8 Superhero Movies We (Mostly) Didn't Expect To Earn The Dreaded Green Splat On Rotten Tomatoes

8 Superhero Movies We (Mostly) Didn't Expect To Earn The Dreaded Green Splat On Rotten Tomatoes

Sometimes, it's easy to tell when an upcoming superhero movie is unlikely to be embraced by fans and critics, but we were definitely surprised when these blockbusters earned Rotten Tomatoes' green splat!

Feature Opinion
By JoshWilding - Dec 24, 2022 10:12 AM EST
Filed Under: Black Adam

We appreciate that there are some of you who don't put much stock in Rotten Tomatoes, but for many moviegoers, that all-important percentage can be crucial in deciding whether it's worth forking out to see a new release. 

Last year, Eternals made headlines due to it being the MCU's first "Rotten" movie, and the impact on box office takings was sizeable. 

No one saw it coming, especially as the general consensus has been that Chloé Zhao would deliver an Oscar-worthy masterpiece. While we didn't expect quite as much from this past October's Black Adam, it too bombed with critics, failing to change the DC Universe's hierarchy of power as The Rock had promised. 

In recent years, quite a few superhero movies have earned the dreaded green splat...some of which we definitely didn't expect to be so poorly reviewed. Here, we highlight those movies, breaking down what went wrong and why we initially expected them to at least be somewhere near "Fresh" status.

To take a look through this feature, all you guys need to do is click on the "Next" button below!
 

8. Fantastic Four (2015) - 9%

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Chronicle was a refreshing change of pace for the superhero genre even back in 2012, so when news broke that Josh Trank would take the helm of a Fantastic Four reboot, we were all in. 

The first trailer made it clear this would be the complete polar opposite of the cheesy movies of the mid-2000s, and the prospect of following a teenage version of this team with a body horror vibe was undeniably exciting. Unfortunately, the finished product was a disaster, and Trank even took to Twitter days before the movie was released to disown it.

Nothing about this reboot worked, but that can be blamed on studio interference. Simon Kinberg ended up taking the helm of reshoots that watered down the premise, and what could have been the start of an interesting new take on Marvel's First Family proved to be a complete and utter letdown.
 

7. Black Adam - 39%

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The wait to see Dwayne Johnson play a superhero was a long one. When Black Adam finally started taking shape, the former pro wrestler spent years hyping up a movie he promised would "change the hierarchy" of the DC Universe as we know it. 

Trailers for the movie didn't exactly wow us, but Johnson looked great as the anti-hero, and the addition of Pierce Brosnan as Dr. Fate suggested this would be a quality blockbuster. Unfortunately, it was anything but. Dumb, not even remotely fun, and little more than a vanity project for The Rock to show what a badass he is (at the JSA's expense), this movie didn't work. 

Black Adam has been in development for well over a decade and, ironically, it feels like a superhero movie that should have been released in the mid-2000s. Had Johnson given fans what they really want - a crossover with Shazam as opposed to a pointless Superman cameo to boost interest - this could have been something special. It deserves that splat, though. 
 

6. Green Lantern - 26%

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Green Lantern has become a subject of ridicule in recent years, and star Ryan Reynolds frequently makes it the butt of jokes (even in the Deadpool franchise). With that in mind - and some of you might find this hard to believe - there was a time when fans were literally counting down the days to the movie. 

The trailers did feature some questionable visual effects, but the response to the cast and characters was mostly positive. There was some scepticism surrounding Ryan Reynolds' casting, but Warner Bros. did a great job of getting us to want to see this movie. However, once it finally arrived, it instantly became apparent that Martin Campbell's vision wasn't the right fit for this franchise.

We hoped for something special and ended up with a complete and utter disappointment. Little to nothing worked about Green Lantern, and we still haven't gotten over that Parallax redesign. 
 

5. Dark Phoenix - 22%

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Look, we're just as happy as you that Marvel Studios has regained the rights to the X-Men. However, while X-Men: Apocalypse may have disappointed, X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past were both very good (if not overly comic-accurate), meaning Dark Phoenix had at least some potential. 

