The Costume: A bulky oddity that looks like something you probably made when you were a kid and wanted to be a superhero.
Worn By: Shaquille O’Neal
Why It's Grim: It looks like it was made out of polystyrene.
How Faithful: This movie version doesn't even try to stay true to the comics. First it ditches Steel's red cape, then it gives him a horrible helmet...
G-Girl - My Super Ex-Girlfriend (2006)
"You broke my heart! Now, I'm going to break your EVERYTHING!"
The Costume: Looks like some sort of Milan catwalk reject – a little black dress paired with a furry hat.
Worn By: Uma Thurman.
Why It's Grim: She's not even trying, is she? We already know that G-Girl has a screw loose (that much we gather from her vengeful attitude toward her ex), but does she really think that shoving together heels, a black dress and a hat makes her a superhero? LAME.
How Faithful: Thankfully, this one's a cinematic original, meaning there is no comic.
Batman - Batman & Robin (1997)
"There's just something about an anatomically correct rubber suit that puts fire in a girl's lips."
The Costume: The kind of shiny monstrosity that Liberace would have loved prancing around on stage in.
Worn By: George Clooney.
Why It's Grim: One word. Nipples.
How Faithful: We can't remember there ever being a time when Batman's suit had nipples in the comics. But we could be wrong.
Fantastic Four - Fantastic Four (1994)
"Flame off!"
The Costumes: Spandex blue ensemble that leaves little to the imagination. Worn By: Alex Hyde-White, Jay Underwood, Rebecca Staab
Why It's Grim: These skin-tight outfits look like something you'd wear to bed in space.
How Faithful: Well, they're blue. We'll give them that...
The Punisher - Punisher (1989)
"I PUNISH THE GUILTY!"
The Costume: Biker chic. You can imagine Dolph taking a look in the mirror and deciding there's just not enough black in his outfit. Solution? Add a biker jacket. Job done.
Worn By: Dolph Lundgren.
Why It's Grim: Er, where's the skull?
How Faithful: This one's so unfaithful to the comic that he could barely be called Punisher.
Captain America - Captain America (1979)
"Just be happy."
The Costume: A suitably patriotic ensemble for America's bravest superhero.
Worn By: Red Brown.
Why It's Grim: Can anybody say 'bike helmet'?
How Faithful: Well, they got the red, white and blue right, but everything else is just painful. We still can't get over the bike helmet.
Meteor Man The Meteor Man (1993)
"Meteor Man's in town!"
The Costume: An odd mixture of spandex and in-built body padding. Plus cheesy grin.
Worn By: Robert Townsend.
Why It's Grim: The chunky, box-like abs make Batman's nipples look positively restrained.
How Faithful: This time, the comics came after the film. We honestly can't think why.
Green Lantern - Green Lantern (2011)
"To infinity and beyond!... By the power of Grayskull!"
The Costume: A neon green exo-suit entirely created in a computer – Reynolds was denied a real costume and instead donned mocap dots for the suit to be plastered onto his physique later.
Worn By: Ryan Reynolds.
Why It's Grim: Reynolds and co tried something new with the CGI approach, but it just comes off looking ridiculously cartoon-y.
At least we get to ponder Reynold's exposed navel while the plot does cartwheels.
How Faithful: The addition of glowing sinew is new.
Catwoman - Catwoman (2004)
"White Russian, no ice, no vodka... hold the Kahlua."
The Costume: An S&M atrocity that wouldn't know subtlety if it boffed it in the whiskers.
Worn By: Halle Berry.
Why It's Grim: Have you seen it?! It looks like somebody made a costume, then threw it to the neighbourhood strays to use as a scratching post.
How Faithful: Zero faithful. Zero.
Captain America - Captain America (1990)
"I care."
The Costume: A fetish version of Cap's comic-book threads. Rubber skull-cap anyone?
Worn By: Matt Salinger.
Why It's Grim: It's plastic fantastic – right down to the frisbee-like shield and the silly little head wings.
How Faithful: Relatively – like the 1979 version, it's got the colour scheme right (how could you not?), but the details let it down.
