10 Disastrous Superhero Redesigns

Wolverine has no nose. How does he smell?

By Tom Baker /

Marvel Comics

There are countless celebrities who apparently have analogues in the fictional DC and Marvel comic book universes. The Avengers were once guests on David Letterman's chat show, Batman and Robin tried to wrap their heads around the Paul Is Dead Beatles conspiracy theory, and Spider-Man teamed up with John Belushi to fight the Silver Samurai back in the seventies (all of those are things that actually happened, because comic books).

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What they could really use, though, is a Gok Wan, or a Trinny and Susannah. It's not like superhero costumes are the most dapper get ups in the first place. Even in a world of morphsuits and Lady Gaga, you'd get some funny looks walking down the street donning the Batman cowl, or clanking about in that Iron Man suit of armour. Still, the spandex outfits do the job, and everybody's sort of accepted them as the norm now.

Where the makeover kings and queens would come in handy is when they try and stray from those tried-and-tested costumes. Whether it's a change in the times, a merchandising or movie tie in, or an attempt to boost sales, comic book characters have toyed with different outfits a bunch of times. And usually they're terrible. Here are ten of the most disastrous superhero redesigns.

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