Prior to release, Simon Kinberg talked a lot about wanting to make up for the mistakes made in X-Men: The Last Stand, and those early shots of Sophie Turner's Jean Grey were undeniably cool. 

A series of delays left us with cause for concern, but little did we know Kinberg would actually deliver arguably the worst X-Men movie yet. This could have been a grand finale, but reshoots removed pretty much any and all cosmic elements, and even Mystique was killed off early on because Jennifer Lawrence was desperate to get the hell out of there. What a way to end this franchise, eh? 
 

6. Eternals - 47%

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While not every Marvel Studios movie has been a critical hit, Eternals being dubbed "Rotten" was a legit shocker. The trailers promised an MCU blockbuster unlike any other, and with Chloé Zhao at the helm, the expectation was this might be the best, most critically acclaimed superhero movie to date. It was not. 

Despite boasting an admittedly stellar cast, it was a real shame when it became clear a lot about this Phase 4 movie didn't quite click into the place. With too many characters, a very underwhelming villain, and a story that was nowhere near as impactful as expected, it's easy to see why Eternals wasn't embraced by critics, though we still don't think it's a "Rotten" movie.

Regardless, this was a shocker and something that appears to have put an end to this franchise before it could even get started (there's still no word on a sequel despite that massive cliffhanger).
 

3. Justice League - 39%

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By the time Justice League rolled around, it had become clear Zack Snyder's vision for the DCEU wasn't for everyone. However, when the filmmaker was forced to step away from the project for personal reasons, news that The Avengers director Joss Whedon would replace him was welcomed.

After all, he'd made two fantastic movies starring Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the MCU, so who better than him to put the finishing touches to this team-up and likely even improve it? That didn't happen. In fact, as we've learned since watching Zack Snyder's Justice League, Whedon - who seemingly lost the plot during those reshoots and ruined his career - just f***ed everything up.

As a result, even those who hate Snyder's work had to admit that Whedon made a worse Justice League movie than he ever could. As for what went wrong, your guess is as good as ours. 
 

2. Suicide Squad - 26%

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When a sneaky fan recorded that amazing Suicide Squad trailer at Comic-Con, Warner Bros. had no other choice than to release it online. We were all blown away, and while The Joker's new look was divisive, it felt like Warner Bros. might have something special on its hands here.

Later trailers doubled down on that unique tone, but reports soon surfaced about troubles behind the scenes. Comments from director David Ayer were also a turn-off for fans, especially after he decided to proclaim, "F*ck Marvel!" at one screening. He was forced to eat those words, of course, as Suicide Squad may have been a commercial hit, but it certainly wasn't a critical one. 

There was lots to like here, but it was such a jumble of a movie, nobody was really surprised when it bombed on Rotten Tomatoes. The "sequel" did much better, but struggled to find the same large audience thanks to a dual theatrical/HBO Max release.
 

1. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - 29%

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It's always funny to look back at movies like this one, because while Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice frequently comes under fire now, there was a time fans were very much looking forward to it.

When Zack Snyder dropped the bombshell announcement that these two would square off in a movie inspired by The Dark Knight Returns, we all went nuts. As more was revealed, though, it was clear that Snyder had a very...unique vision for these characters (including casting Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, having Batman wield guns, and that awful design for Doomsday). 

All that aside, there's really no reason a movie pitting these two icons against each other shouldn't have been a critical hit. Man of Steel was far from a disaster despite a divisive ending, but Batman v Superman just didn't resonate in the way any of us expected back in 2016. 
 

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Origame
Origame - 12/24/2022, 10:05 AM
I actually like some of these inclusions. We forget in retrospect to how unpopular these movies ended up that going into these movies a lot of them had a lot of hype behind them. Fant4stic was seen as the redemption of the franchise before it released and bvs was seen as the big movie to let dc compete with marvel. They didn't end up that way, but that's how they were perceived.

Am I genuinely being positive to a Josh article? Must be in bizarro world.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 12/24/2022, 6:47 PM
@Origame - if this is a Bizarro world, should I call you crumbled piece of paper instead?

