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

Hellboy is that rare comic-book adaptation that manages to be simultaneously scary, hilarious, thrilling and even romantic. Credit director Guillermo del Toro, who stages every frame with a gorgeously lit, unmistakably sinister ambiance that complements the film’s bizarre premise – the adult son of the Devil is a sarcastic, cigarette-chomping loner who protects humans by repeatedly beating the snot out of other supernatural creatures. It’s a plot that, if handled by anyone other than del Toro, would have likely fallen into self-parody, but the director’s delicate, loving touch works wonders.

Nothing about Hellboy should work, but everything does, from the unlikely, red-hot chemistry between Perlman’s devil-horned antihero and Selma Blair’s pyrokinetic badass Liz (Selma Blair) to sprawling action sequences involving a stunningly original hellhound with an uncomfortably long tongue. An incredible performance from a nearly unrecognizable Ron Perlman, along with Guillermo del Toro’s eerily gorgeous direction, elevates Hellboy far above typical comic-book adaptations.

Shane Black’s Iron Man 3 made it abundantly clear to me that Iron Man is my favorite superhero. How else could Black so perfectly tailor every single element of his film, a sprawling studio blockbuster of mammoth proportions, to expertly advance Tony’s intensely human arc of identity and insecurity? ‘Complex characterization’ is not a strong enough term to describe what he and Downey Jr. accomplish here. This is an insightful and engaging psychological analysis of an impossibly rich and fascinating central character, and alongside Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel it may be the current pinnacle of the superhero film as character piece, for me at least, surpassing even Nolan’s Dark Knight films in terms of cutting to the heart of what makes the title figure tick, and vibrantly defining what audiences love about him in the process.

Iron Man 3 is also tremendously funny, of course, and endlessly intriguing, and bombastically exciting as only the greatest comic-book blockbusters can be. I am convinced this is a watermark for the genre – the second Marvel has delivered since May 2012 – and the only proof I ever need to defend that, cinematically speaking, Iron Man is not only the best Avenger, but the most emotionally rewarding costumed hero of them all.

No single film has done more to bring superhero movies into the modern age than Bryan Singer’s X-Men. Without its success, we probably would not have the Marvel cinematic universe as we know it today. X-Men broadened the appeal of its titular superheroes for an audience beyond fans of the comic book. One of the ways it did so was by jettisoning the loud, colorful uniforms of the comics in favor of black uniforms, a stylistic change that helped prevent the characters from looking silly on the big screen.

Now, big screen superheroes are back to wearing multi-colored uniforms—which is good, because if everyone wore black it would get a little boring—but the colors are a bit more muted. That’s because filmmakers have learned an important lesson: what looks good on the printed page might not necessarily look good on a movie screen.

X-Men had a lot more going for it than just cool-looking uniforms, though. It was also superbly cast. There was Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto and of course, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Can you imagine any other actor playing Wolverine at this point? Even when X-Men: First Class brought in new actors to play the rest of the heroes, Jackman still returned for a cameo as Wolvie.

Now that the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past will be bringing both casts together, it’s an especially exciting time to be a fan of the mutant super-team. But none of it would have been possible without the first X-Men film proving there was a big market for films based on the Marvel universe.

How can you make a film about a bunch of gods work in a universe where things have been thus far established as essentially rooted in the mishaps of experimental science? Why, hire noted Shakespearean expert Kenneth Branagh to direct them in a film that combines celestial fantasy with fish-out-of-water laughs, of course. Why was Thor so good? Kenneth Branagh, as those who’ve seen its tepid sequel can no doubt attest. Oh, and there is that other reason.

Tom Hiddleston. As Loki, he’s arguably the most enjoyable facet of the Marvel Cinematic universe so far introduced, bringing his obvious relish in playing the character to three movies so far with a guaranteed role in future outings. He’s like the opposite of the seemingly ubiquitous Samuel L. Jackson. Hiddleston’s not in it for the paycheck. He LOVES it, and each film he appears is in that much better off for it.

Pair this with some decent action, the ever-likeable Natalie Portman (who’s more than made up for saying yes to George Lucas by now, doncha think?) and the revelation that is burl incarnate, Chris Hemsworth, whose comic chops make his interactions with earthlings one of Thor’s many little delights. This one’s a keeper, and stood tall as the best of the bunch ‘til The Avengers, with Thor and Loki in starring roles, rolled around a year later.

The perceived knowledge amongst fanboys/girls now that Nolan’s Batman = great, and Burton’s Batman = lame, really is a tad revisionist and a little ignorant to the notion of multiple interpretation. While I do agree that time has not necessarily been kind to Burton’s Batman films, there is still something in them, and particularly in Batman Returns, which is singular and rather original. Embracing this movie will come down to whether or not you are on side with Burton’s style of filmmaking (before he became a self parody of himself) and if you are, then there is much to delight in.

Batman Returns is in some moments quite unbelievably strange and for that it is to be admired. It has The Penguin biting noses, spewing black liquid and eating raw fish. It has Michelle Pfeiffer being pushed out of a high storey window, being revived by cats and going home to make a professionally-made, lycra catsuit. It has penguins operating missiles in order to kill first born children and it has Christopher Walken, seemingly by virtue of the fact he’s Christopher Walken. It is profoundly strange. Burton’s hand is much heavier in his vision of Batman, almost to the extent that Batman (1989) and this feel a universe apart. That’s no bad thing though. Retrospectively and in light of the Nolanverse, Batman Returns feels even stranger, even weirder and even darker than it did on initial release.