While there are debates on when the current age of superhero movies began in earnest, there is no doubt that the last decade has been a boon for fans of the genre. From the continued success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to DC’s director-driven strategy leading to some controversial but beloved films, there seems to be no end to next-level action appearing on the big screen.
But the journey to this Golden Age of Superhero Movies comes after a number of stumbles over the years. Not every old superhero movie can be as great as 1978’s Superman or 1989’s Batman. In fact, there are a number of superhero movies that just about everyone, from fans to actors, would like to forget all about. But as the saying goes: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
10 Captain America Didn’t Have A Great Start On The Big Screen
Twenty-one years before Chris Evans would put on the red, white, and blue and pick up the shield, Matt Salinger would play a version of Captain America who had rubber ears on his costume.
Directed by B-movie workhorse Albert Pyun, 1990’s Captain America was made fast and cheap and never hit theaters in the United States, though it did have a run in the Philippines as a double feature under the title Bloodmatch. For reasons unknown, the ads for the film claimed that Jean-Claude Van Damme was somehow involved with it (he wasn’t).
9 The Spirit Should Have Stayed Dead
2008 was a major year for superhero films. The MCU kicked off with the smash hit Iron Man and the less successful Incredible Hulk while DC had the first billion-dollar superhero movie with The Dark Knight. And while fans were racing to the theaters to see these now-classic films, one old hero was left in the cold: The Spirit.
Directed by the iconic Frank Miller following the success of Robert Rodriguez’s adaptation of his Sin City comics, The Spirit should have been a huge success. Based on the wonderful Will Eisner comics about a man who uses his apparent death to become a hero, the movie starred Gabriel Macht, Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson, but none of those names were enough to turn a bad movie into a good one.
8 Supergirl Was A Poor Follow-Up To Her Cousin’s Adventures
1978’s Superman starring Christopher Reeve as the iconic hero blew audiences away as the movie lived up to the promise that audiences “will believe a man can fly.” Alexander and Ilya Salkind, the producers behind the hit, quickly got to work on more Superman movies, as well as Supergirl.
While they originally planned to introduced the Girl of Steel in a Superman movie, the decision was made to have her debut in her own film, and in 1984, audiences were invited to see Supergirl in live-action for the first time. The movie was a box office bomb and was panned by critics. The fantastic flying scenes and Helen Slater’s turn as Supergirl couldn’t save the lackluster and confusing plot.
7 The Shadow Couldn’t Capture That Batman Magic
At one point, Universal Pictures had the chance to make a Shadow movie with Sam Raimi, but the studio balked and instead, Raimi made the cult classic Darkman. Still, wanting to have their own Batman-style franchise, Universal finally released The Shadow in 1994.
Starring Alec Baldwin as the titular hero and helmed by Highlander director Russell Mulcahy, The Shadow hit theaters just in time for the July 4th weekend in 1994 with a whole line of merchandise just waiting for the fans the movie would surely create. Unfortunately, The Shadow was overshadowed by another comic adaptation released that summer, The Mask, which arguably wasn’t much better of a movie but was definitely a hit at the box office.
6 Jonah Hex Was Shot Out Of The Theaters
Directed by a first-time live-action director previously known for being an animator at Pixar, DC’s Jonah Hex had an impressive cast that included Josh Brolin as the titular character, as well as John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, and future Lex Luthor actor Michael Shannon. Originally, the movie was going to be directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, best known for the wildly fun action film Crank, but the two left the project citing creative differences with the studio.
Jonah Hex mixed genres by bringing westerns and the supernatural stories together and cast a spell so deadly it kept people out of the theater, grossing just $11 million dollars at the box office.
5 The Punisher Forgot His Own Logo
A character who can’t seem to catch a live-action break, Marvel’s cop-turned-vigilante Frank “The Punisher” Castle got his first movie in 1989 with Dolph Lundgren taking on the role. The movie, which notably kept the character out of his trademark skull shirt, received a worldwide theatrical release— well, except for Sweden, South Africa, and the United States.
Punisher would get three more attempts at being a movie star before the character finally found success with his own Netflix series. Sadly, that series was quickly canceled when Marvel ended their relationship with the streaming service and Frank never got much chance to develop in that universe.
4 Pumaman Lives On In The Not-Too-Distant Future
Not every bad superhero movie was birthed from the comics. Pumaman is a 1980 Italian superhero film that stars Halloween‘s Donald Pleasence as the villain. Pumaman was made purely to try and cash in on the trend of sci-fi and superheroes being popular thanks to Star Wars and, of course, the first Superman movie.
Director Alberto De Martino had made a career of doing cheap versions of popular genres, and this was certainly part of that trend. What De Martino couldn’t have known was that in 1998, Pumaman would become the subject of an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, ensuring that the film would become a cult classic with a generation who otherwise would’ve never even heard of it.
3 Fantastic Four’s Third Time Was Not The Charm
Marvel’s First Family, the Fantastic Four have had a number of attempts at becoming box office heroes. The first attempt, a Roger Corman-produced film from the 1990s was never actually meant to be released; it was just made so the producers could hold on to the movie rights. Then 2005 brought the first actual Fantastic Four film, and it did well enough for a sequel. But when that sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, underperformed, the decision was made to reboot the franchise.
2015’s Fantastic Four, based on the Ultimate Fantastic Four comics, was infamous before it hit screens, with director Josh Trank having a very public feud with 20th Century Fox. This darker version of the team ended up making only half of Rise of the Silver Surfer‘s already-disappointing box office.
2 Green Lantern Should Be Willed Out Of Our Brains
It seemed like 2011’s Green Lantern was destined to be a huge hit, directed by Martin Campbell coming off of the James Bond reboot Casino Royale, and starring Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Angela Bassett, and Tim Robbins, everything was lining up for DC’s Emerald Warrior.
How it could have gone so wrong is still a mystery. The CGI suit is great in concept, but it just doesn’t work, and the final confrontation with Parallax feels sluggish. Originally planned as the first of a trilogy, Green Lantern‘s box office light was too dim.
1 The Crow: City Of Angels Never Had A Chance
1994’s The Crow, directed by Alex Proyas and starring Brandon Lee in his final role, was a surprise box office hit— but with Lee’s tragic death on the set of the film, it seemed like there would never be a sequel. But Hollywood wasn’t going to let something like the death of the movie’s star stop them from making another one, and so The Crow: City of Angels came out two years later.
Starring Vincent Pérez as the new Crow, City of Angels opened at number one with a promising $9 million dollars, but word of mouth quickly killed the film’s chances at success, ending its run with just $25 million worldwide.
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