Every Spider-Man Live-Action Suit Ranked
Spider-Manwas first introduced to the world in 1962 as he made his debut in Amazing Fantasy #15. Since then, countless live-action Spider-Men have made their appearance on the big screen. Be it Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man that reinvigorated the superhero genre or the brand new trilogy kicking off with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the web-slinger has always been an integral part of pop culture and the superhero zeitgeist.
The so-called Red-and-Blue Menace (as J. Jonah Jameson loves to say) has had various suit upgrades over the years – some dropped the ball, while others stayed true to the comic book roots. Among these, there have been obvious standouts. So, here is every Spider-Man suit ranked from worst to best.
Table of Contents
13. Black And Gold Suit (Inside-Out)
The inside-out suit isn’t really a suit in its own right. As the name suggests, Peter Parker flips the suit inside out after a random person on the street throws paint on him. This follows the events of Spider-Man: Far from Home in No Way Home, when Mysterio exposes Spidey’s secret identity and frames him for murder (classic Mysterio).
The suit doesn’t really bring anything new to the table and doesn’t even make sense technically. Why are there wires underneath Spider-Man’s suit? Does that not poke him while swinging? An argument can be made here that Peter could have brought out his homemade suit from the first film instead of this atrocity.
12. Night Monkey (Stealth) Suit
The Night Monkey suit or the Stealth suit is a suit given to Peter by Nick Fury. The existence of this suit makes a lot of sense in the context of the film. Since Peter is in Prague with his classmates, it would look pretty suspicious if Spider-Man suddenly showed up in the same city at the same time.
Fury gives this suit to Peter to avoid raising eyebrows, as Ned then hilariously calls this new hero Night Monkey. That said, this suit, while better than the last entry, isn’t good either. It doesn’t even have a spider emblem and looks more like tactical gear that Ethan Hunt from Mission Impossible would wear.
11. Iron Spider Suit
The Iron Spider has the same problems as every MCU suit has. It’s overdesigned and has a bunch of lines that MCU is known to put on all their superhero suits. The suit was designed by Tony Stark and was revealed at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Peter using this suit in Avengers: Infinity War made sense since he was up against the likes of Thanos and needed every upgrade possible.
The real problem arises when Peter starts using this as his regular suit. Peter wears the Iron Spider throughout No Way Home until Doc Ock finally rips the suit apart. When compared to its sleek gold and red comic counterpart, this suit just doesn’t hold up and makes you wonder: Is he Spider-Man or Iron Boy Jr.?
10. The Amazing Spider-Man Suit
The Amazing Spider-Man suit makes the perfect example of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” In the movie, Peter designs this suit to hunt down Uncle Ben’s killer, and right there, it misses the core purpose of a Spider-Man costume. Peter Parker didn’t become Spider-Man to take revenge. He took up the mantle to shoulder the responsibility that comes with the power and protect the innocent.
The context for this suit makes sense considering the time the movie was released. 2012 was a time when the superhero genre wasn’t really embraced by the masses. But everyone was trying to add their edgy take on the genre. Fox’s X-Men, Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, and even Fantastic Four leaned into this dark and gritty aesthetic.
That said, this suit doesn’t stand the test of time. Thankfully, the sequel course-corrected and gave us what is probably considered by many to be the best Spider-Man live-action suit.
9. Wrestler Suit
The Wrestler suit, while not an official name, has become an icon in pop culture and memes. Peter designed this suit to win some cash and impress Mary Jane by buying a car. While the Wrestler suit isn’t a Spider-Man suit similar to the other previous entries, it serves as a good introduction to Spider-Man’s character.
Similar to Spidey’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15, this suit focuses on Peter trying to earn some quick cash through his newly acquired powers. Of course, things take a dark turn when he lets a thief slip away, the same thief who later kills Uncle Ben. This tragedy then motivates Peter to become Spider-Man and use his power for the ultimate good.
8. The Integrated Suit
The Integrated Suit first appeared in Spider-Man: No Way Home as an upgraded version of Peter’s Far From Home suit. Peter gets this suit after his fight with Doctor Octopus when Doc Ock rips apart his Iron Spider suit. The surviving nanotech then fuses with his standard red-and-black suit to the regular suit, forming the suit that we now know as the Integrated Suit.
This suit, similar to the Iron Spider suit, faces similar MCU design pitfalls. It’s overly designed, has too many lines, and doesn’t shout Spider-Man like the other Spidey suits do. That said, it’s still better than the other suits on this list. However, it’s baffling to see how Tom Holland has gotten the most suits, but most of them miss the mark.
7. The Upgraded Suit
The upgraded suit comes pretty close to what a Spider-Man suit should be. Peter made this suit after his fight with Mysterio. Happy Hogan picks him up in a jet after he’s stranded in the Netherlands. Peter then embraces Tony Stark’s legacy as he uses Stark tech to make the new, upgraded suit. This mirrors Tony’s first building his armor and serves as a cute callback, especially considering that this movie takes place right after Tony died in Avengers: Endgame.
