History Main / SpandexLatexOrLeather

* In ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', they wear skintight clothing (often under their clothes) as morphing outfits, since it's the only kind of clothes they can create when they demorph.

* Deliberately averted in the ''Film/GreenLantern'' movie. The nature of the suit is a construct of the ring, after debating on a CG ''enhanced'' suit they decided to make the ''entire'' suit CG superimposed over Ryan Reynolds wearing a motion capture suit (the same process was in fact used with Robert Downey Jr. for ''Film/IronMan1''). The same goes for all human-performed Lanterns in the movie. The process was almost seamless, but fan reaction to the look varied.

** The [[Series/TheFlash2014 2014 reboot]] uses a costume [[http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/scale_super/11/113509/4037758-4774109362-BvK_9.jpg made of a mixture of leather and fabric]]. In-universe, it's stated to be a special material designed to be used by firefighters. In both cases the costumes are a darker hue of red than the Flash's costume is usually colored in the comics.

** ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}'': his first suit is made of super-strong Vibranium-infused body armor, and his second is made of nanobots.
** ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'': from [[https://marvelstudiosnews.com/2018/02/16/kevin-feige-addresses-captain-marvel-set-photos-fan-reactions/ the set photos seen so far]], her first suit looks like leather and body armor.

* ''Franchise/SuperSentai''/''Franchise/PowerRangers'' teams wear spandex and similar fabrics, firmly cementing them into the campy category they've always held (though in-universe it's supposed to be some kind of special armor that just happens to ''look'' like spandex).

The reason is mostly because of the era associated with the heyday of each. Spandex, the form-fitting, brightly colored "tights", is most associated with old school Superheroes thanks to the 1930's ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' serials. The later use of spandex in the old ''Series/{{Batman}}'' TV show with Creator/AdamWest would also give it a campy, childish association.[[note]]The term "spandex" is an anachronism, as this synthetic fabric wasn't in wide use until well into the 1960s. Superman and Batman, like their TV counterparts, likely wore cotton.[[/note]] Latex, or hard rubber suits, is most remembered for Creator/TimBurton's relaunch of the ''Film/{{Batman|1989}}'' franchise as a grim, Gothic and serious setting. Creator/JoelSchumacher attempted to shift this toward camp, but then Creator/ChristopherNolan [[Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy shifted it even farther toward the "gritty" end than Burton did]]. Lastly, leather has been used in superhero movies since the beginning of the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'', bringing with it a real world setting, implying these are "plausible" heroes who can and do exist in a world much like our own, behaving as real people do rather than people in tights. To each their tastes.

** The first six installments (''Series/HimitsuSentaiGoranger'', ''Series/JAKQDengekitai'', ''Series/BattleFeverJ'', ''Series/DenshiSentaiDenziman'', ''Series/TaiyouSentaiSunVulcan'' and ''Series/DaiSentaiGoggleFive'') [[AvertedTrope averted]] this trope with the use of cloth.
** ''Power Rangers'' has thrice used latex: ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie'' replaced the spandex with latex armor entirely, ''Series/PowerRangersSamurai'' adds a latex armor variant that never existed in the ''Sentai'' original, and the reboot movie ''Film/PowerRangers2017'' uses heavily redesigned latex costumes.

** * The ''fear'' of this is an important element in ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'' -- Vers has a repeating dream that may or may not be from her past, and after [[spoiler: the Skrulls use a mind-reading machine to try to dig into her past]] and she goes to Earth, she begins to remember more and more of a past as Carol Danvers... but she isn't certain what she remembers is ''real'', contributing to her identity crisis. [[spoiler: The dream is false, although it isn't clear if it was ''deliberately'' faked or simply shifted around as dreams are wont to do -- she later remembers what actually happened, which is almost exactly the same... except it wasn't a Skrull that menaced her, it was ''Yon-Rogg''.]]: from [[https://marvelstudiosnews.com/2018/02/16/kevin-feige-addresses-captain-marvel-set-photos-fan-reactions/ the set photos seen so far]], her first suit looks like leather and body armor.

** ''Film/CaptainMarvel'': from [[https://marvelstudiosnews.com/2018/02/16/kevin-feige-addresses-captain-marvel-set-photos-fan-reactions/ the set photos seen so far]], her first suit looks like leather and body armor.

