2025 has seen the release of three MCU movies (Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps) and one from the DCU (Superman).
Overall, it's been a great year—perhaps with the exception of Sam Wilson's first solo outing—even if they've all not exactly broken box office records in this new era of so-called superhero fatigue.
Regardless of ticket sales, studios have toys to sell. Whether it's returning fan favourites or some long-awaited debuts, we've seen an interesting mix of superhero and supervillain costumes on screen this year. Some have worked better than others, though, and we're reflecting on both the bad and the good in this feature.
To see the costumes we rank as 2025's worst and best comic book movie costumes, click the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.
Captain America (Captain America: Brave New World)
After giving Sam Wilson a near-perfect Captain America suit in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Captain America: Brave New World left the former Falcon looking like Steve Rogers-lite.
His bland, blue uniform made it seem as if Sam was dressing up in his daddy's clothes, and ditching the mask/cowl for a simple pair of goggles only reinforced that this is The Falcon, wielding Captain America's shield. The movie as a whole was disappointing, but this may have been the biggest let-down.
Avengers: Doomsday can improve on this and will hopefully return to the primarily white colour scheme from the comic books.
Guy Gardner (Superman)
Before Superman was released, some fans defended the Justice Gang's suits by arguing that they were supposed to look bad. After all, they'd clearly been designed by the villainous Maxwell Lord and must be temporary.
Nope, it turns out they're just plain rotten designs.
If this is an indication of what we can expect from Green Lantern in the DCU, it's a crushing disappointment. Mister Terrific looked a little better, and Hawkgirl was okay, but Lanterns needs to improve on whatever this is. Perhaps the 2011 movie was right to go with CG costumes if this is the alternative...
The Thing (The Fantastic Four: First Steps)
For the most part, The Fantastic Four: First Steps' take on the uniforms worn by Marvel's First Family was very good. They paid homage to the comic books and worked well in the reboot's 60s-inspired aesthetic.
However, we need to talk about The Thing. Having Ben Grimm spend most of his time wearing a uniform that covered his chest was an obvious move to save money on VFX costs, but an early scene proved that the Ever-Loved Blue-Eyed hero looked so much better without it.
Avengers: Doomsday is sure to boast a colossal budget, so here's hoping the Russo Brothers go with something a little more comic-accurate.
The Falcon (Captain America: Brave New World)
As a character, the MCU's Joaquin Torres is as generic as they come. He's lost everything that made his comic book counterpart unique, and this generic green uniform did little to make the new Falcon stand out in a movie that included Captain America and a Red Hulk.
Captain America: Brave New World tried desperately to make us care about Joaquin, but it never quite clicked. Had he also not looked like he was just playing dress-up, it might have helped. As things stand, this is another legacy hero that Marvel Studios has dropped the ball on.
Remember, this article is about costume design, not character design; otherwise, The Leader would have surely found a place in this list.
And now, it's time to take a look at the costumes that did work...
The New Avengers (Thunderbolts*)
Taking aside Red Guardian's goofy costume (which only seems to exist for a few cheap laughs), it was awesome seeing The Avengers wearing "matching" uniforms. Each character retained their personalities, with the addition of an "A" making a surprisingly big difference.
Bucky looked better on screen than he has probably since 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, while Yelena, U.S. Agent, and Ghost also stood out in this memorable post-credits scene.
As you might expect, we're eager to see more of these costumes in Avengers: Doomsday next year. The Russo Brothers shot this stinger, so expect this to be what the former Thunderbolts wear when they cross paths with the Fantastic Four.
Galactus (The Fantastic Four: First Steps)
Marvel Studios really couldn't have done better than this masterpiece of a costume for Galactus. The iconic villain looked like he'd stepped straight off the page, though we'd argue that the intricate Celestial-like details improve on what we've seen on the page.
Making this even more impressive is the fact that actor Ralph Ineson donned a practical suit as the Devourer of Worlds in The Fantastic Four: First Steps!
That's a testament to filmmaker Matt Shakman, and likely goes some way in explaining why Galactus has left such a lasting impact on fans. After the disaster that was Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, this was redemption for the iconic character.
Superman (Superman)
Say what you will about some of the MCU-isms, but the Man of Tomorrow's suit in Superman was a huge win for the character. Boasting bright colours and the red trunks, this is everything the majority of fans want from this character on screen.
It looked great in action, and while there's room for improvement (it's perhaps a little too baggy), it's hard to deny that this vastly improved on the moody, murky effort worn by Henry Cavill in the DCEU.
Throw in the Kingdom Come-inspired logo, and we're left with a classic Superman who it's hard to find fault with.