Power Ranking the Costumes of DC's 'Legends of Tomorrow'

The Arrowverse’s de facto Justice League (with a time-travelling spin that puts them closer to the Legion of Superheroes) is promising to blow up primetime superheroism with blockbuster special effects usually reserved for summer tentpoles. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, airing on The CW, is composed of secondary superheroes and villains from Arrow and The Flash, banded together to tackle the sort of villainy that requires team banter.

But the important question here is: how good do they look? Who successfully combines geek with chic and who trips over their own (literal) wires? This is Inverse’s power rankings of the Legends of Tomorrow’s threads, from best to worst.

1) White Canary

Beyond looking amazing on actress Caity Lotz, Sara Lance’s White Canary costume is also pretty functional — especially as far as female superhero costumes go. Notice the lack of exposed cleavage and mini skirt. She could probably benefit from a scrunchy but you can’t ask for the moon.

2) Hawkman and Hawkgirl (tie)

Hawkman and Hawkgirl both share the number two spot. The best super suits compromise between their comic book roots and some vague understanding of “real world” practicality. Typically that mostly just amounts to some kind of treated leather. Despite having gotten some flack from the internet, we think these two cut quite an impressive figure. Are they not simply begging to be cosplayed by an overeager gym couple at Comic-Con? Points have to be deducted for overuse of dreary brown. You’re bird-people: Have fun with it! Throw some yellow in there.

Oh, speaking of yellow…

3) Firestorm

Colorful? Check. Practical? Check. True to its comic inspiration? Check. Frankly, the only reason this isn’t higher on our list is because of the weak chest piece, which is trying hard for that Iron Man look instead of doing something new. Some sort of headpiece or eye mask might also have dampened the motorcycle fetishist look Franz Drameh is currently giving off.

4) Rip Hunter

If it weren’t for the trench coat, this generic ensemble of beige-black-brown would find Rip Hunter ranking a hell of a lot lower for us. However, characters like Constantine and shows like Doctor Who (reference!) have proven that trench coats work. And while Arthur Darvill mostly pulls it off, we have to knock a few marks off for the unnecessary length. With [Rip Hunter’s costume from the comic books](http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/RipHunter(New_Earth) still out there, begging for a live adaptation, we can’t help but be slightly disappointed.

5) Captain Cold

Look, even without budgetary constraints, Captain Cold’s outfits have always kind of sucked. It’s a blue parka and a big gun. Efficient? Sure. Unique for a supervillain? Definitely. But that’s not a goddamn costume! Not on the page or on the screen. Legends of Tomorrow is already slightly updating his look, so the above photo isn’t permanent, but it’s still generic enough to warrant an unmitigated shrug on our part.

6) Heat Wave

At this point, it’s pretty clear that the CW is getting a kickback from Big “Generic Brown Coat.” What other explanation could there be for taking a villain whose comic book costume makes it looks like he hangs out into volcanoes and throwing him into yet another shapeless bag of potatoes?

7) The Atom

Yes, The Atom has the worst costume. Let’s talk why.

In theory, this fits my entire bill: compromise Saturday morning action with some authentic realism? Check. Full of color? Check. Extra credit for legitimately impressive construction? Yes, ten points to Gryffindor.

But man, does Atom’s super suit get some things wrong. First, no wonder the budget for this show allegedly went through the roof. Where some colorful leather or even good ol’ spandex would have worked, you dress up a TV superhero in enough armor to make Iron Man blush.

Second, it looks authentic but also looks way impractical. In the few fight scenes Ray Palmer has been in on Arrow it looks like … just a very bad time, really.

Third, though Atom’s own spandex design doesn’t really make him stand apart from other comic book superheroes, the irony is that it would stand apart from every other TV superhero. In Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow, Palmer’s super suit is a clunky attempt to look like Iron Man or Kikaider for really no discernible reason. But if he were in the shows donning a unitard with some reasonable padding or techno attachments, I’d dare say it look unique and less like a robotic mess.