Crimson Bolt - Super (2010)
"People look stupid when they cry."
The Costume: A do-it-yerself effort intended to strike fear into the hearts of villains everywhere.
Worn By: Rainn Wilson.
Why It's Grim: It looks like a really bad Halloween costume. Which is sort of the point, so we'll cut Bolt a bit of slack.
How Faithful: This one's another cinematic original.
The Nameless Monk - Bulletproof Monk (2003)
"Water which is too pure has no fish. "
The Costume: Long, billowy coat. Salmon-coloured shirt.
Worn By: Chow Yun-Fat.
Why It's Grim: It looks like something Clint Eastwood rejected on one of his Westerns.
How Faithful: Well, he's a monk
The Phantom - The Phantom (1996)
"Diana, you look great. You got changed a bit."
The Costume: Purple second skin that's about as unforgiving as a spray-on tan.
Worn By: Billy Zane.
Why It's Grim: It's just a bit silly, really, isn't it?
How Faithful: Very – but to a fault. What works on the page doesn't always work on the screen.
Fantastic Four - Fantastic Four (2005)
"I don't know if I should be flying or doing Swan Lake in these suits." – Johnny Storm
The Costume: Spandex is ditched in favour of whatever that special movie material is that filmmakers used in the noughties in an attempt to give their superheroes a little bit of credibility.
Worn By: Ioan Gruffud, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans
Why It's Grim: The knee-high boots and elbow-length gloves just look silly on the big screen. Are they off to clean the toilet?
How Faithful: It darkens the blue somewhat (a common movie trick) and gives the boys some flattering jock straps.
Black Scorpion - Black Scorpion (1995)
"All I'm saying is that justice was done."
The Costume: PVC leather explosion! PVC knee-high boots. PVC bodice. The only thing not PVC are her silk stockings.
Worn By: Joan Severance.
Why It's Grim: It's a stripper version of superhero costume.
How Faithful: There's no comic to be faithful to. Thank goodness.
Dredd - Judge Dredd (1995)
"There's a maniac loose in the city! "
The Costume: Strangely buff and shiny considering Dredd's line of work.
Worn By: Sylvester Stallone.
Why It's Grim: It looks like a homemade fancy dress costume gone wrong. Dreddful (sorry).
How Faithful: It's actually more faithful than Karl Urban's suit – except for when Sly takes off the helmet (gasp) – but it just looks like a camp monstrosity.
Ghost Rider - Ghost Rider (2007)
"I'm the only one who can walk in both worlds."
The Costume: A combination of Hell's Angel and, er, Hell's angel, with Johnny Blaze donning the leather jacket and chains.
Worn By: Nicolas Cage.
Why It's Grim: The CGI for the skull is just horrible. Stop looking at it. No, please, stop.
How Faithful: Extremely.
Daredevil - Daredevil (2003)
"I'm not the bad guy, kid."
The Costume: A movie update of the comic that ditches red spandex in favour of shiny red leather.
Worn By: Ben Affleck.
Why It's Grim: Remember that scene where he fights Michael Clarke Duncan in the rain? Why doesn't Daredevil's leather suit shrink?
How Faithful : Image-wise, it's pretty faithful. The material isn't, though.
Tank Girl - Tank Girl (1995)
"Lock up your sons!"
The Costume: Tattooed, shave-headed, dungaree-wearing future punk rock.
Worn By: Lori Petty.
Why It's Great: It's totally unique, and doesn't bow down to the demands of the traditional 'sexy heroine'.
How Faithful: Tank Girl had some pretty outrageous costumes in the comics, and Petty does her bit to make her just as outrageous on screen.
Jonah Hex - Jonah Hex (2010)
"I'm all out of wiseass answers."
The Costume: A dusty Clint Eastwood reject. Hat. Chaps. Coat. Gun.
Worn By: Josh Brolin.
Why It's Great: Sure, the movie's lamer than a lame sandwich, but there's no denying Josh Brolin looks the part.
How Faithful: Pretty faithful – right down to the cringe-making facial scars.
