As The Boys Season 4 wraps up after maybe the wildest, most controversial season yet, the supe-infested satirical universe has seen a number of new characters added, as well as a few who’ve left the realm of the living (it is The Boys, after all). Among those new characters are a few new supes like Sister Sage and Firecracker who, love them or hate them, have made a tremendous impact on the show. With new supes comes new superhero costumes, which means it’s time to update the CBR list of the best super costumes in The Boys.

Those costumes, which started as plays on the supersuits of other famous comics, have become iconic in their own right as The Boys continues to be one of the most popular shows of the decade. The show owes the quality of these incredible pieces of fabric art to superstar costume designer Laura Jean Shannon (known as LJ), who is responsible for work on other major media including Doom Patrol, Jumanji, Iron Man, Elf and even, of all things, Requiem for a Dream. One of the best in the business, LJ is responsible for much of the look of The Boys‘ supes, building them from scratch, and now’s a great time to look back at some of the best work that LJ and The Boys team have done to make these incredible supersuits.

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Lamplighter’s Dark, Weird Outfit Belies His Eventual Character Turn

Lamplighter might be a character with limited screen time, only showing up in Season 2, but his supersuit is one of the more unique in the show. A play on Green Lantern and flame-based comics heroes like The Human Torch, Lamplighter’s costume eschews the skin-tight spandex of those characters for a take on a hooded trench coat. The leather-like material and Assassin’s Creed-style deep, wide hood gives an air of menace and mystery to the supe, and it also fits the flame power, as it looks like it could stand up to fire easily.

Of course, the pièce de résistance of Lamplighter’s costume is that awesome staff. Something out of a high-fantasy RPG, the huge, multi-faced head is a major upgrade in cool-factor to Green Lantern et al., and it really brings the whole thing together to make Lamplighter look like some kind of dark fantasy priest or high wizard. Considering Lamplighter’s unexpected turn toward being at least somewhat moral, if not exactly good, it’s fun to have someone with some backbone have such a dark and creepy outfit.

9Queen Maeve’s Supersuit Is a Hard-Edged Version of a Classic Supe Look

There’s no real mystery as to what the inspiration for Queen Maeve’s outfit is, and designer LJ has indeed used the term “Amazonian” to describe it. That points directly at Wonder Woman, but there’s also a bit of Scarlet Witch in Maeve’s look. From the multiple armbands to the headband to the swirl designs on the breastplate, Maeve’s look is full of fun details that feel about half useful and half for TV and film appearances (and probably in-universe merchandising).

That usefulness shows up almost immediately in the series, when Homelander fires a machine gun directly into Maeve’s chest in order to provide “evidence” that someone they killed shot at them first. Maeve doesn’t even flinch as the bullets bounce off, which feels at least partly due to the suit and also her extreme superstrength, being one of the toughest supes out there (as she got an extremely high dose of Compound V). Maeve’s suit is more of a classical look, looking like something out of the Sparta of 300, which is a fun departure from the more modern looks of other supes.

8Soldier Boy’s Suit Is All About Combat Readines

Soldier Boy’s introduction to the universe of The Boys‘ TV show marked a major departure in look from the more polished, camera-ready looks of The Seven and the rest of the contemporary supes. Coming from a different age, when supes were engaged in more direct warfare, Soldier Boy’s initial look was a little goofy in its old-fashionedness, with the helmet, but by the time he got to the 2020s, he’s gone very rugged. Combining leather and metal and deep but muted matte colors, Soldier Boy looks like someone ready for battle.

In fact, designer LJ has stated that they tried to incorporate the look of modern tactical gear into Soldier Boy’s suit, though they did pull in elements from his more flamboyant costumes from the comics. The eagle and star are incorporated, and they moved away from red, white and blue to differentiate the supe from Homelander. Soldier Boy looks more like a modern soldier than a fantastical character, with even his Captain America-inspired shield looking entirely utilitarian. It’s a great look that really stands out from the rest of the show, and if rumors are right, fans may be seeing more of it soon.

