8 Amazing Superhero Movie Crossovers

We're now well into the age of superhero movie crossovers. The Avengers have been assembled (and recently disassembled) on the big screen for a few years now and the Justice League are all set to join them. We think of this as a new phenomenon, kickstarted by the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2008, but actually, some form of crossover in superhero movies has been around for a while now. For instance, The Incredible Hulk TV movies saw the rage monster team up with Thor and Daredevil. Seeing this type of thing on the big screen took somewhat longer, but Hollywood did eventually catch up. From the early hints at cinematic crossovers in the 1990s to the full-on mash-ups of today, here are eight of the best superhero movie crossovers ever. As always, if we’ve missed any, make sure to remind us about them in the comments section down below. 8) Superman Works Alone - Batman & Robin It probably says a lot about the groan-inducing mess that is Batman & Robin that the movie’s most exciting moment is a single throwaway line – albeit one that offers a fascinating hint at a wider DC universe existing on the fringes of the film. Early on in the movie, Robin is badgering Batman in the Batcave about how unfairly he feels he's being treated. To this George Clooney’s crusader quips: “This is why Superman works alone.” Whoah, hang on a minute, Batman! You mean to say Superman has existed in the world of this film series this whole time? If only he had flown by Gotham during this movie it would livened things up a bit. Of course, this one isn't a full-blown crossover, but it meant a lot at the time, back when the Marvel Cinematic Universe was not even a glint in Kevin Feige’s eye. 7) Loki’s Patriotic Disguise - Thor: The Dark World With the likes of The Avengers and Batman V Superman, we’ve got used to superhero crossovers being big all-encompassing events. Thor: The Dark World reminded us, however, that a quick glimpse of a hero we weren’t expecting to see is still enough to get us excited. In what is again probably the most memorable moment in an overall so-so movie, the Thor sequel sees Loki taunt his God of Thunder brother by transforming himself into Captain America and mocking the Sentinel of Liberty’s straight-up heroism. It might not actually be Steve Rogers, but it's still a very welcome cameo from Chris Evans. He’s clearly having a blast impersonating Tom Hiddleston impersonating him. If we weren’t properly going to see The Avengers team up again until Age of Ultron, at least we had this mini comic crossover to keep us happy. 6) The Punisher - Spider-Man 2 Sometimes superhero crossovers are all the better because you have to hunt for them. A great example of this is a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo from none other than The Punisher in Spider-Man 2. It occurs when Mary Jane runs away from her wedding to be with Peter. As she does so, she passes a serious-looking guy in a trench coat. The film’s DVD commentary confirms this is intended to be Frank Castle, who also starred in his own movie in 2004. The intention was for that film’s star, Thomas Jane to appear here, but contract issues precluded this. Instead, Jane’s stunt double filled in for him. Not that you would notice the difference though, as they look a hell of a lot alike. 5) Tony’s Putting A Team Together - The Incredible Hulk Post-credits scenes in superhero movies have become the home of extra fan-pleasing nuggets, which often feature little crossovers. For example, Mark Ruffalo turning up at the end of Iron Man 3. But one of the first, and still most thrilling, is Tony Stark’s cameo at the end of The Incredible Hulk. Only the second movie in the then-infant MCU, it meant a lot at the time that Robert Downey Jr. had crossed over onto the Jade Giant’s movie. We just hadn’t seen anything like it on the big screen before. Sure, the scene doesn’t quite gel perfectly with later developments (why is Tony trying to recruit General Ross into The Avengers?), but that doesn’t diminish the excitement we all felt when watching it for the first time. In retrospect, it's responsible for opening the door for all subsequent Marvel crossovers. 4) All The X-Men - X-Men: Days of Future Past Does it count as a crossover when it involves the characters meeting alternate versions of themselves? Certainly this next entry has the ‘everything plus the kitchen sink’ mentality of a superhero crossover film, so we're counting it here. The X-Men franchise’s two distinct eras came together for Days of Future Past, uniting the original cast of Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry etc. with the stars of the prequels movies – James MacAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and co. The result was a film that brought us the best of both differing iterations of the franchise and one that is a lot of people’s favourite X-Men movie. More of a convergence of conflicting continuities then a classic superhero crossover, Days of Future Past is still one of the most thrilling of all comic book movie mash-ups. 3) The Trinity - Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice kind of shot itself in the foot by insisting on a dour tone. DC’s two biggest icons finally sharing a movie should have been a joyous affair for superhero fans, but the grimdark mood did its best to dampen that. Still, there is one moment that just can’t help but raise a massive smile on your face. After appearing in her everyday guise as Diana Prince in a few scenes scattered throughout, Gal Gadot properly makes her debut as Wonder Woman when she joins Batman and Superman in their fight against Doomsday. Finally – the holy trinity of DC superheroes are united on the big screen. After watching it play out, we remain hopeful that the upcoming Justice League – which will see the Trinity team up with The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg – will manage to match, or maybe even top, this fan-pleasing moment. 2) “Hey Everyone” - Captain America: Civil War A continual annoyance to Marvel fans is that the rights to the company’s characters are spread around at various different studios, meaning they can’t all team up like they regularly do in the comics. Thankfully, we got one big step closer to achieving a united Marvel universe on the big screen this year when Spider-Man crossed over to the MCU in Captain America: Civil War. As revealed in the film’s final trailer that sent reverberations throughout the internet, Spidey’s first appearance in costume in the movie comes when he swoops down and snatches Captain America’s shield – immediately showcasing the thrill of having the iconic hero in the midst of The Avengers. Even if the webhead wasn’t involved though, the airport scene would still be terrific, combining more superheroes than we'd ever seen together on screen before. 1) Avengers Assemble - The Avengers For the best superhero movie crossover of all-time, we have to turn to The Avengers. As we've seen, previous attempts at linking superhero franchises had been throwaway at best. Not so with The Avengers – instead, it was a glorious adaptation of the comic book mentality of shoving all your stars together. The greatest moment naturally comes in the money shot at the film’s climax, where Iron Man, Cap, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye all join forces to defeat Loki’s alien hordes. With Alan Silvestri’s thumping theme playing over it, there is a real celebratory feel to the scene. Finally, the first proper superhero movie crossover had arrived. While Civil War’s alternative version – all the heroes fighting rather than conjoining – was on another scale entirely, this was the original and therefore the most powerful. You just can’t beat the assembling of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.