“Wearing a costume was a source of humiliation for me”, Ben Affleck once said referring to his experience starring in Daredevil. ‘Gigli’ was released later that year.

Shiny red tights cannot be blamed for the problems in Daredevil just like the nipples in George Clooneys’ batman suit are not entirely to blame for the worst comic book adaptation ever attempted by talented grown-ups who had displayed reasonable amounts of talent in the films that preceded Batman & Robin. If costumes alone could ruin movies then we would have dismissed the three movies featuring the hulk just because of his unexplainable magic pants.

“What did you expect, yellow spandex?” – Cyclops

All magneto really needs is the helmet; Capes are no use at all, unless it’s the official dress code of the gods in their home planet or we’re talking a Chris Nolan-esque screen adaptation where it can be made to make sense; and the only reason Kick Ass and his ‘powerless’ gang like to dress up is,really, because they like to dress up. Yeah, maybe it was agood idea to ditch Wolverines yellow spandex for the movie – as Cyclops pointed out, but, most superheroes need the costumes. Just like watches have little to do with telling the time anymore, the costumes have transcended their role as a disguise to protect the identity of the hero – forget what Bruce Wayne said – to become and actually always were, a bold statement and identity. Not to mention without them, the entire cosplay world wouldn’t exist, and that’s just sad.

However, comic book heroes were not created for the screen, and a few of them (PowerGirl, Stripperella et_al), even under the guidance of the most talented filmmakers, should not be allowed to cross over. Mind you, some of these talented filmmakers, whose portfolios indicate they would bring interesting aspects to these adaptations, have zero interest or even frown upon a grown man running around in stupid cape [sic – David Cronenberg on Comic Book Movies as a cinematic art form]

To me, superhero costumes in movies are a great lesson in filmmaking, clearly demonstrating our ability to immerse ourselves into a human story and not give a shit how the impossibly detailed suit came to be. The details of who does their heavy duty sewing are about as glamorous as the details of the actual people who do the heavy duty sewing on high end designer clothes/accessories in the real world. It’s ‘beneficial’, one might argue, that these details remain the shadows. Besides, save for a few, like Captain America, who I think has a most amusing and original costume origin story in the First Avenger, most of these backstories would be a bore.

tidbits:
#1. According to screenrant, spiderman’s costume has been adapted for the screen the best, so maybe it pays when filmmakers toss the realistic/grounded costume origin story in favour of a design more faithful to the comic book version. There’s a reason the fans have bought and loved it for half a century after all.

#2. A Daredevil director’s cut, intended as an improvement on the theatrical version and  including an entire sub-plot involving a character played by Coolio was released in 2004.

#3. Gigli was released on the same week as its writer/ directors birthday.  The good man hasn’t made a film since.