When we watch superheroes save the world, we're not only swept away by their impossible powers and inspiring bravery - we're also envious of their drip. Superhero costumes are often half the re꧑ason why we see them in the first place, so it stands to ask: What are the greatest superhero costumes of all time?

Across decades of superhero stories on screens both big and small, some superhero costumes just look better than othersಞ. Whether they faithfully recreate the orig✤inal comic book source material or remix over previous iterations, some costumes inspire fans to cosplay at conventions or rock out at Halloween. They come in kevlar, spandex, leather, armor – and in one case, the pure muscle of a legit bodybuilder.

As superh🍸ero movieꦰs continue to dominate the box office and superhero TV shows fill up our queue, we rank the greatest 36 superhero costumes found on the screen.

36. The Hulk (Lou Ferrigno in The Incredible Hulk)

I꧅t doesn't get much simpler than painting two-♑time Mr. Universe champion Lou Ferrigno green. For the iconic television series The Incredible Hulk, Ferrigno - who grew up reading comic books like Spider-Man and the Hulk to cope with bullying - was painted nuclear green with practical make-up effects, along with contact lenses that changed his eye color. Ferrigno was actually the second actor cast in the role after Richard Kiel, who filmed the pilot but was later fired after his physique was considered underdeveloped.

33. Homelander (Anthony Starr in The Boys)

The Boys' aggressive satire of corporate superhero franchises is found even in the threads of its costumes. While most of The Seven can sometimes look like Temu versions of the Justice League, Anthony Starr's Homelander is a sterling avatar of American exceptionalism crossed with the absolute corruption of anointed godh꧂ood. The show's costume department takes radical left turns from how the characters look in the comics - and for the better, honestly - but Homelander is a standout case of a show's thematic storytelling married into its visual designs. Homelander sports a silhouette that's as iconic as villains Darth Vader, and that alone does more than iဣnstill fear - it makes itself unforgettable.

32. Thor (Chris Hemsworth in the MCU)

Chris Hemsworth has worn numerous🌌 versions of the Thor costume throughout his prolific run in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise. But any time he's on screen, he's hard to take your eyes off of. No matter what version of his costume he's wearing, the touchstones are always the best part: the colossal red cape, the V-shaped chainmail armor with circular patterns, and of course, his hammer Mjo🎃lnir. There's just something about the way the whole thing looks together, and on Hemsworth especially, that makes Thor worthy of his title "God of Thunder."

31. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie in the DCEU)

On one hand, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn is not the least bit faithful to how she first appeared on Batman: The Animated Series. But on the other hand, that's what makes Robbie look so dang good. In the 2016 film Suicide Squad, Robbie's Harley Quinn exemplified ostentatious female sexuality with fishnets that complimented Robbie's slender physique and a gaudy T-shirt. Love it or hate it, the look became the costume for Halloween that year. With the 2020 film Birds of Prey, directed by Cathy Yan, Quinn got glammed up with stringy textures and softer neon colors. While her third onscreen appearance in 2021's The Suicide Squad is close-ish to Harley's original designs, n𓆉early all of them work in their own simply because Robbie is that much of a movie star.

30. Catwoman (Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Returns)

Skintight leather for a character who takes the phrase "cat burglar" too literally seems like a gimme. And the likes of Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, and Michelle Pfeiffer arguably perfected the look of Catwoman in different Batman adaptations of the pas🎐t. But then came Anne Hathaway in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, and once more the wheel was reinvented. With a cleaner look influenced by military uniforms and athletic wear, plus an utterly ingenious headpiece design that mimics cat ears, the Catwoman ꦛwho inhabits Nolan's grounded universe stands out even as she blends in.

29. Quantum Ranger (Daniel Southworth in Power Rangers Time Force)

The brilliance of the Quantum Ranger in Power Rangers Time Force is his symbolic use of red. While this Power Rangers iteration from 2001 already had a Red Ranger in trust fund boy Wes (Jason Faunt), the late-addition Quantum Ranger repeats his color to illustrate the lifelong resentment by its user Eric Meyers (Daniel Southworth) and his drive to be a "𒉰better" Red Ranger. It helps that the Time Force costumes are alone among the sleekest in all of Power Rangers history, but the way the Quantum Ranger turns the sharp lines into feral fangs is an especially nice touch. There have been rivals among Power Rangers before, but Quantum Ranger literally wore on🏅 his sleeve how deep in the blood grudges run.

28. White Canary (Caity Lotz in DC's Legends of Tomorrow)

One may argue that the White Canary in The CW's Legends of Tomorrow is derivative of A-list Avenger, Black Widow. And look, that's not wrong. But while the Marvel Cinematic Universe enjoys the benefits of big budgets, the many DC Comics shows that once populated The CW made do with a lot less. The madcap time travel series Legends of Tomorrow put the spotlight on the many tertiary characters of Arrow and The Flash, with the ensemble anchored by Arrow's Sara Lance (played by Caity Lotz). In stepping up as leader in Legends of Tomorrow, the former Black Canary found a new phase as White Canary (yes, lik♔e Gandalf), with a pale gray get-up that looks just as good as the bigger theatrical tentpoles put out. The White Canary costume may call to mind Black Widow๊ a little too much, but the suit compliments Lotz's unique features while emphasizing Sara Lance's story as a hero reborn. 

27. Ultraman Tiga (Hiroshi Nagano in Ultraman Tiga)

All due respect to the original Ultraman, but his 1996 successor might be the best looking Ultraman in history. Unlike t🐻he original Ultraman who is entirely red and silver, Ultraman Tiga adds tasteful touches of navy blue, along with a generally cleaner and leaner faceplate design compared to the original fuller-faced Ultraman. Ultraman Tiga was the first Ultra series after the franchise took a long hiatus, and next to the original saga, remains one of the most popular Ultra series ever. One look at Tiga's costume and it's not hard to see why.

26. Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson in Black Adam)

Black Adam might not have changed the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe, but there's no denying that Dwayne Johnson looked incredible. As the titular anti-hero, Johnson's muscular physique is complemented by a form-fitting costume with unique rocky textures. It's🌳 not intended as a pun on "The Rock," but rather the ancient and magical origins of Black Adam, a slave who is gifted the powers of gods only to use them to morally ambiguous ends. The costume stands in direct contrast to Shazam, whose cleaner, bright red outfit is free from the burdens of power that Black Adam is cursed by.

25. The X-Men (in X-Men: Apocalypse)

One of the biggest crimes in superhero cinema was introducing these gorgeous comics-inspired outfits only to throw them away by the next movie. At the end of 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, the X-Men don colorful outfits that take serious inspiration from Chris Claremont's legendary Uncanny X-Men series. The outfits appear on screen for barely a minute, in the movie's epilogue scene in which the X-Men begin training inside the Danger Room. While the introduction of the suits are meant to symbolize the X-Men maturing🌞 into the heroes we know them to be, they're mysteriously abandoned in ಞthe 2019 sequel Dark Phoenix, which outfitted the heroes in simplified - and far more boring - uniforms inspired by Grant Morrison's own New X-Men. 

24. Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen in WandaVision)

Elizabeth Olsen has donned several versions of her Scarlet Witch costume throughout her Avengers movie appearances. And she looks quite magnificent in more evil form in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But in her Disney+ series WandaVision, the episode "All-New Halloween Spooktacular!" - which reimagines the ever-changing Westview into a '90s-inspired TV comedy - sees Olsen dress up in a classic comics outfit that is hilariously waived off as a Halloween store purchase. For all the elaborate designs of modern superhero productions, you can't beat timeless simplicity, and Elizabe🍨th Olsen simply hasn't looked better.