8 Superheroes Who Failed In The Movies But Soared On TV

Despite the success of a great many superheroes on the big screen, some are not so lucky. For whatever reason – be it problems with the casting, the script or the directing – certain comic book characters did not make their way to the silver screen intact. One example of this is Marvel’s Ghost Rider. Nicolas Cage played the Spirit of Vengeance in the hellish 2007 movie, and then again in the only slightly better (but that’s really not saying much) sequel in 2012. While those movies’ failure might have stopped the hero’s cinematic career, the character has found a new home on TV that could well suit him a lot better. As we all know, Ghost Rider will be brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the fourth season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. This will be the Robbie Reyes incarnation though, as played by Gabriel Luna. And while it's still too early to say how things will turn out for him, so far, we're feeling optimistic. Of course, this isn’t the first time that a superhero who flopped on the big screen has turned out to be better suited to the small one. Here are 8 more examples of characters who may not have made much of an impact on cinemas but have gone on to delight viewers on television. 8) Buffy The Vampire Slayer Unlike the others on this list, Joss Whedon’s feminist icon Buffy the Vampire Slayer does not originate from comic books and is a screen original. Still, with her superpowers and status as the saviour of the world, she's definitely a superhero, so we’re counting her here. In 1992, Whedon’s script for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, acclaimed within the industry, was transformed into a movie that did not do his writing justice. Starring Kristy Swanson, Donald Sutherland and Rutger Hauer, it’s a fairly cheesy affair that's just a footnote in the comedy horror genre. That could have been the end of it, but thankfully, Whedon took his idea to TV. The result was a television icon that ran from seven seasons between 1997 and 2003 and has cast a huge legacy ever since. Not to mention it properly launched Whedon’s career – which eventually led to him directing The Avengers. 7) Constantine Like many Alan Moore comic book creations, his magic-wielding anti-hero John Constantine was not brought to the screen very faithfully in 2003’s Constantine. On the page, Constantine is a blond-haired Northern Englishman with attitude. In the movie, he's now the decidedly not blonde, definitely not English Keanu Reeves who spends the entire time moping. In 2014, NBC revitalized the character for a Constantine TV series. While we can’t argue that it was perfect (for one, his signature chain smoking and bisexuality were either toned down or removed all together), it was a much better version of the character than the movie. Based on Matt Ryan’s spot-on performance alone, it deserved more than the single season it ended up getting. 6) Elektra 2003’s Daredevil did not only mess up the titular Man Without Fear (sorry Ben Affleck, at least you’re Batman now), but it also gave us a pretty poor version of his love interest Elektra. Despite Affleck and Jennifer Garner’s real-life relationship, the pair lacked chemistry and the version of the character’s backstory presented in the film removed much of her awesomeness. Somehow, though, Elektra came back in her own spinoff in 2005. This one was even worse, however, and probably helped set back female-led superhero movies by about a decade. At long last, this year we got a better version of Elektra Natchios in Netflix’s Daredevil, as played Elodie Yung. The show actually made a lot of changes to the character from the comics, and not all of them worked, but she was still more engaging than the movie iteration. 5) Hulk The Incredible Hulk is the reverse of the other heroes mentioned here. While they first flopped on the movies and then succeeded on TV, Dr. Banner’s initial popularity on the small screen overshadowed his later movie appearances. In one of the first mainstream comic book shows, The Incredible Hulk series ran from 1978 to 1982, plus a few TV movies that went on until 1990. The show is responsible for making the Jade Giant the icon of popular culture he is today. It’s also the reason there've been two solo movies about him. Neither, sadly, being that good. 2003’s Hulk, from Ang Lee, was a noble attempt to add some depth to the hero but it was not what fans wanted. Meanwhile, 2007’s The Incredible Hulk was guilty of having a seriously misleading title. At least Mark Ruffalo has now finally given us a great big screen Bruce Banner. 4) Batgirl There's also another hero who smashed it on TV before failing on film: Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, Babs Gordon herself – Batgirl. Introduced in the 1960s Batman TV show in an attempt to boost ratings, Batgirl instantly became a feminist icon and was quickly introduced into the comics. Today, she is a core part of the Batfamily. Unfortunately, her transition to the movies wasn’t as simple. Barbara, as Alfred’s niece this time, had the misfortune to appear in Joel Schumacher’s infamous Batman & Robin, as played by Alicia Silverstone. Needless to say, nothing came out of that movie untainted. In 2016, Batgirl got another stab at the big screen in the animated Batman: The Killing Joke, which had a limited theatrical release in both the US and the UK. Sadly, instead of redeeming her, it took away all her agency and even included a gross sex scene with Batman. 3) The Punisher Despite perhaps not being that well known a name to the general public, the Punisher has been adapted to the movies more than most Marvel heroes. First in 1989 with Dolph Lundgren in the lead. Then in 2004, starring Thomas Jane, and finally in 2008’s Punisher: War Zone with Ray Stevenson. Unfortunately, none of them were anything special and never quite nailed the appeal of the violent anti-hero. Again, it was left up to Daredevil to pick up the pieces and deliver us a brilliant take on the character in its second season. Much like Elektra, the show’s Punisher was much different from the comics character. In particular, he was more emotional and impulsive. Fans took to this version surprisingly well and now, we can expect to see Jon Bernthal reprise the role again in his own spinoff show at some point in the future. 2) Supergirl Superman’s cousin, Kara, has only just become a familiar name to wider audiences thanks to the CBS – now The CW – TV show. However, she's been brought to the screen on a previous occasion, in the cheap and cheerful Supergirl movie, released in 1984. Allegedly Superman himself, Christopher Reeve, turned down a cameo part in the movie because the script was so bad. After seeing it, it’s not difficult to imagine that was case. Helen Slater’s Girl of Steel did not convince the public she could fly like Reeve had and the movie was hampered by a goofy plot. The Supergirl TV show is still finding its feet, of course, but it has generally gone down with fans a lot better than the movie. Melissa Benoist is perfect casting in the role and the optimistic tone probably captures the spirit of the Reeve movies better than its own spinoff did. 1) Daredevil The most extreme example of a hero failing on film but succeeding in a series has got to be Daredevil. As previously mentioned, the 2003 movie is derided by fans as a terrible adaptation of the hornheaded hero. On the other hand, the Daredevil TV show is arguably the most critically acclaimed superhero series around at the moment. The gulf in success between the two is probably to do with their inspirations. As the Daredevil movie tried to ape the popularity of Sam Raimi’s recent Spider-Man film, it forced a tone and style onto the movie that didn’t fit with the character. The show, on the other hand, comes in the wake of the Dark Knight films and can give Daredevil the grittiness he deserves. Though we would love to see Charlie Cox turn up in a Marvel movie at some point, for now the hero is definitely in a good home on Netflix.