The Losers - The Losers (2010)
"That's right bitches, I got a crossbow! "
The Costumes: Um, just sort of everyday wear, to be honest.
Worn By : Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans.
Why It's Great: Morgan rocks a suit and Saldana dons a vest. These are everyday superheroes, after all.
How Faithful: This lot's look is so faithful that we can't even tell the difference between the movie poster and the comic-book cover.
Supergirl - Supergirl (1984)
"What’s so funny?"
The Costume: A saucy number that accentuates all of Supergirl's best assets.
Worn By: Helen Slater.
Why It's Great: It's totally old school, and uses the exact same colour scheme as Christopher Reeve's Superman costume – this spin-off is meant to be from the same movie-verse, see.
How Faithful: Massively faithful – right down to the itty-bitty mini-skirt.
Spawn - Spawn (1997)
"Daaaaaaamn!"
The Costume: A mixture of fabric and prosthetics. Includes a cape, an impressive collar and that awesome mask.
Worn By: Michael Jai White.
Why It's Great: It's just as majestic and awe-inspiring as the one worn by Spawn in the comics. Which means it does its job very well.
How Faithful: It's less colourful than the comic book version, but that works in its favour.
Superman - Superman Returns (2006)
"I’m still Superman!"
The Costume: A modern update of the classic Superman suit.
Worn By: Brandon Routh.
Why It's Great: We love Superman Returns , and Routh looks fantastic in this suit, which pays attention to the little details.
How Faithful: The 'S' on his chest is shrunk and his pants are more A&F than Marvel. The red's also darker.
Punisher - The Punisher (2004)
"Frank Castle is dead. Call me... The Punisher."
The Costume: A 'real world' version of the iconic costume, with The Punisher's iconic black T-shirt swapped for a black bulletproof vest. Genius.
Worn By: Thomas Jane.
Why It's Great: Alright, so the sleeveless look sort of beggars belief, but Jane pulls it off. Plus the dripping skull icon is awesome.
How Faithful: The bulletproof vest is a new addition, but this costume captures the essence of the comics magnificently.
Barbarella - Barbarella (1968)
"A good many dramatic situations begin with screaming"
The Costume: Too many to count – Barbarella goes through more costume changes than a catwalk model. Still, they're all awesome.
Worn By: Jane Fonda.
Why It's Great: The film embraces the flirty, kitsch vibe of the comics.
How Faithful: They're slutty to the max and, like, really fashionable. Pretty faithful, then.
Kick-Ass - Kick-Ass (2010)
"Who am I? I’m Kick-Ass!"
The Costume: A green-and-yellow wetsuit. With batons.
Worn By: Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Why It's Great: It's exactly the kind of outfit a teenage kid would come up with if he decided to be a superhero.
How Faithful: Totally faithful – it's like Kick-Ass jumped off the page right onto our screens.
Captain America Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
"I knocked out Adolf Hitler over 200 times."
The Costume: A military twist on the classic Caps outfit replete with battle-ready body armour. Hard-wearing, it is.
Worn By: Chris Evans.
Why It's Great: It's a costume that feels fit for purpose – in the story, Cap's meant to be a troupe-inspiring super-soldier. And that's exactly what this costume feels like.
How Faithful: Not particularly, but that's fine by us.
Spider-Man - Spider-Man (2002)
"Can I do anything for you?"
The Costume: Peter Parker's red-and-blue concoction, which is a dark sight better than his original pyjama-like creation.
Worn By: Tobey Maguire.
Why It's Great: Alright, so it doesn't really feel like something a teenager could create in his bedroom, but it's a great-looking costume.
How Faithful: The colours are darker, and the webbing's more pronounced, but that's OK.
The Rocketeer - The Rocketeer (1991)
"How do I look?"
The Costume: Tin-can helmet. Leather jacket. AND A JETPACK.
Worn By: Billy Campbell.
Why It's Great: We just love a period superhero, and this is one of the coolest.
How Faithful: So faithful that creator Dave Stevens should be proud.
Hit-Girl - Kick-Ass (2010)
"So, you wanna play?"
