Top 10 Most Disappointing Marvel And DC Superhero Movies Of All-Time
2016 has been hit and miss for CBMs, but it's not the first time fans have been left feeling underwhelmed. These Marvel and DC adaptations aren't the worst ever made, but they definitely disappointed!
Before we go any further, it's worth noting that this isn't a list of the worst Marvel and DC Comics superhero movies ever made. After all, we already know what those would be! Instead, what you'll find here is a breakdown of the most disappointing comic book adaptations. The reasons they proved to be a let down and wound up here are all very different, and the presence of some might just surprise you.
Whether the trailers promised a very different sort of movie, they had all the ingredients of an instant classic at first glace and then dropped the ball in a major way, or just flat out sucked, these releases all let down fans when they were released. With 2016 proving to be a very divisive (disappointing?) year, now feels like the perfect time to take a look at these even though they'll bring back bad memories!
10. Superman Returns
By the time Superman Returns was announced, the Man of Steel's return to the big screen was long overdue. While a couple of TV shows had kept fans going, that's not exactly the same thing as a movie, and so X-Men director Bryan Singer being at the helm of a spiritual successor to the classic Superman franchise obviously generated a hell of a lot of excitement.
Unfortunately, trying to follow those proved to be Superman Returns' biggest mistake as it went to some ridiculous lengths to set this movie in the same world (even going so far as to make Clark Kent a deadbeat dad) and proved that moviegoers needed more than just the promise of being made to believe that a man can fly in 2006. What worked in 1978 didn't here, and the lack of action and dull storyline simply failed to resonate with fans, making this a real let down and not the movie everyone was hoping for.
9. Suicide Squad
I liked Suicide Squad, but if we're talking about disappointing movies, there's no way that the big screen debut of Task Force X can be ignored. The first trailer - which premiered at Comic-Con last year - promised something very different to what we ended up getting, though that has since been explained by news of some major behind the scenes changes as Warner Bros. scrambled to make the movie more "fun" after the mixed reception received by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely a lot of things in Suicide Squad which work really well, but it failed to live up to expectations. From the decision to leave most of Jared Leto's performance on the cutting room floor to the underwhelming villain and messy editing, the movie has enough failings to make you really upset to think about the fact it could and should have been so much better.
8. Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man was great, but Spider-Man 2 remains one of the greatest superhero movies of all-time. As a result, it was always going to be tough for the third instalment to top what came before, but no one could have predicted what a complete and utter failure it would be. Somehow, Spider-Man 3 managed to not only completely f**k up Peter Parker's origin story by throwing the Sandman into the mix, but also dropped the ball on Harry Osborn's transformation into the Green Goblin and the big screen debut of Eddie Brock/Venom.
The threequel definitely had some cool moments and action sequences, but it also featured lots of really terrible humour (that dance scene and J. Jonah Jameson's buzzer are memorable for all the wrong reasons) and storytelling decisions. On the plus side, this movie would be the beginning of the end of Avi Arad's involvement with the franchise!
7. Fantastic Four (2015)
Despite the fact that Josh Trank had made an excellent movie with Chronicle, fans were sceptical of his and Simon Kinberg's vision for the Fantastic Four reboot from day one. However, the filmmaker soon assembled an excellent cast, and while the decision to base the movie off the Ultimate line of comic books didn't sit too well with most, the first teaser trailer pointed to Fantastic Four being a very different sort of superhero movie.
Sure, it clearly wasn't going to be all that faithful to the source material, but that didn't mean it wouldn't still be great, right? To call it an unmitigated disaster would be an understatement. Butchered with reshoots and plagued by shocking behind the scenes problems, Fantastic Four was a mess of a movie and had pretty much no redeeming qualities. Many were glad to see it fail, but as a result, these great characters are now stuck back on the shelf.
6. The Incredible Hulk
The Incredible Hulk isn't a bad movie, but it is arguably the weakest effort from Marvel Studios. The production was such a clusterf**k that star Edward Norton refused to even help promote it, something which led to him swiftly being recast by the time The Avengers rolled around. Had Iron Man disappointed in the same way as the Jade Giant's return to the big screen, there's every chance the Marvel Cinematic Universe wouldn't even exist, and that's a scary thought!
