Best Superman movie suit?

VulcanRaven

Member
Its one of these:

Superman (2025)
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Evil Superman from the third movie
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Man of Steel suit looks very good too but that silver muscle suit is too visible through the material.
 
I dislike the ones where he looks more muscular. Superman is Superman he doesn't need bulging biceps, he just needs to be tall and somewhat broad.
 
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Peak
 
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In terms of live-action films? The original Reeve suit, or the 2025 one.

The Returns suit was too muted despite the fact it was supposed to be a continuation of the Reeve movies (the first two anyway), but the suit and the whole visual look of the film didn't reflect that.

I don't mind the DCEU suit, but it needed a bit of red to it. If they didn't want to do the underwear, then doing a belt similar to the one the New 52 comics era suit had would have been fine.
 
In terms of live-action films? The original Reeve suit, or the 2025 one.

The Returns suit was too muted despite the fact it was supposed to be a continuation of the Reeve movies (the first two anyway), but the suit and the whole visual look of the film didn't reflect that.

I don't mind the DCEU suit, but it needed a bit of red to it. If they didn't want to do the underwear, then doing a belt similar to the one the New 52 comics era suit had would have been fine.
My biggest issue with Returns suit was the cape material and how it was connected. It just didn't look right.
 
Man of Steel and it's not even close for me.
Reeves has the nostalgic comic look from that day and age, but comics have progressed.
 
Gunn's/modern suits insistence on padding and panelling is annoying and I can't agree with it in most cases. Even My Adventures with Superman animation adds darker panels... That gif of new-Superman is dope and it makes me wish he was wearing a simpler, leaner suit.

MOS was too extreme, I did not like it much.

My opinion is that he should have a simple suit. He can have/use other suits with better Krypto tech like in New 52, but standard should be simple, the simplicity adds to his appeal, like Goku, so damn powerful a simple outfit suffices. The Gunn style suit is too obvious it's a Guardians person designing it, it's boring as a result. MOS should be avoided or used sparingly, he looks like an oily fish.
 
I did the classic (George) Reeves look, especially reimagined for the Hollywoodland flick with Ben Affleck.

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It's a tough job to balance the size of the S, make it seem inherent to the suit, but then also have the suit look touch enough to survive supermans antics. Obviously the later, more textured, material suits like Man of Steel really nailed a cool suit that looks like alien tech, but I don't like the notion that supes was sent with a battle suit equivalent (since why would a kryptonian not under a yellow sun ever need such a tough suit as part of daily wear?). So it needs to look a bit homemade but also fitted and sleek.

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Pretty hard to make ANY suit, made of sheer stretchy material, look good on an actual human. Like most superheroes, Supes is often drawn as if he was nude, 2% bodyfat, and has just a body painted suit. The molded suits look better in stills, but always seem awkward and stiff in motion. While these older suit designs, or Wests Batman, keep them fluid and dynamic.
 
Cavill not even close.
Original was iconic.
Last one is hilariosly bad, look like cheap cosplay.


Can't remember other versions tbh.
 
Superman suit is boring. Let's talk about the best Clark Kent outfit. I really liked the 90s journalist style of Dean Cain's Clark.

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And Smallville's farmer Clark:

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Man of Steel is the best one and it's not even a competition tbh.

Have to agree.

The "classic" suit with the red underwear on the outside looks so dumb. It might have looked great up to the 70s, but now it just looks ridiculous.
 
I like the basics of the new suit -- but the superfluous stitching is odd to me.

The Man of Steel suit makes a bit more sense, as I think something like that would be more "one-piece" than Ma El stitching the sh t out of a suit.
 
I like the Reeve suit. But that is probably nostalgia bias. But the first one tends to be comic accurate.

Like the Iron Man 1 suit is the best.
 
I think this suit, but without red trunks, would be the best.

Also hot take for best Supergirl suit:

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She was a great supergirl. But I question how well she could move in that thing, though most of the action in the past couple flicks were all CG for the kryptonians. Giving the actors suits they can MOVE in would go a long way to bring back actual performances and action scenes that feel relatable.

