We Got This Covered’s Top 50 Comic Book/Superhero Movies

Many moviegoers and comic book fans were angry with Ang Lee’s brooding, bloated 2003 film Hulk. And Marvel does not like their fans when they are angry. So, only five years after Lee’s film hit the big screen, Universal and Marvel went for round two, releasing a film featuring Dr. Bruce Banner and the mean, green monster.

Ang Lee’s version may have been the thinking-man’s Hulk, but as a great number of moviegoers and comic book fans rightly noted, Bruce Banner’s daddy issues and psychological trauma was not what audiences wanted to see. They wanted to see the Hulk smash. As blockbuster entertainment, Louis Leterrier’s swiftly paced, action-heavy thriller was just the antidote audiences wanted.

Edward Norton gives a suitably intense performance as Bruce Banner, as he tries to manage his anger while dealing with a surmounting number of personal and perilous conflicts. He grounds the movie, and character, with earned pathos.

The film also delivers top-tier work from great characters actors like William Hurt (General Ross), Tim Blake Nelson (Samuel Sterns) and Tim Roth, who almost steals the movie with a ruthlessly insane take on Emil Blonsky/Abomination. The climactic showdown between the Hulk and Abomination is still one of the finest finales in Marvel’s oeuvre of comic-book adaptations.

After the overwhelming disappointment of the first attempt at a solo film for Wolverine, many were skeptical about James Mangold’s efforts to revitalize the character. After all, we had seen Hugh Jackman as Logan enough times to know that despite the fact he’s awesome as the character, there’s just no way that Wolverine can succeed under the restraints of studio control and a PG-13 rating. Then, The Wolverine hit theaters, and all skepticism was slashed to pieces.

Part of the reason why this film is so successful is it doesn’t try to be an X-Men movie. Really, it doesn’t try to be a comic book movie at all, though it clearly is one. It’s a story about internal turmoil caused by the pressures of living forever. Throw in some villains and battles that rival some of the best action movies, and that makes for a pretty epic film.

There’s also the fact that Jackman gets better as Wolvie every time he takes on the character. In The Wolverine he’s more jacked, more furious, and more in-tune with the character than ever before.

One of Warner Bros. Animation’s most staggering achievements to date, this two-part adaptation of the classic Frank Miller graphic novel is terrifically true to its source material while capable of standing on its own as a miniature Batman epic.

Both films are boosted by detailed, stylish animation and brilliant voice performances from Frank Weller (an older, potentially unhinged version of the Caped Crusader), Michael Emerson (the Joker, portrayed with enough chilling psychopathy to rival Heath Ledger’s acclaimed performance) and Ariel Winter (Kelly, the best on-screen version of Robin since, well, ever).

I’ll give you fair warning that this is not a Batman story for the whole family. The Dark Knight Returns is often brutally and ruthlessly dark in its quest to capture the gritty realism and anguish of Miller’s work. All of the scenes that shocked readers back in 1986 are faithfully depicted. But that’s part of what makes it such an indispensible instant classic – the two-part film successfully introduces Miller’s comic to a new generation of fans, and for that alone it deserves inclusion on this list.

Director Jay Oliva really gets the Batman character, and it shows in the finished product. The Dark Knight Returns is a wildly ambitious, deeply respectful and remarkably gripping story that ranks among the best interpretations of the Dark Knight legend. It’s simply mandatory viewing for fans, both devoted and casual.

When you ask most people what their favorite movie based on a Marvel superhero is, it’s not likely they’re going say Punisher: War Zone. After all, the film was a complete flop both commercially and critically, and made the previous Punisher movie seem like an unqualified success in comparison. Here’s the thing, though: Punisher: War Zone is actually kind of awesome. It is an over-the-top bloodbath featuring action so crazy that it becomes gleefully cartoonish.

There is a great episode of the How Did This Get Made? podcast featuring the film’s director (Lexi Alexander), who until Punisher: War Zone had really only done indie dramas, and comedian Patton Oswalt, who is a huge fan of the film. One of the revelations in the podcast is that the movie studio forced Alexander to insert a scene featuring parkour (which was seemingly mandatory for every action movie at the time) and Alexander got her revenge by having the Punisher blow up the parkour-practicing bad guys with a rocket launcher. And that pretty much sums up the tone of the movie right there.

Punisher: War Zone was never going to win any Oscars, but it is tremendously fun for what it is: a self-aware, gleefully violent take on Marvel Comics’ most violent superhero. At a time when comic book movies were going the dark, serious route of Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, Punisher: War Zone took a hard left turn into utter insanity. You’d be hard-pressed to find another superhero movie like it.

Across all comic book properties that have made their way to the big screen, The Punisher still seems to be one fans of the genre bemoan the most. It’s not that there aren’t admirers among us, it’s just that over three films, a quarter century, and three different Frank Castles, no one attempt has captured the source material’s soul in its entirety. That being said, 2004’s The Punisher is about the closest we’ve received and in its own right is a very entertaining action film with plenty of deliciously bombastic touches that add layers of dark humour to what can at times be unrelenting grimness.

In the end, what keeps the film held together at its core is the performance of Thomas Jane as the revenge seeking widower, left for dead with lead in his chest and plenty more pain in his heart. Castle’s transformation from loyal man of the law and loving father and husband is one we’ve seen before in other revenge actioniers, but Jane brings the physicality and determination we would expect from a force that could bring down an entire crime syndicate – solo. Likewise, the small moments of solace he shares with Rebecca Romijn’s Joan, John Pinette’s Bumpo and Ben Foster’s Dave are gentle touches in this otherwise ugly world. They also hinted at further things to come from a sequel, which did not, unfortunately.