When Iron Man was released in 2008 it changed the game as far as comic book films were concerned. While DC Comics had success with Superman in the 70s and Batman in the 80s and early 00s, Marvel had always struggled with adaptations of its property. Realizing they needed a new strategy, the company devised a shared Marvel universe whereby characters from different comics would interact with each other and feature in each other's films. The plan envisioned three phases, with each introducing new characters and storylines leading to the formation of The Avengers and ending with the highly publicized Infinity War storyline.
The first film released in this reboot of the universe was the above mentioned Iron Man, and after the film was both a box office smash and critical success Marvel, went full steam ahead with their plans. So far, 18 films have been released in this new Marvel Cinematic Universe with the 19th, Avengers: Infinity War, out later this month. Along with feature films Marvel also invested in the small screen with 10 series having been released so far, with the most successful (Daredevil and The Punisher) airing on Netflix.
While it's fair to say the majority of films released have been a success there have also been quite a few misses, particularly when discussing Marvel films released before the creation of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. People are quick to forget how bad all three Fantastic Four films are or how X-Men Origins: Wolverine almost destroyed an iconic character. With Avengers: Infinity War almost upon us we've decided to go back through Marvel's filmography and highlight the 20 worst releases (and the 10 best) for you to debate.
30 Worst: Not So Incredible
When it was revealed Edward Norton had signed on to play Dr. Banner/The Hulk there was a quiet confidence Marvel had finally found the right actor to play the complicated character. Unfortunately, not even Norton's acting chops could save this version of the green monster from the scrap heap.
While many praised the action set pieces in the film they seem clunky by today's standards.
The lack of depth in the script and failure to flesh out Banner's dual personality is disappointing. The Hulk is supposed to be about the battle between Banner and his alter ego but The Incredible Hulk is more concerned with big, dumb fight scenes. Norton does a decent job as Banner but when compared to Mark Ruffalo's take on the character he pales insignificance. If Thor: Ragnarok taught us anything it's that Hulk works best when paired with another superhero, with the character better suited to a supporting role than starring in his own film.
29 Worst: We Dare You To Sit Through This
No, this isn't the awesome Netflix series but the horrible Ben Affleck headlined take on the blind lawyer turned costumed crime fighter. As an origin story, this one is pretty standard fare and doesn't really offer up anything new or different about how Daredevil came to be. Affleck is passable as Matt Murdoch and Jennifer Garner impressive as Elektra, but Colin Farrell as Bullseye is just awful with the Irish actor seemingly hamming it up to the extreme. Affleck won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor thanks to this film and has stated in various interviews over the years he hates the film and regrets the way it turned out. Even the 30 minute extra R-Rated Directors cut fails to inspire greater warmth for this film. Just stick with the Netflix series.
28 Best: Marvel Catches Fire Thanks To Iron Man
The film that kicked off the new Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man is a cracking action flick capturing everything that's right about comic book films. Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Ironman was inspired casting, with the troubled actor instilling the millionaire Stark with humor and a sense of levity.
Much credit must also go to director Jon Favreau who first rose to fame with cult classic Swingers.
Favreau created a smart and dynamic action film that appealed to both comic book fans and general moviegoers. It's also quite faithful to the source material and doesn't try and change the Iron Man mythology created by Stan Lee in the early 60s. Iron Man proved comic book films could work if the audience wasn't treated like idiots, with the film laying the ground work for future Marvel releases.
27 Worst: Cool Concept, Terrible Movie
The concept of a stuntman who turned into a mythical creature with a flaming skull, rode a motorbike, and took out bad guys with a chain seemed made for the screen, but things didn't go according to plan with Ghost Rider. The comic book favorite's first taste of the big screen was a dismal failure thanks to a combination of terrible acting (yes Nicholas Cage, I'm looking at you), a poor script, and some rather disappointing special effects. Cage's decision to make Johnny Blaze a more serious character didn't go down well with fans either, losing the comic book hero's edge.
As much as I like Cage as an actor he just doesn't suit the comic book world. He's much better when he can create his own characters from scratch, such as Cameron Poe from Con Air or Randall "Memphis" Raines from Gone In 60 Seconds.
26 Worst: A Fantastic Flop
The second attempt at a live-action Fantastic Four film (Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four never officially saw the light of day) is a disaster of epic proportions. The film explained the origins of the four and their powers and eventually leads to a showdown with nemesis Doctor Doom.
Watching this film it's hard to find any redeeming points.
Ioan Gruffudd is horribly miscast as Reed Richards while Micheal Chiklis is unrecognizable as The Thing. Jessica Alba isn't great as Sue Storm while Chris Evans does his best as the wisecracking Johnny Storm. The script is full of horrendous dialogue and the action scenes aren't enjoyable. Things didn't get any better with the sequel, an even bigger pile of stinking garbage.