But they gotta keep the skirt, it adds to the sense of playfullness for the character and a bit of sexiness with the way they can add skirt flips (no panty flashes though, please). Plus Supergirl should have a nice set of legs to show off with some muscle definition. Thigh high boots are to hide a lack of quads and calves due to poor casting/conditioning.
 
She was a great supergirl. But I question how well she could move in that thing, though most of the action in the past couple flicks were all CG for the kryptonians. Giving the actors suits they can MOVE in would go a long way to bring back actual performances and action scenes that feel relatable.

But they gotta keep the skirt, it adds to the sense of playfullness for the character and a bit of sexiness with the way they can add skirt flips (no panty flashes though, please). Plus Supergirl should have a nice set of legs to show off with some muscle definition. Thigh high boots are to hide a lack of quads and calves due to poor casting/conditioning.

It made sense for the altered timeline version of Supergirl to not have the skirt as due to what she had gone through, she would NOT be in the mood for any amount of playfulness. Being kept in a small cell almost your entire life and then finding out your cousin was murdered despite being an infant tends to do that to people.
 
It made sense for the altered timeline version of Supergirl to not have the skirt as due to what she had gone through, she would NOT be in the mood for any amount of playfulness. Being kept in a small cell almost your entire life and then finding out your cousin was murdered despite being an infant tends to do that to people.
Then who made it for her? I don't recall all the details from The Flash but IIRC she showed up wearing it and was imprisoned right away. So its not a choice based on her trauma but rather the outfit she wore for the transit.

What supes wears depends on what that suit is. A actual kryptonian uniform of some sort, just casual kryptonian clothes, something made with kryptonian cloth, or something made on earth? I don't recall any explanation for his suit in MoS other than maybe it was made/found on the crashed ship?

We handwave how those suits (mostly) survive horrific damage (except for Empowered where suit damage is central to her 'power set') but it still should be thought out.

Consider a kryptonian under a yellow sun. Their VERY SKIN is impenetrable, no need for armor because it doesn't really add any protection (other than a lead suit to block kryptonite or some sort of power amplification suit they rarely employ or the respirator things used in MoS). So no real need to wear anything beyond modesty, really. Obviously for us, the audience, the suit does a lot in conveying tone and atmosphere, but from the perspective of the in-world hero it's probably a very silly thing to have to wear just that one thing when fighting bad guys as most costumes are quite impractical (as The Incredibles so aptly pointed out).
 
Then who made it for her? I don't recall all the details from The Flash but IIRC she showed up wearing it and was imprisoned right away. So its not a choice based on her trauma but rather the outfit she wore for the transit.

What supes wears depends on what that suit is. A actual kryptonian uniform of some sort, just casual kryptonian clothes, something made with kryptonian cloth, or something made on earth? I don't recall any explanation for his suit in MoS other than maybe it was made/found on the crashed ship?

The suit in Man of Steel was entirely Kryptonian-made, and yes, Clark finds it on the ship. So it makes sense that Kara's outfit would likewise be Kryptonian.

We handwave how those suits (mostly) survive horrific damage (except for Empowered where suit damage is central to her 'power set') but it still should be thought out.

Consider a kryptonian under a yellow sun. Their VERY SKIN is impenetrable, no need for armor because it doesn't really add any protection (other than a lead suit to block kryptonite or some sort of power amplification suit they rarely employ or the respirator things used in MoS). So no real need to wear anything beyond modesty, really. Obviously for us, the audience, the suit does a lot in conveying tone and atmosphere, but from the perspective of the in-world hero it's probably a very silly thing to have to wear just that one thing when fighting bad guys as most costumes are quite impractical (as The Incredibles so aptly pointed out).


In Man of Steel, Clark wears it to honor the legacy of Krypton. Zod, Faora, and the other invaders wear their outfits as they are representing Krypton but as conquerors instead. Kara from the The Flash (2023) wore it for basically the same reason as Clark.

In other continuities, Clark usually has the outfit made from Martha Kent, though sometimes she's using material from the pod Clark arrived in to work with (like the blanket being made into the cape). It's more about visually conveying a sense of good and kindness from the outfit than a tactical advantage of any kind.

