For awhile there, the MCU was putting out such consistent hits we thought it was untouchable. Then Phase Four came rolling in, and shattered that illusion with the release of the franchise’s new norm of mid to low-level films. A few shining stars continued to standout, but gradually the MCU became known for projects bogged down by CGI, haphazard writing, and general excess.
That’s not to say that your average Marvel flick isn’t still good, they just pale so much in comparison to those Phase Three successes its hard to see. Its rare that even a bad Marvel flick fails to live up to the very best DCEU offering, but its not unheard of. A few glaring examples showcase that even the best trip up sometimes, and when Marvel trips, it trips hard. May I present: The worst-reviewed Marvel movies on Rotten Tomatoes, from Madame Web to poorly polished turd.
Every Marvel movie rated under 20% on Rotten Tomatoes
Its important to remember that Marvel and the MCU are not mutually exclusive, so a number of the worst Marvel movies out there don’t actually fall into the greater cinematic universe. They’re instead part of the dreaded Sony Spider-Man Universe (SSU), which shares tenuous links with the MCU, but is largely a wholly separate, vastly inferior beast. The worst MCU flop out there could never hope to compete with the laughably defective Morbius, but there is some competition for the heavily-memed flick scattered among past projects Marvel hasn’t quite managed to sweep under the rug.
6. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011) — 19%
When I started this list, Madame Web was at the top, but within 20 minutes of penning the introduction, the SSU’s most recent release had dropped below even the terrible sequel of a terrible film. I like a good unhinged Nick Cage performance as much as anyone, and even I ditched Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance halfway through.
There’s just nothing redeeming about this movie, which makes it all the more appalling that it currently occupies the highest spot on this list. Its the Marvel universe’s best option under 20%, and offers up a perk: You can watch Cage earn a hefty paycheck on full auto-drive. What a treat!
5. Madame Web (2023) — 15%
The SSU’s latest cringe-worthy release is not the saving grace the company no doubt prayed for. To be fair, Madame Web looked like a steaming trash heap from the moment it released first looks, so at least fans aren’t surprised by the early ranking.
Still, that’s a tough pill to swallow. The SSU is so determined to arise as a worthy accompaniment to the MCU, releasing grittier, edgier flicks following villains and lesser-known heroes, and it fails every time. With Madame Web‘s atrocious starting score — which dropped from 20% to 15% in the time it took to write this article — it seems all but guaranteed that Spider-Man fans are headed toward yet another disappointment when Kraven the Hunter releases later this year.
4. Morbius (2022) — 15%
Ah yes, the cream of the crummy crop. Morbius established itself as the internet’s new favorite flop before it ever debuted, and that only intensified once audiences set their sights on the film. This atrocious 2022 release packs everything bad about moviemaking — from Jared Leto, to a genuinely senseless story — into its runtime, and somehow births something beautiful in the process. The result is a truly hilarious misfire that’s too bad to even hate-watch, but if you really want to waste two hours, I’ll save you the Google: You can ruin your evening by streaming the flick over on Netflix. It’ll run you a full $.88 if you instead chose to rent it from Prime, and let me be utterly clear when I emphasize that you’d be wasting every cent.
3. Howard the Duck (1986) — 13%
You know you’re doing bad when you sport a lower percentage score than 1986’s universally panned Howard the Duck. No one liked this movie — not critics, not audiences, not even fans of bad movies. It doesn’t know what direction it wants to take, and the result is a messy, slightly unsettling, disaster of a film that, for nearly two decades, stood as testament of the worst Marvel had to offer. But that’s no longer the case.
2. Elektra (2005) — 11%
Back in the 2000s, Daredevil was nearly the character that launched a Marvel effort akin to the MCU — at least, until Elektra rolled around. The 2005 film served as a followup to 2003’s Daredevil, and quickly killed any franchise dreams in their tracks. Jennifer Garner does her absolute best to deliver an engaging performance, but its not nearly enough to save the film from a brainless script and weirdly uneventful plot.
1. Fant4stic (2015) — 9%
That poorly polished turd I mentioned above is actually far more palatable than the film I was referencing: 2015’s utterly, abysmally, unspeakably atrocious Fant4stic. Gimicky name aside, this film accomplishes exactly nothing a superhero film — or truly, a story of any form — is supposed to, and instead digs deep into the most soulless, messy, and profoundly uninteresting plot you’ll ever see on screen. The cast each provides the very best performance they can muster, but there’s not enough acting skill in the world to make up for the atrocity of truly criminal proportions that is this stain on the legacy of Marvel’s First Family.