->'''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}:''' ''[fidgeting with the collar of his leather suit]'' You guys actually go out in these things?\\

** ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': Mostly leather -- jackets, vests, pants -- combined with street clothing (or some sort of kevlar in the case of Rocket). The exception is [[WhenTreesAttack Groot]], of course.

* In comparison to ''Sentai'', ''Franchise/KamenRider'' ([[DarkerAndEdgier appropriately enough]]) had a much faster evolution.

** The divide is even more noticeable when old-school Riders are remade in the modern era, such as the revamped versions of [[Series/KamenRider Riders 1, 2]], and [[Series/KamenRiderV3 V3]] used in ''[[Film/KamenRiderTheFirst THE FIRST]]'' and ''[[Film/KamenRiderTheNext THE NEXT]]'', the updated [[Series/KamenRiderStronger Electro-Human Tackle]] suit from the ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' finale movie[[note]]Reportedly, Toei also wanted to update Riderman for ''Decade'', but couldn't get the suit in time, which gave us Creator/{{Gackt}} in CivvieSpandex before changing into the old suit for the final battle[[/note]], and the Amazons from ''Series/KamenRiderAmazons''.
** However, the franchise still uses spandex on occasion, mainly for suits that see a lot of action and therefore will need to be repaired more. In ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'', the four Riders' suits are mostly elaborately-decorated vinyl, but the torso portion (mostly hidden beneath their breastplates) is spandex[[note]]this generally went unnoticed until the ''Blade'' cast returned in ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', where it was obvious enough that it lead to fan rumors that Blade's old bodysuit was damaged and replaced with a "blue T-shirt"[[/note]]. Starting with ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'', spandex undersuits became more prominent presumably because it's easier to repair/replace and some of the fancier vinyl costumes have started showing their age; Series/KamenRiderDouble's suit, made in 2009, had visible signs of wear when it showed up in a ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' bonus episode in 2016.

* ''Series/LazyTown'' decided to go the spandex route, with both the hero Sportacus ''and'' the [[HarmlessVillain villain]] Robbie wearing tight outfits that [[{{Fanservice}} helps explain]] why so many of the show's fans are adult women.

Costuming for a superhero movie is SeriousBusiness... or at least, it informs the audience how seriously the franchise takes itself. Spandex tends to say "camp" (the ''[[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Spider-Man]]'' movies seem to buck that trend, though), Latex is associated with gritty ''(Film/{{Batman}}'', ''Film/{{Watchmen}})'', and Leather implies "real world" (the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'').

The reason is mostly because of the era associated with the heyday of each. Spandex, the form-fitting, brightly colored "tights", is most associated with old school Superheroes thanks to the 1930's ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' serials. The later use of spandex in the old ''Series/{{Batman}}'' TV show with Creator/AdamWest would also give it a campy, childish association.[[note]]The term "spandex" is an anachronism, as this synthetic fabric wasn't in wide use until well into the 1960s. Superman and Batman, like their TV counterparts, likely wore cotton.[[/note]] Latex, or hard rubber suits, is most remembered for Creator/TimBurton's relaunch of the ''Film/{{Batman}}'' franchise as a grim, Gothic and serious setting. Creator/JoelSchumacher attempted to shift this toward camp, but then Creator/ChristopherNolan [[Film/TheDarkKnightSaga shifted it even farther toward the "gritty" end than Burton did]]. Lastly, leather has been used in superhero movies since the beginning of the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'', bringing with it a real world setting, implying these are "plausible" heroes who can and do exist in a world much like our own, behaving as real people do rather than people in tights. To each their tastes.

** ''Film/{{Batman}}'': latex, as it had to be protective (the comics version always seemed like regular fabric, a look which at least [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hjp0I_okX0w one]] FanFilm goes for).

** ''Film/BlackPanther'': his first suit is made of super-strong Vibranium-infused body armor, and his second is made of nanobots.

The choice can actually be quite complicated because -- of course -- the actors have to wear these things. In ''X-Men'', nobody could move in the leather. There was a scene as they are approaching the Statue of Liberty and they have to climb over a brick wall that's about two foot tall. It took them several takes because [[Creator/HughJackman Jackman]], [[Creator/HalleBerry Berry]] and Co. could [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence barely]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3IFAjV2tvg clamber over it]]. Likewise, it wasn't until ''Film/BatmanBegins'' that any Batman actor could turn their head while in costume (Clooney lampshades this in a late show interview about how conversations between him and Creator/{{Arnold|Schwarzenegger}} would go), though how much of this is the latex and how much of it was costume design is unknown.

