10 Most Uncomfortable Superhero Costumes Actors Hated Wearing

Superhero costumes may look sleek and badass on screen, but the actors wearing them often have a very different experience. From suits that feel like ovens to masks that make breathing a nightmare, Hollywood’s most iconic heroes have paid a painful price for looking cool. Here are the top 10 most uncomfortable superhero costumes that actors absolutely hated wearing. Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man suit looks high-tech and incredible, but according to him, it was more like a high-tech prison. The early versions were made of actual metal and plastic, making them unbearably hot and heavy. Even worse, wearing the suit for long hours took a mental toll. Downey described it as feeling like he had been "tarred and feathered and covered in machine parts." The only upside? He was the first to figure out how to relieve himself in the suit. Small victories. Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool suit might not have metal parts, but he still had a rough time. Initially, it took up to 45 minutes to get into it, though he eventually got that time down to 10 minutes. Even then, the suit was ridiculously hot and uncomfortably tight. Reynolds summed it up best: "I'm really just wearing like a unitard. Nothing too romantic, I'm afraid. But that thing is hot, man. That thing is tight." Ben Affleck’s Batman suit was no simple outfit—it required a whole team to get him into it. Costume designer Michael Wilkinson admitted, "It’s a six-handed operation." The bulky, stiff suit made movement difficult, and Affleck himself wasn’t a fan. It's no wonder he was itching to leave the role behind. Paul Bettany spent hours getting painted red and then squeezing into a tight bodysuit with a rubbery headpiece to play Vision in The Avengers franchise. By the time it was the fifth day of being in it for 12 hours straight, he woke up each morning thinking, "I gotta get back in the suit." Anne Hathaway’s sleek Catwoman suit wasn’t just difficult to move in—it was psychologically tormenting. She spent 10 months training to fit into it, and the stress dominated her life. She described it as a "psychological terrorist," proving that looking cool sometimes comes at an unfair cost. Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther suit may have looked regal, but inside, it was a literal oven. "It’s blazing hot. Listen, it’s so hot. I’ve never been that hot before in my life, seriously," he said. Even his co-stars felt bad for him. Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner agreed that Boseman had the worst costume, with Renner pointing out that it took 30 minutes just to go to the bathroom. Yikes. Tom Holland had to wear an ultra-tight Spider-Man suit that left him practically naked underneath. "All I have on under that costume is a thong," he admitted. The worst part? Using the bathroom required completely disrobing and running across the lot in a bathrobe. By his fifth movie, he was finally given a zipper—progress! Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman suit is iconic, but wearing it was a whole other story. It was so tight that she had to be vacuum-sealed into it, and it was painted with a silicon-based finish to achieve that signature shine. The suit was so restrictive it smashed her face and choked her, and those claws were always getting caught on things. Fashion may be pain, but this was ridiculous. Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn costume may not have been as heavy or restrictive as some of the others on this list, but it was still deeply uncomfortable. The biggest issue? It made her self-conscious. "I’m eating burgers at lunchtime, and then you go do a scene where you’re hosed down and soaking wet in a white T-shirt," she explained. "It’s so clingy and you’re self-conscious about it." No one should have to deal with that stress while also playing a psychotic antihero.