That said, the upgraded suit isn’t the quintessential Spidey suit either. While the red and black certainly look good and give us a peek at what a potential future symbiote suit might look like, it still doesn’t quite hit the mark. At its core, it feels more like a black reskin of Homecoming that’s stylish but uninspired.
6. The Homemade Suit
This is where we’re entering the best Spider-Man suits territory. Peter dons the homemade suit right at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming. By this point, he’s already worn the Stark suit gifted to him in Captain America: Civil War. As the story progresses, Tony Stark takes away the suit, as he believes Peter is not responsible enough to have this suit.
Peter is then forced to wear his old, scrappy costume he stitched together in his bedroom. The story then leads up to a fight with Vulture, which is arguably one of the best fight sequences of the MCU. As Peter wears the crappy suit, without any of the Stark tech, we finally get to see snippets of the real Spider-Man. No fancy tech or AI, just pure determination and courage.
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5. Black Spider-Man suit
Ah, yes, the ultimate edgy suit from the early 2010s. The black suit from Spider-Man 3 marks the first and so far only live-action appearance of the symbiote suit. While the movie was heavily criticized and is now immortalized in memes and pop culture, there’s no denying that the black suit looks downright badass.
This suit proves the old rule that anything and everything looks good in black. It’s basically a black reskin of the original suit. Contrary to other comic book Symbiote suits, it doesn’t feature a gooey, alien-like appearance. The comic book Black Spider-Man suit has a huge Spider-Man emblem on it that makes the suit even cooler. While we’re yet to get that on a Spider-Man suit, this suit serves as a fun adaptation of the symbiote suit.
4. Homecoming suit
The Homecoming suit from Spider-Man: Homecoming is the suit Peter receives from Tony in Captain America: Civil War. This suit is iconic and was celebrated back when it made its first appearance in Civil War for its classic yet fresh take on Spidey. It featured a plethora of tech options for Peter to use. The movie even shows Peter understanding how to use all these tech features, ranging from multiple web options to an AI that could enable or disable “Instant Kill Mode.”
The Homecoming suit is pretty close to perfection. It features the bright red and blue colors that Spider-Man is known for. Unfortunately, the MCU couldn’t resist over-designing it with unnecessary lines and textures. While the suit was loved by everyone back when it came out, it certainly aged like milk and is despised for its heavy use of lines, none of which make any sense.
3. Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man Suit
This is arguably one of, if not the, most iconic suits of Spider-Man. Some people will die by the fact that Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man has the best Spidey suit and rightfully so. The suit is made by Peter himself, doesn’t feature any of the unnecessary lines or tech, and is the most recognized Spidey suit to date. Peter wears the same suit throughout the entirety of the trilogy with some minor tweaks.
This suit was introduced to audiences when superheroes weren’t loved for their bright and friendly colors, and everything was made to look dark and edgy. It served as a fresh take on the superhero genre, and the movie itself has cemented itself as a cultural media milestone. That said, while Raimi’s suit is beautiful in its own right, it just doesn’t hit the stride tone when compared to the next two entries on this list.
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 suit
Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man costume from the second film checks all the boxes of what makes the perfect Spider-Man costume. It has big eyes that every Spider-Man should have, a huge, stylish Spider-Man emblem, and the playful energy that Garfield brings to this suit.
While The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is not really the best Spider-Man movie out there, the film’s visuals and this beautiful suit more than make up for it. Every scene featuring Garfield practically demands your attention, making it one of the best Spider-Man costumes ever put on screen… at least until the next suit on this list made its debut.
1. Spider-Man: Brand New Day suit
Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire were often the top contenders when it came to the argument of who has the best live-action Spidey suit. That, of course, was thrown out of the window as the set photos forSpider-Man: Brand New Dayhit social media like a nuclear bomb. Gone are the unnecessary lines and the tech; this MCU Spider-Man finally returns to his simplistic comic-book roots.
The suit has the brightest colors when compared to Garfield’s suit; it even features shiny silver web shooters that make the suit stand apart even more. While the official first look or even a trailer is yet to be revealed for this movie, fans are convinced that Spider-Man: Brand New Day has the best live-action Spider-Man suit. The only question left: how will it shine on the big screen?
Melvin Mathew
Melvin is a nerd for anything and everything pop culture. He has had more than two years of experience as a writer and editor in the gaming space and has now brought that expertise to his true love: pop culture and comic books.
When he’s not typing away, you’ll probably catch him skateboarding in empty parking lots, usually mid-fall from some “totally worth it” trick. When he’s not nursing those bruises, he’s tagging a wall with graffiti or finishing painting his long-overdue Pinterest board of saved artworks.