->'''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}:''' (''fidgeting with the collar of his leather suit'') You guys actually go out in these things?\\

The reason is mostly because of the era associated with the heyday of each. Spandex, the form-fitting, brightly colored "tights", is most associated with old school Superheroes thanks to the 1930's ''Francise/{{Superman}}'' serials. The later use of spandex in the old ''Series/{{Batman}}'' TV show with Creator/AdamWest would also give it a campy, childish association.[[note]]The term "spandex" is an anachronism, as this synthetic fabric wasn't in wide use until well into the 1960s. Superman and Batman, like their TV counterparts, likely wore cotton.[[/note]] Latex, or hard rubber suits, is most remembered for Creator/TimBurton's relaunch of the ''Film/{{Batman}}'' franchise as a grim, Gothic and serious setting. Creator/JoelSchumacher attempted to shift this toward camp, but then Creator/ChristopherNolan [[Film/TheDarkKnightSaga shifted it even farther toward the "gritty" end than Burton did]]. Lastly, leather has been used in superhero movies since the beginning of the ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'', bringing with it a real world setting, implying these are "plausible" heroes who can and do exist in a world much like our own, behaving as real people do rather than people in tights. To each their tastes.

** However, the franchise still uses spandex on occasion, mainly for suits that see a lot of action and therefore will need to be repaired more. In ''Series/KamenRiderBlade'', the four Riders' suits are mostly elaborately-decorated vinyl, but the torso portion (mostly hidden beneath their breastplates) is spandex[[note]]this generally went unnoticed until the ''Blade'' cast returned in ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', where it was obvious enough that it lead to fan rumors that Blade's old bodysuit was damaged and replaced with a "blue T-shirt"[[note]]. Starting with ''Series/KamenRiderGhost'', spandex undersuits became more prominent more than likely because it's easier to repair and some of the fancier costumes have started showing their age; Series/KamenRiderDouble's suit, made in 2009, had visible signs of wear when it showed up in a ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'' bonus episode in 2016.

** The older Showa series used spandex bodysuits with plastic armor, upgrading to fully latex suits around the time of ''Series/KamenRiderBlack'', then swapping over to leather with FRP[[note]]fiberglass-reinforced plastic[[/note]] armor around ''Series/KamenRiderKuuga''.

** Film/DoctorStrange2016: Averted with just fabric. The major characters are all sorcerers rather than superheroes and dress in mystic robes.

** In recent years, Toei has been gradually shifting towards a material more like the Superman costume from ''Film/SupermanReturns''. Compare the costumes from ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger'' to the ones from ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger''. The difference is very obvious. Also, they've recently been using something that looks like a cross between pleather and mylar for EXTREMELY SHINY!! Rangers, as opposed to the old "shiny spandex" or "gold lame over padded nylon" they used for such things as [[Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger Zyuranger]]'s SixthRanger's gold shoulderplate, or most of [[Series/ChourikiSentaiOhranger King Ranger]]'s accessories. Compare those two, [[Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger Mega Silver]], and [[Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger Gao Silver]] to [[Series/GoGoSentaiBoukenger Bouken Silver]] and [[Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger Shinken Gold]]. MAJOR difference in materials...
** It's been rumored that in recent years the ''Power Rangers'' team has been leaning on the ''Super Sentai'' team to switch to leather; a possible example of this is ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters'', which features faux-leather costumes. However, since ''Go-Busters'' performed poorly, the following season ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'' went back to spandex and ''Power Rangers'' ironically skipped over adapting ''Go-Busters''. Then a few years later came ''Series/UchuSentaiKyuranger'', whose costumes received input from Bandai of America and were designed to merge the aesthetics of ''Go-Busters'' with the much simpler suits of ''Series/DobutsuSentaiZyuohger''.

** ''Film/BatmanBegins'' has a suit that is mostly made of some form of kevlar. ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' adds ceramic plating for even more protection, and a lampshade for movie Batmen being unable to turn their heads.

Costuming for a superhero movie is SeriousBusiness... or at least, it informs the audience how seriously the franchise takes itself. Spandex tends to say "camp" (the ''[[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Spider-Man]]'' movies seem to buck that trend, though), Latex is associated with gritty ''(Film/{{Batman}}'', ''Film/{{Watchmen}})'', and Leather implies "real world" (the ''Film/XMen'' movies).