David Corenswet (Superman 2025) even voiced his support to keep the trunks, saying it was a necessary element of the character, to help avoid giving the character an intimidating look.
 
I love Reeve's costume, but this is still unmatched. Even behind the scenes it's glorious:

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I would love to see a version of this suit without the fake muscle padding/shading (and maybe a belt). I think it is a close number 2 in design.
 
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But they gotta keep the skirt,
The skirt doesn't make much sense in that universe because kryptonians didn't dress that way, they only wore practical or ceremonial things to fulfill the task they were bred to do; kara wears the same suit they all do:
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This is probably the reason clark's suit is slightly different; it's on a scout ship so having all the colours and the cape makes it most likely for ceremonial/ambassador purposes if the scouts (kara's crew) made contact with another civilisation, so it makes sense for alternate kara receive a similar one with the colours/cape.
 
I like the basics of the new suit -- but the superfluous stitching is odd to me.

The Man of Steel suit makes a bit more sense, as I think something like that would be more "one-piece" than Ma El stitching the sh t out of a suit.
I don't like the suit being one-piece and it makes it too blue. The red trunks make it look like the pants are seperate.
 
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Reeve in Superman 3 to me still looks the best. As someone said above, Superman doesn't need to be overly muscled. I say Superman 3 in particular because Reeve had bulked up a bit from Superman 1/2, without looking like a body-builder like Cavill did. Plus at 6'4 he was the perfect height:
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Can't get more 'off the comic page' than that IMO, at least as far as the classic Superman look goes.
 
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I don't like the suit being one-piece and it makes it too blue. The red trunks make it look like the pants are seperate.
I just mean all the seams in the new suit -- the shoulders, the arms, the legs -- that make zero sense, other than "design!"

But I do like the traditional red trunks.
 
The skirt doesn't make much sense in that universe because kryptonians didn't dress that way, they only wore practical or ceremonial things to fulfill the task they were bred to do; kara wears the same suit they all do:
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This is probably the reason clark's suit is slightly different; it's on a scout ship so having all the colours and the cape makes it most likely for ceremonial/ambassador purposes if the scouts (kara's crew) made contact with another civilisation, so it makes sense for alternate kara receive a similar one with the colours/cape.
Nothing demystifies kryptonians more than showing them trudging along like normal people. These morons could just take a yellow sun bath each morning and then FLY up that cliff.

IMHO the less we know about them the better. Trying to turn this type of comic into some approximation of a sci-fi story is a mistake.
 
These morons could just take a yellow sun bath each morning and then FLY up that cliff.
Not really, yellow stars aren't exactly common in the universe so that doesn't help exploring it, red stars are the most common and they completely depower kryptonians, negating the effects of a "yellow sun bath".
 
Not really, yellow stars aren't exactly common in the universe so that doesn't help exploring it, red stars are the most common and they completely depower kryptonians, negating the effects of a "yellow sun bath".
Well, if we are gonna get scientific, then a yellow sun is just a different light spectrum emission. And you could soak it up, then put on a suit that 'blocks' whatever harmful effects a red sun would have. Red suns are cooler and emit less radiation, but they don't really have any fundamentally different emission properties.

Or, and you can see where I'm going with this stuff, have the visuals under a red sun look different because otherwise it sure looks like they are taking a hike on a planet being bathed in the same light spectrum as earth. Hell, the plants are even using chlorophyll or something similar to absorb the same EM spectrum range as earth.

When you go sci-fi you gotta GO SCI-FI. The standards are different than comic book handwavey nonsense. Especially in a comic, where there is much less of a "low budget so every planet looks like southern california/vancouver rain forest" limitation.