The Costume: A purple ensemble that's sort of like Barbie went wrong.
Worn By: Chloe Grace Moretz.
Why It's Great: It's another DIY number, but any titters that it might inspire at first sight are quickly quashed when Hit-Girl starts putting blades in people.
How Faithful: Aside from the different mask (no doubt because Moretz wanted to actually breathe as Hit-Girl), this is totally faithful, purple wig and all.
Silk Spectre - Watchmen (2009)
"I want you to love me."
The Costume: A waspish yellow-and-black concoction. Must be hell to get on.
Worn By: Marlin Åkerman.
Why It's Great: It's all a bit fetish, isn't it? And what's wrong with a bit of fetish?
How Faithful: It's skintight. And it's yellow and black. That's as faithful as we need.
Blade - Blade (1998)
"I promise you, you'll be dead by dawn."
The Costume: Shades. Floor-scraping coat. Bulletproof (or should that be stakeproof?) vest.
Worn By: Wesley Snipes.
Why It's Great: Let's put it like this: you wouldn't mess with this guy, would you?
How Faithful: There's no red T-shirt (something Blade wore in the comics), but the leather's totally on-brand.
The X-Men - X-Men (2000)
"What would you prefer? Yellow spandex?"
The Costume: Black leather bodysuits emblazoned, naturally, with that all-important 'X'.
Worn By: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden et al
Why It's Great: It gets the balance just right. Rather than looking like a bunch of people off to a leather party, they look like superheroes. Which of course they are.
How Faithful: Not at all.
Black Widow - Avengers Assemble (2012)
"We get all the toys."
The Costume: Fitted black suit that looks like it probably wouldn't protect its wearer quite as much as, say, Iron Man armour.
Worn By: Scarlett Johansson.
Why It's Great: For once, we get a female superhero who's not all about flashing the flesh (though there is that early scene where she's in a dress). Also, the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo is a nice touch.
How Faithful: It's basically a less-shiny version of the suit worn by Widow in The Itsy-Bitsy Spider #1 – right down to the wrist detail.
War Machine - Iron Man 2 (2008)
"Oh man, you can have your suit back. "
The Costume: Basically, an army version of Iron Man, with a more monochrome paint job.
Worn By: Don Cheadle.
Why It's Great: It looks like it means business – and it does.
How Faithful: It's basically a hybrid of the comic-book version and the big-screen Iron Man armour.
The X-Men - X-Men: First Class (2011)
"As none of us mutated to endure extreme g-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up." - Professor X
The Costume: Before the X-Men decided leather was preferable over all else, they donned these yellow-and-blue beauties.
Worn By: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence etc
Why It's Great: Not only is it a nod to the older costumes worn by the mutants in the comics, it's also retro cool.
How Faithful: Not so faithful that it stumbles into ridiculousness, but faithful enough to please fans of the old-school comics.
Dr Manhattan - Watchmen (2009)
"You're going to try to convince me to save the world."
The Costume: Blue. Glowing. Underwear optional.
Worn By: Billy Crudup.
Why It's Great: Crudup looks so good as Manhattan that it's almost like comic artists Dave Gibbons painted him on the film. How Faithful: Massively faithful. Crudup even gets his mini-Manhattan out.
Batman - Batman (1989)
"Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"
The Costume: A rubber masterpiece befitting of the Dark Knight.
Worn By: Michael Keaton.
Why It's Great: It just looks so right.
How Faithful: It ditches the character's signature comic-book grey for black, but pulls it off beautifully.
Hellboy - Hellboy (2004)
"I'm fireproof, you're not."
The Costume: A badass movie version of one of the trickiest movie characters to bring to the big screen. We're still not sure how they pulled this off so well.
Worn By: Ron Perlman.
Why It's Great: The prosthetics work is seamless and the threads have that vital lived-in look.
How Faithful: All the way down to the Right Hand of Doom – luckily, Perlman turned out to be left-handed.
Captain America - Avengers Assemble (2012)
"I understood that reference!"
The Costume: Captain America wakes up in the future (our present) and is gifted a bang up-to-date suit.
