Ranking The Top 5 Captain America Costumes

The Avengers just aren’t the same without their leader, the star-spangled Avenger himself Captain America.

That’s not to diminish the leaders who have come before or taken up the baton after, but there is just something about the unquestionable character of Steve Rogers (recent Hydra-ness aside of course) that makes him the cornerstone of Marvel’s iconic team.

Over the years, the mantle has been passed on a few times, and each new entry gets its own costume makeover. Even Rogers has undergone several costume transformations along the way, both in comics and in film.

That doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon either, as the comic recently debuted a new look for Rogers and Avengers: Infinity War will undeniably put its own spin on the suit seen in Captain America: Civil War.

With those changes in mind, it felt prudent to look at what’s come before and rank the top 5 best Captain America costumes thus far.

Captain America Sam Wilson

When Rogers passed the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson, his longtime friend, and partner, fans knew he would bring his own flair to the costume.

What followed was exactly that, and it’s one of the slicker redesigns in recent memory. It takes symbol inspiration from Roger’s previous Super Solider look and implements the red and white stripes of the classic look. There’s much more white in this outfit, and the red goggles are a nice compliment to that.

Marvel found a nice mix of classic and modern, and hopefully, the look sticks around for awhile.

Captain America The Avengers

For Cap’s bit modern day film debut, Joss Whedon and Marvel went for a modern take on the classic costume, and for the most part succeeded.

The helmet’s a bit too bulky in action, but everything else here is stellar. The colors are big and bright just like the comics, but the costume feels much more like actual armor than the all-spandex suits of previous iterations.

The gloves and boots feel as if they have real weight to them, and there are just enough modern lines to touch up the suit without making it look too cluttered.

The suit would be refined even more in the future, but fans were plenty happy with Cap’s Avengers debut.

Captain America Stars And Stripes

Nope, it’s not the most realistic, and there will always be those who feel as if this suit has outlived its time. Still, there is just something about the classic stars and stripes that stands the test of time, much like Rogers himself.

This version has undergone numerous tweaks along the way, but the core tenants remain the same. Bright Red, White, and Blue styling with bulky red boots and gloves. Throw in the chain mail-like design and the loved or hated white wings on his mask, and you’ve got yourself the costume that most have come to know the character by.

It’s bright, loud, and not at all subtle, but then when your name is Captain America, it seems there’s really no need to be is there?

Ultimate Captain America

When you talk to comic fans about Captain America’s various looks over the years, many will have a soft spot for the Ultimate Captain America. Before Secret Wars wiped it out of existence, the Ultimate universe was a way to tell interesting new stories with iconic characters, including Cap as part of the Ultimates.

For those that have a fondness for the classic outfit but want it imbued with a bit more realism, the Ultimate Cap hit that sweet spot. The color scheme is the same, but gone are the chunky red gloves and boots, and most of all those pesky white wings. In their places are red styled combat boots, less medieval armor plating, and a military grade belt. 

Everything was molded after the military, and what was left was a superhero that was much easier to believe in.

The Winter Solider

What the ultimate Captain America costume did for comics, Captain America: Winter Solider did for film.

The suit was based on Steve’s look from his Steve Rogers: Super Solider days but became something even sleeker. The muted blue with brown leather and silver highlights let the bright shield be the main influence of color, and in motion, the suit looked phenomenal.

It fit right in with Cap’s focus on agility and fluidity in his movements, and the pair were perfectly in sync. While Avengers: Age of Ultron would add more red and white elements, this suit is still the favorite among many longtime fans, and successfully won over a number of new fans as well.