The old-timey comicbook superheroes were modelled on sideshow strongmen, who bent iron rods with their bare hands and such, and all tended to wear capes and tight costumes with shorts on the outside.
Interesting! Also, anyone interested can see an example here
Dang bring that style back
Imagine being flipped off by this guy!
https://www.oldtimestrongmanblog.com/blog/2025/11/edwin-zello/
This is badass. Thank you for the link.
Exactly this, came here to explain it and found someone did it already. Thank you!
Are you sure?
I feel like the progression implies that he stopped wearing it.
I’m still just trying to understand why you need a belt to hold up underwear. And, not just a belt, but some real shiny metal shit.
I have to assume there’s a “Young Superman” story where he’s repeatedly pants’d by his adversary and swears it’ll never happen again.
Give him a break. He’s not from around here.
Everybody dresses like that in… checks notes… Wichita.
So this is planet Houston.
That’s no moon, its a petrochemicals transit hub.
Worst Superman outfit. His outfit is not a costume, it’s his native clothing. It shouldn’t look like body armor. He doesn’t even need body armor.
It’s his native clothing in the new superman. It was made by Martha by some cloth she found in the spaceship, because it was really durable. If you like spandex vetter than cool looking “armor” that’s okay.
It’s part of the look. It’s like getting rid of Batman’s ears because they’re “silly”.
If you think the red over the tights look silly, you’re not the right person to be making a superman movie
Look, it’s easy to mess up when you have x-ray vision.
It’s better to wear them on the outside, they stay cleaner that way
/j
If you’re going to replace the trunks, there still needs to be something red there. The contrast makes the suit visually pop.
I want a serious superman with a super bulge. Stop making it flat and hidden. Give me the nipple armor and the dick bulge and the fat cheeks
Emperor has no cloths situation. No one wanted to criticize the godlike alien beings fashion sense to his face.
While I typically dont mind most heroes having a costume that doubles as advanced armor or the like, such as Spidey or Batman (Tho i like when Spidey has more makeshift stuff,) I do prefer the more corny, fun look for Superman. As much as I like Absolute Superman, I do like his hopeful colorful look the most.
Counterpoint: 2014 is wearing a thong. Look at those high straps.
i prefer no Trunks with hopeful vibe. please see Superman Rebirth for what i think is basically a perfect outfit.
i’m sorry, i don’t know what this means 😆
The 2014 one looks the most dystopia’ evil goon like, somehow.
Kind of the point, since the Snyder films were trying to portray a “realistic” Superman (whatever that means), which gave him a sort of cognitive dissonance in how little he cared about actually saving human lives, despite saying otherwise.
I like the explanation Gunn used, which was basically that it reminds him just how goofy it is, and that helps keep him grounded as a human.
Also he wants to be someone a lost kid would feel safe asking for directions. He doesn’t want to look like he’s better than anyone