But yeah, how they were perceived definitely played a part in their reception. Same with Suicide Squad (the trailer certainly did it no favors).

I mever had high hopes for Black Adam and Dark Phoenix though. They were exactly as I expected them to be.
Origame
Origame - 12/24/2022, 6:52 PM
@bkmeijer1 - dark Phoenix is the only one I'd say there was just no hope for. And that's due to the franchise having run its course after apocalypse, the disney merger, and this going to a first time director.

As for black Adam, that was clearly viewed as a superhero movie with dwayne Johnson, so it kinda depends on if that interests you.

As for my bizarro identity, it's clearly stationary 🤣
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 12/24/2022, 7:09 PM
@Origame - and don't forget the first time director was also the guy who failed at the Dark Phoenix saga before already.

And I always expected Black Adam to be a vanity project for Johnson. And although it wasn't a complete ego-stroker, the did end up feeling bland and predictable.
Origame
Origame - 12/25/2022, 1:07 PM
@bkmeijer1 - oh yeah obviously.

And with black adam I'd say with it being a rock project. He's got his fanbase so the hype was dependent on the camp you were from.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 12/25/2022, 1:47 PM
@Origame - from 2013 onward, I didn't expect anything from Johnson's movies besides Johnson being himself and mindless fun. That's my camp
GhostDog
GhostDog - 12/24/2022, 10:11 AM
This is the equivalent to a lump of coal
oreilly
oreilly - 12/24/2022, 10:24 AM
Math isn't Josh's strong suit, is it? There are 7 movies on this list, not 8.
NoAssemblyReqd
NoAssemblyReqd - 12/24/2022, 10:24 AM
I enjoyed ETERNALS, but perhaps only because I had read the comics. I suppose there needed to be an easier “in” for general audiences to get on board with its less Avengers-y take on a superhero team.
Itwasme
Itwasme - 12/24/2022, 10:26 AM
Spreading the holiday cheer I see.
Arthorious
Arthorious - 12/24/2022, 10:29 AM
C’mon Josh, if you’re able to look up the score of a movie, you can easily look up it’s release date too. Fantastic Four, with Michael B Jordan and crew, came out in 2015.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_Four_(2015_film)
marvel72
marvel72 - 12/24/2022, 10:36 AM
Didn't Eternals get the green splat and Thor:Love And Thunder should have.
ImBatman4realz
ImBatman4realz - 12/24/2022, 10:38 AM
“The dreaded green splat”… is there anyone, anywhere that actually cares WTF Rotten Tomatoes says anymore? 🤨
KWilly
KWilly - 12/24/2022, 10:46 AM
Suicide Squad is one of the greatest "false advertisements" of movie history lol. Those trailers were incredible. So much so, that they should be studied in editing classes and whatnot.

But the movie was some of the worst crap you'll ever see. Say what you will about DC, but they know how to market a movie for the most part.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 12/24/2022, 6:49 PM
@KWilly - agreed. But with the movies I actually liked, the trailers were fairly basic. Guess there is something to like about every DCEU movie after all.
ImBatman4realz
ImBatman4realz - 12/24/2022, 10:49 AM
Josh says: “As for what went wrong, your guess is as good as ours” - regarding the Josstice League fiasco; while stating that he had made 2 of the best superhero movies with Avengers - I would argue that the first Avengers is ugly to look at/has the aesthetic of a pilot episode to a tv series (didn’t age well); while Age of Ultron everyone complained about after it’s release.

No, we know exactly what happened. Producers and executives overstepped their bounds, and while Snyder was away they THOUGHT they could make a better movie. They hired Joss who is a hack, to rewrite, reshoot, reconceptualize, repurpose, and completely change the film. The guy was an a$$hat to everyone on set, and his actions made their lives horrible while refilling a movie with horrible CGI and green screen. He threw in horrible lines, badly written conversations, and garbage jokes for them all.

Snyder’s movie is the far superior version, and there’s no one I’ve ever heard say otherwise
TocharianMonk
TocharianMonk - 12/24/2022, 11:36 AM
@ImBatman4realz - ya hes such an "a$$hat" making fisher say "booyah" I hope ray can recover.
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