7Perhaps the Most Realistic Supersuit Belongs to Black Noir

Speaking of tactical gear, the all-black look of the appropriately (and goofily) named villain Black Noir is literally that. Head-to-toe in light armor, all matte-black, Black Noir’s costume looks like one of the most functional and actually obtainable in the current day. Noir’s suit is essentially pulling triple duty: Protecting the most vulnerable spots, leaving the rest flexible for quick movement and covering every other inch in fabric that makes him unidentifiable.

It says everything about the effectiveness of that last reason for Noir’s suit design that the show has moved on to a new person in the suit, Black Noir II, without the public having any idea. As the new Noir states, his actual powers don’t even necessarily fit the design anymore, as it’s definitely not the suit for a supe flier (capes are almost always a requirement). Instead going for the look of a modern ninja, Noir’s suit remains one of the best in the show for its commitment to design and functionality, and all-black-everything is just always a great look.

6Supersonic: Popstar Futurism in a Suit

Supersonic, once known as Drummer Boy, didn’t last long on The Boys, but his supersuit is a very different look from the rest of the show, and it really works. Going for a leather-like full-body suit that incorporates an off-white, a deep red and a splashs of blue, Supersonic’s look is great for camera and made him look stylish and inviting. That, like all things supes, was definitely on purpose in order to work with his popstar persona, and it’s a pretty remarkable feat that LJ and the design team were able to make such a large suit flexible enough for Supersonic’s dance moves.

On the flashier end of The Boys suits, Supersonic’s is eye-catching and marks him immediately as a likable character, something his actions in the show back up. Though his stint was short, getting murdered by Homelander, Supersonic remains one of the few actually good supes in The Boys, and his suit was among the most memorable. The detailing on this thing is particularly great, with the concentric circles, the Nehru-inspired collar, the half-gauntlets and the belt giving Supersonic’s suit a futuristic, almost space-age leaning look.

5The Boys’ Creators Knew Exactly What They Were Doing with Firecracker

Firecracker might be one of the more hateable new characters on the show, spouting conspiracy theories among other truly despicable things, but The Boys team absolutely nailed her look. Meant to appeal to the fascist population of the show’s world, Firecracker’s costume incorporates camo, a bandolier of very high-caliber bullets and even a thigh-strapped tactical pouch. To make her look more superhero and eye-catching, as opposed to actually combat-ready, Firecracker’s camo is tinted blue and the rest is accented red, and some bracers and high boots are added.

The brilliance of Firecracker’s design merges that modern tactical look, the superhero flair and a level of sexuality. As a character meant to appeal visually and ideologically to her audience, Firecracker’s suit is tight, shows a lot of skin and features a zipper right down the middle meant to play up her looks. As a satire of figures who use sex to sell politics, Firecracker is an incredible piece of smart and effective costume design.

4Nubian Prince Was Only Shown Once, But His Suit Is Among the Best

Now this one may be out of left-field, as Nubian Prince is shown very briefly in the live-action version of The Boys, but it remains that Nubian Prince’s supersuit is one of the coolest designs on the show. Appearing much more in the spinoff animated show The Boys Presents: Diabolical, Nubian Prince’s main appearance in the main show so far was way back in Season 1, when Madelyn Stillwell showed the Mayor of Baltimore a photo of Nubian Prince and offered to make him Baltimore’s supe for $300 million. The mayor didn’t survive much longer, so it’s unclear whether the supe will show up again in the live-action show, but that one shot of his awesome suit is enough to go high on this list.

A take on Black Panther, Nubian Prince’s outfit is meant to invoke the art of Africa. An ornate, almost jewel-like front piece looks incredible on the Detroit native, who is voiced by Don Cheadle in the animated version. Other exceptional-looking details like a multi-tiered high collar and a large, elaborate belt that very much invokes ancient royalty add to the aesthetic nicely. Rounding it all out, the suit looks very tough, using plate-mail-like pauldrons and what appears to be large gauntlets to make this one of the coolest, if least-seen, suits in The Boys.