The reason is mostly because of the era associated with the heyday of each. Spandex, the form-fitting, brightly colored "tights", is most associated with old school Superheroes thanks to the 1930's ''Francise/{{Superman}}'' serials. The later use of spandex in the old ''Series/{{Batman}}'' TV show with Creator/AdamWest would also give it a campy, childish association.[[note]]The term "spandex" is an anachronism, as this synthetic fabric wasn't in wide use until well into the 1960s. Superman and Batman, like their TV counterparts, likely wore cotton.[[/note]] Latex, or hard rubber suits, is most remembered for Creator/TimBurton's relaunch of the ''Film/{{Batman}}'' franchise as a grim, Gothic and serious setting. Creator/JoelSchumacher attempted to shift this toward camp, but then Creator/ChristopherNolan [[Film/TheDarkKnightSaga shifted it even farther toward the "gritty" end than Burton did]]. Lastly, leather has been used in superhero movies since the beginning of the ''Film/XMen'' film series, bringing with it a real world setting, implying these are "plausible" heroes who can and do exist in a world much like our own, behaving as real people do rather than people in tights. To each their tastes.

* ''Film/XMen'' goes for leather, and it is the TropeCodifier for MovieSuperheroesWearBlack (as noted in the page quote). A seen in bloopers, the leather suits aren't very flexible (James Marsden and Hugh Jackman had difficulty scaling a short concrete wall) and Marsden himself said the cast didn't enjoy wearing them.

* Deliberately averted in the ''Film/GreenLantern'' movie. The nature of the suit is a construct of the ring, after debating on a CG ''enhanced'' suit they decided to make the ''entire'' suit CG superimposed over Ryan Reynolds wearing a motion capture suit (the same process was in fact used with Robert Downey Jr. for ''Film/IronMan''). The same goes for all human-performed Lanterns in the movie. The process was almost seamless, but fan reaction to the look varied.

** Rumor has it that there has been substantial pushback from the ''Power Rangers'' team toward ''Super Sentai'' in recent years to switch to leather. Whether it's related to these rumors or not, ''Series/TokumeiSentaiGobusters'' did make the switch (at least to faux-leather), but it didn't last. Since ''Go-Busters'' didn't do as well as Toei hoped, the following season ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'' went back to spandex and ''Power Rangers'' ironically skipped over adapting ''Go-Busters''.

** Even more noticeable with the remade costumes, such as the revamped versions of [[Series/KamenRider Riders 1, 2]], and [[Series/KamenRiderV3 V3]] used in ''[[Film/KamenRiderTheFirst THE FIRST]]'' and ''[[Film/KamenRiderTheNext THE NEXT]]'' and the updated [[Series/KamenRiderStronger Electro-Human Tackle]] suit from the ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'' finale movie[[note]]Reportedly, Toei also wanted to update Riderman for ''Decade'', but couldn't get the suit in time, which gave us Creator/{{Gackt}} in CivvieSpandex before changing into the old suit for the final battle[[/note]].

** Film/DoctorStrange: Averted with just fabric. The major characters are all sorcerers rather than superheroes and dress in mystic robes.

The choice can actually be quite complicated because -- of course -- the actors have to wear these things. In ''X-Men'', nobody could move in the leather. There was a scene as they are approaching the Statue of Liberty and they have to climb over a brick wall that's about two foot tall. It took them several takes because [[Creator/HughJackman Jackman]], [[Creator/HalleBerry Berry]] and Co. could [[InsurmountableWaistHeightFence barely clamber over it]]. Likewise, it wasn't until ''Film/BatmanBegins'' that any Batman actor could turn their head while in costume (Clooney lampshades this in a late show interview about how conversations between him and Creator/{{Arnold|Schwarzenegger}} would go), though how much of this is the latex and how much of it was costume design is unknown.

** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', however, the X-Men wear yellow suits made of fabric, inspired in equal part by the team's uniforms during their earliest comic appearances and the ''New X-Men'' suits. The only one in that movie to fit one of the three materials is [[http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110805224916/marvelmovies/images/2/21/Vlcsnap-2011-07-07-21h16m56s173.png Magneto in the ending.]]

* ''Film/SkyHigh'': Latex, Camp/Kid.