Now obviously the real answer to all these questions is "whatever I want because its all made up" but should we accept such a low bar of intellectual rigor, internal consistency, and application of basic logic to our comics? Or should we insist, nay, DEMAND, that the medium grow and advance?
 
then a yellow sun is just a different light spectrum emission. And you could soak it up, then put on a suit that 'blocks' whatever harmful effects a red sun would have. Red suns are cooler and emit less radiation, but they don't really have any fundamentally different emission properties.
A suit like that wouldn't do much, at least not for deep space exploration, and they do exist in the comics, like the lead-lined suits to protect from kryptonite, because kryptonian cells are just batteries and they start depleting immediately away from a yellow star, running out rapidly when actively using the powers.
Or, and you can see where I'm going with this stuff, have the visuals under a red sun look different because otherwise it sure looks like they are taking a hike on a planet being bathed in the same light spectrum as earth.
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The "colour" is really just the temperature (and sequence) of the star, stars emits the entire visible light spectrum, so they all should appear "white" unless really dim and the composition of the atmosphere is what makes the most difference of what the "light spectrum" looks like on the the planet
 
Reeve in Superman 3 to me still looks the best. As someone said above, Superman doesn't need to be overly muscled. I say Superman 3 in particular because Reeve had bulked up a bit from Superman 1/2, without looking like a body-builder like Cavill did. Plus at 6'4 he was the perfect height
It makes sense. Superman should have more of a farmboy build rather than the elite gym shredded physique.


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A suit like that wouldn't do much, at least not for deep space exploration, and they do exist in the comics, like the lead-lined suits to protect from kryptonite, because kryptonian cells are just batteries and they start depleting immediately away from a yellow star, running out rapidly when actively using the powers.

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The "colour" is really just the temperature (and sequence) of the star, stars emits the entire visible light spectrum, so they all should appear "white" unless really dim and the composition of the atmosphere is what makes the most difference of what the "light spectrum" looks like on the the planet
Obviously atmospheric composition, distance from the star, and all that has a big effect, but there definitely should be a visible difference between a yellow star and a red one from a planetside perspective, and especially from a plant evolutionary biology stand point. Waaaaay less visible light and high energy UV and a lot more red/IR wavelength coming off a red star.

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So if the comic is gonna try to show kryptonians "being weak" due to the star then the planet should look different and certainly the native life should be very different. But if kryptonians can store solar energy like a battery (versus just being a conduit for it) then it still makes sense they could bank it from a sun bath and even makes good narrative sense because now they have a resource to husband and conserve for emergencies. For a light hearted movie we can have superman inexplicably healing from just a few minutes of sun exposure, even slightly condensed from a reflector barely larger than his body, but if we are gonna really say that stored energy is the root of his powers then he needs to be spending a few weeks at something like a nevada solar generator to really get a decent amount of actual energy.

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but hey, comics, right? Just let her have the damned skirt :P
 
Waaaaay less visible light and high energy UV and a lot more red/IR wavelength coming off a red star.
It's still a star so it's going to be the brightest thing in the sky the planet orbits, and the brightness will depend on the distance and how much the atmosphere is blocking or not; those charts show what the surface of the star looks like if you were able to look at them without burning your eyes out, if any of those were much closer they'd be as "white" as our own sun.
inexplicably healing
It's not inexplicable, the effects to direct exposure are immediate, as are the effects of no exposure; relying on stored radiation for deep space exploration is a no go.
 
It's not inexplicable, the effects to direct exposure are immediate, as are the effects of no exposure; relying on stored radiation for deep space exploration is a no go.
Inexplicable in the sense that superman, laying out in the sun, doesn't heal but put him on a chair under a condenser about 3 times larger than his own body, and then he suddenly starts healing. I get what they are trying to show, but seems like he could just walk around in daylight and heal just as fast. Plus he is wearing his suit the entire time, so it is totally transparent to radiation?

Again, comic books make no sense, so rule of cool beats any attempt at logic.
 
Inexplicable in the sense that superman, laying out in the sun, doesn't heal but put him on a chair under a condenser about 3 times larger than his own body, and then he suddenly starts healing.
Not sure why this is relevant to why MoS universe kryptonians don't wear skirts or don't go "sun bathing" before exploring deep space, but regardless direct exposure is much more effective than partial exposure with a lot of scattering through an atmosphere, always has been; same reason why he starts healing in BvS when the sun hits him in space after taking the nuke to the face.
 
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