For the last 14 years, ever since the first X-Men movie, we got more the 50 superhero/comic book movies. There are few movies that are (in my opinion) are very important to the massive growth of comic book movies. Now notice, I’m not saying that these 10 movies that I’m about to list are the best (well few of them are), I’m saying that these 10 movies are the most important comic-book movies, and it’s because of these movies, we now get about 4-5 comic book movies.
So let’s begin...
10. Batman & Robin
Don’t run away! Yes, Batman & Robin was dreadful, it’s not only one of the worst comic-book movies ever made, it’s also one of the worst movies ever made, period. And yet, Batman & Robin was important. It was an end of an era. An era in which comic book movies were considered to be B or C class movies. The type of movies that no one takes seriously and therefor they can be silly and bad. Now there were few really good comic-book movies before Batman & Robin, but after a while the comic book movies became very campy and stupid. And Batman & Robin almost killed the genre. Hollywood’s approach towered came to bite them in the butt, and this is why a Batman movie made less than 300 million dollars.
But Batman & Robin wasn’t only a big pile of stink in the genre, it also had to effects on future comic-book movies. On the one hand, the failure of Batman & Robin started an era were WB second guess every movie they make with comic-book movies. How many times WB started working on new movies, only to cancel them?
Batman & Robin also in a way opened the door for Marvel. Before the first Blade movies, most of the comic book movies that we got were from DC comics. And after WB decided to step down from the comic-book genre, Marvel started making movies all over the place.
Batman & Robin is also proof that if you don’t respect the source material, you will have a really bad movie.
9. Superman
Before the age where the comic-book movies ruled the box-office, there was the 1979’s Superman.
It was the first real superhero movie. Not only it was a big hit, it also showed the studios that there is money and a big potential in comic-book movies. Superman maybe wasn’t the best movie, but it’s the first one, and it’s still iconic, and it introduced the audience (that only 1% of them know anything about superheroes) to a new genre.
It also had a glimpse of some dark and realistic, with the death of Lois (but then it went little stupid, with all of the spin the world to change time).
Superman is the father of all superheroes, and Superman: The movie, is the father of all comic-book movies.
It also,
8. Batman
10 years after Superman we got our first real Batman movie.
The first Batman movie isn’t just important because it was a great movie, it’s also introduced the audience to a much darker and serious Batman, the kind that they never saw before, and they loved it.
Batman was a great movie, with great actors like Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger and others.
It also had a great script, amazing action, and it brought the money in the box-office.
Batman was yet another proof that, when dealt properly, comic-book movies can be amazing.
7. X-Men
Some say that X-Men was the movie that started the current generation of comic-book movies.
The first X-Men movie got positive reviews and was a financial success, and it started a franchise, that is still ongoing, 14 years later.
I had my problems with the movie, but overall it was a good movie, and it was good enough to make Hollywood trust comic-book movies again, and ever since the first X-Men movie, we started getting comic-book movies every year.
So thank you X-Men, for doing what you did.
6. Superman 2
Whether you watched the original cut or the Richard Donner’s cut, we can all agree that Superman II was pretty awesome.
It was the first comic-book movie that was on an epic scale, that years later inspired Christopher Nolan when he was doing Batman Begins.
Superman II was a box office success scoring the highest-grossing opening weekend up to that time and became the third highest grossing film of 1981. And who can forget the iconic performance by Terence Stamp as Zod.
Superman 2 was a movie that proved that comic-book movies are more than just big action movies, they can also be a great character study, and they can also be on an epic scale.
5. Iron Man
We live now in the world after the Avengers, everyone knows who Iron Man is, but before the first Iron Man movie release back in 2008, not to many people knew who is Iron Man.
With an amazing performance from Robert Downey, Jr, Iron Man transformed it to one of the most loved and known superheroes.
The movie itself lunched Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. It was a big gamble, but Marvel studios (with some help from Disney), became the studio that makes billions.
Iron Man also was the first movie to be a part of a shared universe, and after the great successes from The Avengers, now every studio wants to do the same.
4. X-Men 2
Many people crown X-Men: Days of Future Past as the best X-Men movie, but for me, X2 is still the best one, and it’s also one of the best comic-book movies ever made.
It wasn’t just a superhero movie, it was a movie about racism and the struggle for survival for those who society dammed as different.
It was an out-side-of-the-box superhero movie, and Bryan Singer to take the heroes from their naturel place as heroes who fight the bad guys to save the world, to a group of outcasts who are just trying to fit in. Many people say that the first X-Men movie started the current generation of comic-book movies, but in my opinion, X2 was the movie that really helped the comic-book movies to exhale.
Before we get to the final 3, here are some
honorable mentions:
Blade – It was the first comic-book movie after Batman & Robin, and the first Marvel movie on the big screen.
Spider-Man 2 – It was a great character study movie, that Spider-Man is an interesting position,
Man of Steel – it was a great comic book movie (that had problems, but still fun), and it might be the start of WB’s cinematic universe.
3. The Avengers
Do I really need to explain? I mean, this is a movie that made 1.5 billion dollars, and it’s probably the best superhero movie ever.
It’s a movie that made WB swat in their pant, and rush to make their own cinematic universe.
It’s a movie that is loved by everyone, and everyone can enjoy it.
What else could be said, expect the fact that these movie is the ultimate proof that there is infinite money in comic-book movies, and every studio should make more superhero movies as soon as possible. And it’s very possible that because of The Avengers, we will finally get the Justice League movie we all been waiting for. But The Avengers is also a proof that WB needs something like Marvel studios and someone like Kevin Feige. In the end of the day, Avengers changed the game.
2. Batman Begins
About 7 years before the Avengers changed the game, there was Batman Begins, who changed the comic-book genre forever.
Batman Begins not only saved the Batman name, after Batman & Robin, it changed the game for comic-book movies, and it also established Nolan was one of the most promising directors no days.
Batman Begins went deeper then X-Men 2 to the dark and realistic, and after Batman Begins, almost every comic-book movie tried to use the same formula. Iron Man was inspired by what Nolan did in Batman Begins, and it was a movie that proved that not only we should take comic-book seriously, the movies can be serious, but in the same time fun and full of action.
Batman Begins was also a movie that used A-list actors, and took the superhero genre to a whole new level.
1. The Dark Knight
Was there any dout? Every movie on this list changed the game in a certain way, but I believe that The Dark Knight is the most important comic-book movie ever made.
For me it’s the best comic-book movie ever made, it’s also one of the best movies period. At the time, it was the most grossing comic-book in history, and also was broke records, and was the first comic-book movie to get some Oscars, and many still believe that the movie was snubbed in the Oscars.
And who can forget Heath Ledger as The Joker, who gave one of the best acting preferences ever.
The movie had amazing practical action scenes, out-of-this-world acting, nerve racking scenes with Joker, and they even went all Game of Thrones on us, and killed a main character (Rachel) just like that in the middle of the film (yes, Avengers did it too, but Coulson is alive). The Dark Knight not only changed the game for superhero movies, but it also inspired many other movies. There is no duet (well, for me) that The Dark Knight is the most important comic-book movie of all time.
Well, there are my top 10 movies. Hope you enjoyed, like if you like it, and tell me down in the comments if you agree, and what is your top 10 list. For more top 10, please like and tell me.