3Sister Sage Is One of the Newest Supes, and Her Look Is as Smart as She Is

Sister Sage is another new entry into the world of The Boys‘ show, being the smartest person on the planet and joining The Seven, at least for a while. When the viewer first sees Sage, she’s extremely normal-looking, living at home and eating takeout, but once she’s recruited by Homelander for The Seven, due to her apparent extremely anti-regular person views, she switches into her supersuit. And what a suit it is, gorgeous in its coppers, burnished golds and snakelike chain detailing up the center and splitting down the sides.

When it comes to looks, Sister Sage’s suit is one of the best, and it makes sense that hers would be more aesthetically focused than combat-ready, being one of the few supes whose power has nothing to do with combat. A Roman-like panel skirt portion of the dress/suit moves up into a belt stylized in gold with her initials, and nice details abound, such as ribbed detached sleeves, pink-and-gold crossed ribbons on the midsection, a high gold chain-link collar and texture all over. An Eye of Horus sits at the center of the clavicle, possibly a nod to her resemblance in powers to Ozymandias of The Watchmen, and perhaps best of all, Sage accents the whole ensemble with perfectly paired round, copper-tinted, gold-rimmed glasses. It’s a stunning look, fully fitting for the smartest person in the world.

2Starlight Is Classic Comics, But There’s More to It Than That

Coming in second in terms of the suit, and just barely, is Starlight’s original look, which she returns to early in the show after ditching the hyper-sexualized suit Vought and The Seven try to force her to wear for ratings. A nod to the supersuits of the Golden Age of comics, which makes sense as she is based on Mary Marvel who premiered in 1942 (the Golden Age being 1938-1956), Starlight’s gold-and-white suit features a long-sleeved dress and a full-length cape. Starlight’s look is meant to invoke a sense of purity and good, and the color combo of gold and white (which looks great with both Starlight’s blonde hair and the gold color of her superpowers) works perfectly for that.

What the suit represents, however, is what puts it in the top tier of The Boys outfits. Starlight has to make a choice to go back to her original suit, representing her return to her morality and desire to help others over becoming famous and rich. The details of the suit speak to this as well, with the royal, almost priest-like gold-trimmed white cape and stars on her neckline invoking a sense of goodness in the universe and desire to help. Interestingly enough, the extremely practical side-pouch on a dress with no apparent pockets furthers the idea that Starlight is a real and capable person and not just a pretty face, and it’s a subtle commentary on the way that most female comics heroes are given very impractical suits that would basically be impossible to function in as a day-to-day human. LJ Shannon and The Boys team really knocked it out of the park with this one, and it just barely isn’t the best suit on one of the best characters in the show.

1Homelander’s Supersuit Is Iconic for a Very Good Reason

It’s hard to argue with the design of Homelander, whose look is among the best in superperson history (Homelander can never, ever be called a “hero”). Not at all hiding its influences, in fact making them the whole point, Homelander’s now-iconic suit pulls from those of Superman, Captain America and Ozymandias, pairing the gold metal details of The Watchmen‘s megalomaniac with the ultra patriotism of Captain America and Superman’s red-and-blue caped look. The point made here is clear: This is a god even among superhumans, and he is supposed to represent ultimate power and is a symbol of America’s empire.

As the central figure of The Boys, representing what the show (and the original Garth Ennis comic) is trying to say, Homelander’s costume is an effort of artistic perfection. The over-the-top muscle definition in the front that no real suit could have, especially one as clearly thick as Homelander’s is, is only one semi-subtle detail that is a metaphor for the brute, unchecked power that Homelander represents, and the repeated use of an eagle, a symbol associated with some of history’s most vicious empires, just furthers the metaphor. If the symbolism wasn’t obvious enough, Homelander’s hands are literally gloved in blood-red, the inside of his suit is blood-red when he (as he often does) pins the corner flap back and he wears an American flag on his back. It’s fascinating as a piece of art direction, because in a world that is so inundated with superpeople in suits, it almost is easy to miss the point here due to oversaturation. But even a cursory critical look at Homelander’s costume reveals the message that The Boys is trying to get across, and as such, Homelander’s outfit stands as not only the best of The Boys, but one of the best-designed in the genre.