Worn By: Chris Evans.
Why It's Great: Not only is it seriously stylish, it also blows Cap's '40s suit out of the water. We love the addition of the helmet that turns into a hood.
How Faithful: It's got all the Captain America elements you'd expect – right down the white head-wings – but with a funky movie twist.
The Crow - The Crow (1994)
"Is that gasoline I smell?"
The Costume: Goth chic as designed by lovers of fetish-wear.
Worn By: Brandon Lee.
Why It's Great: It's a rock star version of a goth superhero, which is exactly as it should be.
How Faithful: The facepaint's whiter than in the comics, but other than that it's pretty bang on.
Thor - Thor (2011)
"I have no plans to die today."
The Costume: A shiny metal bodysuit, plus billowing red cape. Winged helmet optional.
Worn By: Chris Hemsworth.
Why It's Great: Considering Thor's otherworldliness, this should look ridiculous on screen. Instead, it's majestic as hell.
How Faithful: Really faithful.
Dredd - Dredd (2012)
"Judgement time."
The Costume: A futuristic cop uniform you can believe in, with the kind of shoulder pads that would make Joan Collins weep.
Worn By: Karl Urban.
Why It's Great: Urban wears it like a pro – probably because he put the suit on for two weeks before filming to get used to it. Oh, and the helmet stays on.
How Faithful : It's less colourful than the comic-book suit, which is probably for the best.
Iron Man - Iron Man 1-3 (2008-2013)
"Iron Man. That's kind of catchy."
The Costume: A red and gold exo-skeleton that somehow manages not to look like a bulky tin can.
Worn By: Robert Downey Jr.
Why It's Great: Legacy Effects are responsible for creating ol' shellhead's movie look, and they've done a bang-up job for four movies.
How Faithful: So faithful it's like Legacy took the specs from the comics themselves.
Superman - Man Of Steel (2013)
"It’s not an ‘S’."
The Costume: An oily bodysuit with cape, and the 'S' is bigger again after Superman Returns shrunk it. Oh, and there are no red pants...
Worn By: Henry Cavill.
Why It's Great: It's not afraid to take chances, and Zack Snyder and co came up with a believably legitimate reason for Supes to don a skin-tight suit.
How Faithful: There are no red pants (something the comics did with Jim Lee's NuSuperman), the blue's darker, and there's no cow lick. But it still feels like Superman, and that's the point, right?
Rorschach - Watchmen (2009)
"Never compromise. Not even in the face of Armageddon."
The Costume: Raincoat. White mask. Hat.
Worn By: Jackie Earle Haley.
Why It's Great: It looks just how you want it to – and the moving mask is poetry in motion.
How Faithful: Hugely – it's a perfect movie version.
Spider-Man - The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
"You seriously think I'm a cop? Cop in a skin-tight red and blue suit?"
The Costume: Created by costume designed Kym Barrett, who wanted the suit to resemble an acrobat costume.
Worn By: Andrew Garfield.
Why It's Great: It's different to the one worn by Tobey Maguire, and arguably even better because of little changes – like the cool new fabric and the updated spider logo.
How Faithful: Arguably even more so than Maguire's thanks to the mechanised web-shooters.
Superman - Superman (1978)
"Don't thank me, Warden. We're all part of the same team."
The Costume: Primary colours ahoy! There's no toning down the vibrant look of the comics in this old school costume, which looks like it hopped wholesale right out of DC's pages.
Worn By: Christopher Reeve.
Why It's Great: It's a classic. Before it wasn't cool to wear spandex, Reeve totally looks the part – and there's not a snicker in the house.
How Faithful: This one's super-faithful to the comics.
Batman - The Dark Knight (2008)
"Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies share my dread."
The Costume: Tough. Durable. Black. Oh, and it comes with a cape. And there are absolutely, categorically no nipples.
Worn By: Christian Bale.
Why It's Great: This modern version of the Bat get-up looks just like what it is – battle armour.
How Faithful: It's a more real-world-y look than the one favoured in the comics.
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.
