What Is the Greatest Superhero Costume on TV?

We know we all agreed to forget this 2011 TV movie ever happened, but how could we curate a list of the best and worst superhero costumes on TV and not award this epic fail the last place spot?! Adrianne Palicki, you deserved so much better than this shiny pleather nightmare that appears to have been bought at a Halloween store. 

Oh man, don’t even get us started on the green spray paint or Tina Turner hair. Nope, nope, nope.

Everything about this is upsetting except for maybe the abs. But do the abs make up for that crotch? No. 

Once upon a time, This Is Us star Justin Hartley was the coolest Green Arrow on TV. Then Stephen Amell picked up the crossbow a few years later, took things a little darker, and made this costume look particularly silly in hindsight. 

Is that a hoodie?! 

Smallville‘s version of The Flash wasn’t actually The Flash. His name was Bart, not Barry, and he went by codename Impulse. Of course, he still rocked the red and yellow colors and lightning bolt-inspired costume, but…it’s a hoodie. 

This wet suit is truly unfortunate, but orange and green are tough colors to make work in any get up. 

This just seems impractical in every way even if we kinda want to try to rock those boots. 

Although this version of Supergirl’s costume was pretty plain, it was very true to the comics. Blue crop top? Check. Red skirt? Check! But she looks more like a cheerleader than a badass superhero, and that low-rise skirt is giving us anxiety. 

Leather jackets are hard enough to move around in normally, so we can’t even imagine how restricting it was trying to save the day in Clark’s custom-made red jacket. While it certainly looked cool seeing Clark rock that big S, this actually wasn’t his best look on the CW show.

There’s just a lot of stuff going on here. Lots of straps, lots of billowing. Is all of it necessary? 

This was a spot-on version of the comic book Black Canary, right on down to the high-collared black leotard and fishnet tights, but…not even comics are always correct. 

In the comics, Elektra essentially wears a bright red loincloth. Frankly it doesn’t make that much sense, so this TV update was fairly welcome. 

This is just so silly but such a classic that we feel unable to judge. 

The WB’s short-lived show had a pretty true-to-form live-action version of Batgirl’s costume from the comics, but that perma-cameltoe was unfortunate.

We were all thrilled when Diggle (David Ramsey) finally got a costume. Seriously, thrilled. But this is one that definitely looks better in motion than it does when standing still. Seems like that helmet would be awfully limiting, no? 

John Wesley Shipp is cool, but after watching so many seasons of the new Flash (where Shipp plays the Flash’s dad), it’s hard to take this costume seriously. 

Remember these two? Their helmets are very cool. 

There is so much happening here. Why are there so many laces and buckles?

Caity Lotz can pull off anything and this definitely looks like the costume of a hero who doesn’t care about getting dirty, but there’s something ever so slightly off about this that we can’t put our finger on. The color, maybe? 

1993’s version of Superman was pretty hot, and Dean Cain played the part in style. This is what we think of when we picture a Superman costume. 

Love ya Jimmy, but your costume looks like a giant boulder. Guess that makes sense when you don’t have superpowers and have to protect yourself against those who do, but the costume could have at least been a little less…grey.

Talk about a lot happening! Deathstroke is literally ready for anything at any time, unless he needs to get suited up in a hurry. It’s got to take him at least an hour to get ready every morning. 

We already knew the Arrow costume designers love some laces, but how did they achieve that ombre on that jacket? 

Seeing them side by side, Dinah’s costume seems much more wearable. We just don’t understand why so many straps on Laurel’s get up! 

This is a very reasonable costume for some stealthier superheroing!

Matt Murdock looks seriously cool in Netflix’s take on Daredevil’s red suit, but is anyone else getting a grittier (less gold!) Flash vibe? But A freakin’ + for the subtle horns!

Wally West, AKA Kid Flash, was really just wearing a perfectly acceptable shirt and pants and he made it work. 

Ray Palmer (Brandon Routh) spent months building his super suit, and while it’s just as busy as so many other costumes on this list, we can at least assume all the little bits and bobs actually do something. 

The original version of Arrow’s love interest/partner, Sara Lance rocked the relatively simple black outfit and bleached-blonde wig like a freakin’ boss—before she was brutally murdered by (SPOILER ALERT!) none other than Oliver’s younger sister Thea. Thankfully, she was revived, and now leads a team of Legends who travel through time in an entirely different costume. 

Those pads, that hood, those sleeveless arms! There was a time when this felt cool and now it feels like he’s about to perform in Magic Mike. Is that bad? Unclear. 

Thunder looks like there’s hardly a fight she wouldn’t win, but why yellow and black?! 

Lightning looks even cooler, but both Thunder and Lightning give us so many bee vibes and we’re so sorry. 

This is early Oliver Queen, back when his outfit and his crimefighting were just a little bit simpler. It’s not particularly exciting, but it did signal that this was not the Green Arrow of Smallville, but an entirely new and much darker character who had a much bigger future ahead of him.

Stephen Amell shared this adorable first look at his new suit for the eighth and final season and so far, we’ve gotta wait to see it in action, and in the dark, where most scenes on Arrow take place. It’s unexpectedly simple and a new shade of green, but we don’t hate it. 

We used to really love this costume, but Barry’s grown, we’ve grown, and we’re no longer so afraid of the color red. This is almost purple in comparison to where we are now. 

Mockingbird’s time on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D was relatively short but her costume was pretty great. 

This costume, worn by first trans superhero Nia (Nicole Maines) on Supergirl, is just fine, but to be honest we were expecting something a little more mystical, with nods to her family history and her dreamy powers. But this does feel very practical. 

This is perfect just because Nora adopted her mom’s jacket, from that one short time Iris had Barry’s powers. It fits everything about this character, too. 

Vibe is looking cool, but the Elongated Man is not so much. Killer Frost is at her best when she leans into the cool as opposed to the cornier super suit, and honestly Iris’ superhero look should always involve a luxurious white coat and a large gun. 

Who knew yellow could be quite so terrifying?

Oliver really toned things down when he started working on the right side of the law, and it worked for him.

There’s something so classic and simple but modern and sensible about this that fits Kara just perfectly, even if we still don’t get how Kara hides that skirt under her regular clothes. 

Listen, in 2019, this costume would be laughed out of the building. But it’s so classic we physically are not able to rank it any lower. 

There is almost never a moment where Black Lightning doesn’t look like a badass in this techy update of the classic costume. 

Meet Kate Kane, AKA Batwoman! Ruby Rose made her debut as the queen of Gotham in the 2018 Arrowverse crossover before starring in her own pilot, and we do not understand the hair, but the rest of this is definitely working. 

Any suit that you can summon out of a ring is pretty cool, and while it took the red color a minute to grow on us, Barry’s new suit and its perfect combo of classic and modern Flash quickly became one of our favorites ever. 

Tyler Hoechlin quickly made a serious impression as Clark Kent/Superman on the CW’s Supergirl, thanks in part to his costume that’s relatively simple but also looks incredibly practical and tough. He wears it well, and this pic of these two cousins side by side honestly gives us chills.