Superman’s suit is one of the most iconic and consistent costumes across not just cinema, but all of pop culture. Blue suit with the instantly recognizable “S” shield, red boots, briefs, and of course, the long, flowing crimson cape. Like the actor inside it, most of us tend to have a preconceived notion of what Superman’s costume should look like when we see the suit on the big screen. Being able to balance honoring the near-century of lore that came before with putting your own spin on such an widely known and beloved garment is a monumental task for a costume designer, and no easy feat to achieve. Taking all of that into consideration, we’ve ranked the best movie Superman costumes from worst to best below.
5) The George Reeves Suit
Before he lit up TV sets as the hero, George Reeves played Superman in Superman and the Mole Men in 1951. (Yes, that is the movie’s actual title). The movie Superman costume is in its infancy here, and it really shows. The costume, which was provided by the film’s head of wardrobe Izzy Berne, doesn’t provide Reeves with any structure or support, plus both his cape and boots are an awkward, unflattering length. Costume critiques aside, Reeves’s electric performance as Superman propelled the film to success launched the television series Adventures of Superman that Reeves is better known for.
4) The Superman Returns Suit
While Brandon Routh did his absolute best with what he was given, there’s a lot to criticize about Superman Returns, including its costume design by Louise Mingenbach. Changing the color palette, specifically the red to more burgundy tone in Superman’s costume, but little else, fails to give the iconic costume the refresh it needed for the 2006 film. The change in tone comes across as glaring, especially against the particular hue of blue Mingenbach chose, since the costume looks so familiar to Christopher Reeve’s suit in the Superman films of the ’70s and ’80s.
3) The Snyderverse Suit
When costume designers James Acheson and Michael Wilkinson nixed Superman’s briefs from his suit for 2013’s Man of Steel, it sent the fandom into a tizzy. Admittedly, it’s a major revision to the costume, however, we admire Acheson and Wilkinson’s audacity. Even though this iteration of the costume wouldn’t work in other Superman films, their take on the hero’s suit felt perfectly suited for Zack Snyder’s darker, grittier perspective.
Unlike Mingenbach’s approach of changing color to modernize the costume, Acheson and Wilkinson muted the iconic colors we associate the hero with. Furhtermore, they altered the cut and shape of the suit to better fit into the 21st century, where superhero films have become their own bonafide sub-genre, and audiences expect costume to be more practical for the action our heroes dazzle us with.
2) The Christopher Reeve Suit
Reeves’s costume in Superman (1978), much like most everything else about the film, is the standard we compare other incarnations to. Costume designer Yvonne Blake gave the the suit’s cape, proportions, and colors all major upgrades from George Reeve’s lackluster suit. Though wardrobe technology still hadn’t caught up to give Reeve the built-in structure of later movie costumes, the size of the Superman shield flatters the broadness of the actor’s chest more. Furthermore, the intensely bold nature of the costume allows Superman to pop against the grit and grime of Metropolis in Donner’s masterpiece, allowing Reeve to fully embody the symbol of truth, justice, and the American way that even the actor himself is still remembered as.
1) The DCU Suit
As Superman continues to be rebooted and reiterated across media, the task of designing his suit only becomes harder. However, Superman (2025) costume designer Judianna Makovsky delivered in the latest blockbuster about the superhero. Corenswet’s costume effortlessly mixes the classic hallmarks of Superman’s suit — the colors, the cape, shield — with the best of modern wardrobe design to give the hero a look that fits into 2025.
Makovsky’s updates are tweaks, she doesn’t make any major changes to Superman’s garb, but together they revitalize the hero’s image. She makes the costume’s briefs trunks, she makes the “S” on the shield more graphic and rectangular, she embosses lines into the blue of the suit to give it a to build in a subtle structure and shape specific parts of Corenswet’s superhero physique. The new costume also perfectly fits within the saturated, larger-than-life universe writer/director James Gunn created in the film, another reason why Makovsky’s suit takes the top spot on our list.
Do you agree with our rankings? Let us know in the comments below!
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