Regardless, other than an impressive final battle between The Hulk and Abomination (which very much felt like seeing the comic books come to life), this movie didn't have much going for it. The story was bland, the villain uninteresting, and the creative decisions downright baffling. Who knew that having sex would cause Bruce Banner to Hulk out? It's no wonder he never hooked up with Black Widow...
5. Iron Man 2
Iron Man kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe in style, and with the sequel promising everything from War Machine to the big screen debut of Black Widow, the return of Nick Fury, and what looked like an adaptation of Demon in the Bottle, all the signs pointed to it being an instant classic. After all, with Jon Favreau back at the helm, what could go wrong? A lot as it turns out.
There was just too much story in Iron Man 2 for the movie's own good, and with Marvel also attempting to lay the groundwork for The Avengers, the whole thing ended up being something of an unsatisfying mess. Don't get me wrong, there's some good stuff in there, but that doesn't make up for the long list of moments which were a lote down, and it ends up standing out as a real bump in the road for Marvel Studios as a result. Thankfully, they recovered, though Iron Man 3 obviously also proved to be divisive.
4. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
There have been quite a few movies listed here that I've mentioned had some redeeming qualities, but outside of Liev Schreiber's Sabretooth, X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not one of them. Rushing through the titular character's formative years in an admittedly quite cool montage, the movie rapidly started going downhill from there, offering up a convoluted origin story which revealed that Logan actually volunteered to have the Adamantium bonded to his skeleton and lost his memories after being shot in the head.
A number of fan-favourite characters were introduced here and either completely botched (Deadpool) or just not given the screentime they needed to shine (Gambit). As if the terrible story wasn't bad enough, Wolverine's first solo outing also utilised some truly awful special effects which gave Hugh Jackman the most hilariously fake looking claws imaginable.
3. Man Of Steel
A lot of fans hate Man of Steel because of all that mass destruction and Superman's decision to kill General Zod. To me, both of those things make perfect sense; beings as powerful as these would obviously cause devastation (plus, what's a few thousand lives when the entire world is at stake?), while Kal-El's decision to destroy his last remaining link to Krypton to save his new home was a big deal. Why then is the movie mentioned here?
Well, it failed to live up to expectations. The trailers pointed to this being a masterpiece on the same level as The Dark Knight, but what we got was a messy David S. Goyer screenplay which may have delivered on action, but made a lot of mistakes when it came to the portrayal of this iconic DC Comics superhero. Man of Steel also didn't give us Zack Snyder at his best, because this comic book adaptation ended up being a far cry from the likes of 300 and Watchmen.
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2
The Amazing Spider-Man could have just as easily ended up getting a mention here, but while that reboot may have disappointed when it came to delivering "The Untold Story", the sequel definitely dropped the ball in terms of what at one point looked set to be the best Spider-Man movie to date. There were some warning signs early on when the horrible designs for Electro, the Green Goblin, and Rhino were revealed, but looks aren't everything, and surely Sony wouldn't squander that spectacular cast?
They did, and the movie ended up being a bloated mess which looked to be the final nail in the coffin of the franchise until Sony realised that the only way to save the wall-crawler would be to turn to Marvel Studios for help. The fact that it so badly botched the death of Gwen Stacy is arguably The Amazing Spider-Man 2's biggest failing, but an entire feature could be made out of this one's bad points.
1. Green Lantern
Alas, it ended up being a horrible take on the property as it tried to cover way too much ground in too short a period (that after-credits scene setting up the Sinestro Corps remains utterly baffling). The ball being dropped on great villains like Hector Hammond and Parallax was obviously among the most shocking surprises, and it's no surprise Warner Bros. has since shelved the franchise.
Which of these superhero movies do you think was most disappointing? Have we missed any worthy of a mention? As always, be sure to share your thoughts in the comments section below.