25 Best: A Unique Superhero
Say want you want about Wesley Snipes but he made Blade relevant again and helped expose the half-man half-vampire to an entirely new audience. Directed by Stephen Norrington and scripted by David S. Goyer (forget about Man Of Steel and remember Batman Begins) Blade followed the titular character as he battled evil vampire Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff's last good role). It's a blood-filled over-the-top action affair that showcased Snipes' understated charm, with great support coming from a menacing Dorff, scene-stealing Donal Logue, and always enjoyable Kris Kristofferson. Two sequels followed with varying results but the first Blade will always be remembered as the best and helped pave the way for black comic book characters having their own films.
24 Worst: Strangely Successful
A movie based on a character who can transport between worlds and alternate dimensions and bend time isn't easy to get across on-screen, as Doctor Strange proved. Critics were impressed with the outcome but I found the film bogged down in exposition with the final set-piece fairly dull.
For a film that relies on special effects, it doesn't impress in the slightest.
The decision to cast Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One, a Tibetan monk in the comic series, was also problematic. Kudos to Benedict Cumberbatch who does a wonderful job as the arrogant Strange and to Mads Mikkelson who is always watchable, but even they can't turn this film into a winner.
23 Worst: Atleast It Made Money
When the X-Men finally came to the big screen it was an exciting moment for comic book fans. The chance to see Wolverine, Cyclopes, Storm, and Co. in a live action film was monumental and the flick actually lived up to the hype. By the time the third incarnation was released the series had hit its lowest point. With director Bryan Singer jumping ship and replaced by the insufferable Brett Ratner, X-Men: The Last Stand tried to adapt the famed Dark Phoenix Saga with disastrous results. Despite being a box office smash the film was savaged by critics for its confusing plot, poor direction, and lack of emotional depth. There's also the fact Ratner decided to eliminate several main characters, something that didn't go down well with the fans. The film was so bad producers had to go back in time for the next X-Men reboot so people would forget this one existed.
22 Best: An Epic Space Romp
One of the biggest problems the Marvel films have encountered is getting the right balance between being serious action films and fun comic book fantasies. Enter Guardians Of The Galaxy.
This flick landed in pure popcorn movie territory.
Guardians featured a rag tag band of beings who find themselves having to save the world from evil. It's a fun film helped by an entertaining script, excellent soundtrack (I'll never listen to "Hooked On A Feeling" without thinking about this film ever again), and inspired casting, with Chris Pratt showing his acting chops and former wrestler Dave Bautista in his best role to date. The best thing about Guardians was it worked as a standalone film, with movie goers not needing to know the entire backstory of every character before watching, giving it a universal appeal.
21 Worst: Why, George Lucas?
Riding high from the success of both the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises George Lucas finally got around to producing pet project Howard The Duck. Why Lucas thought a live action film about a talking duck would be a hit is anyones guess, but the film went ahead and was released to resoundingly negative reviews. Strange plot aside, Howard was a horrible looking creation whose mouth and facial features hardly moved when he talked. He also wasn't a nice duck and often comes across as creepy during the flick. The film did win a number of awards though but they weren't ones Lucas was used to, with the film winning four trophies at The Golden Raspberry awards for Worst Screenplay, Worst New Star, Worst Visual Effects, and Worst Picture. The film has gained a cult following in the intervening years but having rewatched it recently I can confirm it's best give a wide berth.
20 Worst: A Dark Part Of The Saga
If the first Thor movie helped introduce the God of Thunder to the masses then sequel Dark World was used to fill in the gaps about the infinity stones and help link the other Marvel films. Like it's title suggests, this film is much darker than the first as Thor teams with his brother Loki to defeat the Dark Elves led by Malekith, a wonderful Christopher Eccleston.
The one-liners are left to Loki as the relationship between Chris Hemsworth's Thor and Natalie Portman's Jane Foster fizzles out quicker than a Thor lightning strike.
Thor: Dark World isn't a terrible film by any measure, more of a paint it by numbers super hero flick with some decent set pieces. Nothing more nothing less.
19 Best: A Truly Epic Marvel Creation
Already being hailed by many as the greatest Marvel film of all time, Black Panther has exceeded all expectations and taken the Marvel universe to another level. Not only was the film a wonderful super hero adventure but it celebrated black culture and highlighted some of the best African American actors out there. Chadwick Boseman, Micheal B. Jordan, and Letitia Wright are phenomenal while young director Ryan Coogler has cemented himself as a future Oscar winner. Black Panther managed to combine empowering the black community with an action packed script that appealed to all. Here's hoping Black Panther has a large role in the upcoming Avenger films and we see a Black Panther sequel sooner rather than later.
18 Worst: The Movie It Spunoff Was Bad
Daredevil may have been put to the sword by reviewers but the film was a massive commercial success and helped spawn the spinoff Elektra. As you might have guessed, the film focused on the life-taker played by Jennifer Garner who spends the film trying to protect a man and his daughter from the formidable criminal organization known as The Hand. Garner was actually quite good as the kick-behind life-ender and excelled during the action scenes.
Unfortunately, the script was left wanting, with too much dull dialogue and useless exposition.
The lack of any other big name actors (bar Terrance Stamp's small turn as Stick) also didn't help, with Garner left to carry the lackluster film. Much like Daredevil, the Elektra seen in the Netflix series is a much better version of the comic book character.
