossible adaptation, and vowed never to see it), it has to be said that the costumes are accurate.
War Machine - MCU
Between the MCU and the comic books, there have been a lot of back and forth in regards to who inspired who, but as far as War Machine goes, this is a comic book accurate costume, or is it a suit? Honestly, this is an opportunity to give all of the Iron Man designs an honorable mention, from the first suit to the last, Iron Patriot included.
But the one that stands out as a direct translation from page to screen is that of War Machine's bulkier design, shoulder-mounted turret and all. Given the trend at the time, we should count ourselves lucky we didn't just get a chrome version of Iron Man.
Arthur Curry - Aquaman
Of all the things DC fans expected from the Jason Momoa starring Aquaman, the traditional gold and green scales likely wasn't one of them. Following Justice League's attempt to make the guy that can talk to fish cool by casting that dude from Game of Thrones, the last thing anyone expected was a comic-accurate costume.
The 90's version with the hook hand, maybe, but not one closer to The Super Friends. OK, jokes aside, its actually a pretty solid costume in a film that isn't afraid to have a little fun with its source material. Thankfully, Jason Momoa pulls it off in a way few could. Having thought about it though, we think he'd probably make a hotdog costume look cool.
Deadpool - Deadpool
Let's be honest, you saw this one coming. A costume so good that Ryan Reynolds stole it from the set (and who can blame him after he worked so hard to get the film made?) this version almost makes up for the unrecognizable travesty that was X-Men Origins: Wolverine's Wade Wilson. Almost.
Deadpool does a lot of things right and comic-book accuracy is center among them. Not only is the Merc with a Mouth lovingly re-created for the silver screen, but they even got Colossus right! Fun fact: in the original script Deadpool gets the idea for the mask by turning a Spider-man mask inside out.
Howard The Duck - Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2
Didn't expect that one though, did you? Voiced by Seth Green during his cameos in both Guardians of the Galaxy and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, then showing up in an unvoiced cameo in Avengers: Endgame. He might be a CGI render, but he's the most comic accurate design ever put to film, they even but him in his trademark three-piece suit.
While the George Lucas directed version from 1986 comes close, that version of Howard is a little too chunky for our liking. This one is the way to go if Marvel ever gets around to doing a Howard solo film, and we wouldn't say no to a Disney+ show staring this version either.