17 Worst: Punishing The Audience
Of the three films made based on Marvel's Punisher the 1989 failure would have to be the worst of the bunch. After a star turn in Rocky IV (and following it up with the universally panned Master Of The Universe and above average action flick Red Scorpion), Dolph Lundgren thought he'd hit the jackpot when cast as Frank Castle in The Punisher. Oh, how wrong he was. The film had a ludicrous plot whereby Castle teamed with Gianna Franco, the man responsible for the demise of his family, so the two could rescue the children of mafia bosses who've been kidnaped by the Yakuza. If that doesn't frighten you off then prepare yourself for 89 minutes of boring fight scenes, terrible acting, and an underwhelming climax. This film looked likely to put the final nail in Lundgren's acting career until he scored a supporting role in a little film called Universal Soldier.
16 Best: Cap's Best Film?
I don't think they've made a bad Captain America film yet but if I was to chose the best it would have to be Winter Soldier. Drawing from the Winter Soldier story arc of the comics, the action-packed sequel to Captain America: The First Avenger sees Cap teaming with Black Widow and Falcon to uncover a conspiracy within the ranks of S.H.E.I.L.D.
There's an old-school feel to this film with an emphasis on tight and compelling plot over CGI animated action scenes.
That said, the set pieces are still spectacular when they occur. Chris Evans seemed at home as Steve Rogers and has the natural charm to pull off America's greatest soldier, while Scarlett Johansson kicks behind as the Black Widow and Sebastian Stan puts in a commendable performance as the damaged Winter Solider. Props also to my main man Frank Grillo who scored the role of Brock Rumlow, also known as Crossbones.
15 Worst: A Subpar Sequel
After the surprise success of Iron Man, the expectations for the sequel were high. Released two years after the original, Iron Man 2 smashed box office records but was met with lukewarm responses from critics. The film wasn't bad per say, it just failed to live up to the lofty standards of the first. Mickey Rourke was terribly miscast as Russian villain Ivan Vanko and the revenge plot mixed with Tony Stark's health problems and battle with the Government for control of his newfound technology weren't that interesting. As I mentioned, the film isn't all bad, with Robert Downey Jr. once again in fine form as Stark and the addition of Don Cheadle taking over for Terrance Howard as War Machine a welcome bonus. As far as sequels go this is good, just not great.
14 Worst: This Sequel Shouldn't Exist
Somehow Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer grossed over $289 million. Having seen the film more times than I'd like to admit I still can't understand why people paid to see this unfathomable piece of cinema trash when it hit screens in 2007. The main cast of the first film reunite to battle the planet-consuming Galactus. Needing help they recruit Silver Surfer who ends up sacrificing his life to save Earth, or something along those lines.
This was another weakly scripted action-adventure film with outdated special effects and horrible overacting from the main players.
While the cast was hopeful a third film would be made, producers came to their senses and made sure there would never be another Fantastic Four film starring this version of the cast. They also should have banned any more films from being made as the 2015 reboot is the worst of the lot, but more on that later.
13 Best: The X-Men Get Their Moment To Shine
If X-Men was a solid introduction to the Marvel mutants than its sequel was a fitting expansion of the X-Men universe with a better script and cast. Inspired by the graphic novel God Loves, Man [Ends], the film focused on Colonel William Stryker and his attempts to wipe out all mutants, including Professor X's X-Men and their enemies The Brotherhood. Aside from the entertaining action and funny dialogue, X-Men 2 also included a broader cross-section of mutants, with the likes of Nightcrawler, Iceman, and Lady Deathstrike joining familiar faces Wolverine, Jean Grey, and Co. In short, it's bigger, better, and more enjoyable than the first film and continued the theme of second films in trilogies being the best.
12 Worst: Bringing The Series Crashing Down
If X-Men 2 was the height of the X-Men franchise than X-Men Apocalypse brought it crashing back down to earth. Somehow worse than X-Man: The Last Stand, this abomination of a film followed X-Men: Days Of Future Past with a cast of actors playing younger versions of themselves. Set in the 80s with a plot concerning Oscar Isaac wanting to wipe out mankind, the film is all over the place and featured mutants you just didn't care enough about to fully invest in.
The biggest problem with this film for me was the lack of Wolverine.
While he showed up in a small cameo he's one of the big attractions when it comes to watching an X-Men film. Even with Hugh Jackman hanging up his retractable claws a new actor taking the role would suit me fine. I just want more Wolverine.
11 Worst: Stop Making Ghost Rider Movies
Another film on this list that makes me ill thinking about watching it again is Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance. Reprising his role as Johnny Blaze, Nic Cage puts in another interesting performance in a film set eight years after the first one yet isn't directly related. The film's tired looking CGI and flimsy script are just two of the movie's faults, with directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, Crank: High Voltage, Jonah Hex) falling out after the film was completed due to fan expectations and criticism of the final product. The best thing about this hatchet job was Christopher Lambert, who went all method for his role as the monk Methodius, engaging in three months of intensive sword training and shaving his head. After the film, Cage said he no longer wanted to star in a planned third film with Ghost Rider finally being put to rest.