As of Thursday night at 8pm when the Marvel Comics adaptation “Iron Man” hits theaters, summer will have officially arrived. From the previews it looks promising, but previews can be deceiving. This list is born out of love for comic book movies, but they can’t all be “Spider-Man 2” or the “X-Men.” More often than not, when they’re not done correctly, you end up with a movie like the ones on this list. I haven’t seen the low-budget, direct-to-video “Captain America” from 1990, so that one is not on here. But this sweet action scene from it is here. And this first one technically isn’t either, but it stems from a feeling I have. Here are the 10 Worst Comic Book Movies Ever.
(And for the flipside, our Top 10 Best Comic Adaptations from a few years back.)
10.5. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Like I said, it’s just a feeling. Have you seen the trailer? Ugh. Ang Lee’s 2003 “Hulk” wasn’t perfect, but its unique and virtually unheralded editing-to-look-like-comic-panels idea was unique and he got the brooding tone of the Hulk perfectly. From what I’ve seen of the upcoming June version, I’m worried. Edward Norton is the perfect choice for Bruce Banner, but the director is Louis Leterrier, whose previous credits include “The Transporter” movies. And now, a public dispute between Norton and the studio over the final cut tells us that all is not rosy in Hulkland. Everybody complained that the CGI Hulk from 2003 was terrible, but it looked way more expressive than the green guy in the new trailer, who’s ridiculously rippled and has a weird, smallish face. And the two giants (Hulk and the Abomination) lunging at each other in slow motion? Looks like a bad “Matrix” rip-off or, dare I suggest, “The Transporter.” Things are not looking good.
10. Daredevil (2003) /Elektra (2005)
One of Marvel’s most beloved and complicated characters, having been successfully re-vamped by no less than Frank Miller and Kevin Smith at different points, made it to the screen portrayed by Ben Affleck in a tight, yet still awkward-fitting red leather suit. “Daredevil” has an unconvincing origin story too similar to Batman’s, and Mark Steven Johnson’s bland screenplay and direction show the cracks way too often for a superhero movie—almost as often as the unintentional laughter that you may be prone to while viewing it. Ironically, the film was successful enough to spawn a spin-off featuring blind lawyer Matt Murdock’s mysterious gal pal Elektra (played by Jennifer Garner, who would eventually become Mrs. Affleck), despite the fact that she was killed by Bullseye (Colin Farrell) already. In her own film, she is resurrected by sensei Stick (Terence Stamp, who should bring his own General Zod back to life instead) to fight an ancient evil group called the Hand, whom apparently nobody talks to. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.) “Elektra” was so lame that they actually cancelled its accompanying videogame. Both movies, however, have 2-Disc extended Director’s Cuts available on DVD for severe masochists.
9. Spawn (1997)
Computer animation hadn’t advanced far enough to make the really weird visuals in this Todd MacFarlane adaptation look convincing yet, but you can’t blame ‘em for trying. A unique look is about all this incoherent Faustian mess had going for it. It’s hard to get involved in the moral dilemma of Al Simmons (Michael Jai White), who returns to Earth after death to seek revenge on the man who killed him, when everything is toned down for a PG-13 rating. If someone crafted a “Spawn” story that was strong enough, I’d say this franchise was due for a reboot. If so, please keep John Leguizamo, the only one having fun in a movie where everything should be played up for its gothic ridiculousness. The tone is all over the place and character motivations that were meant to be complicated are merely left unclear by first-time director (and Industrial Light & Magic veteran) Mark A.Z. Dippe, who went on to direct the TV movie “Frankenfish” and straight-to-DVD release “Garfield Gets Real.”
8. Fantastic Four (2005)/ Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
When I originally heard that this classic Marvel comic book was coming out as a feature film, it was rumored that the producers would set it in its original time period, the 1960s. That had me pumped. The four astronauts who are bombarded by cosmic rays on an experimental rocketship and crash land on Earth with superpowers almost seemed like they could be real. Why? Because astronauts in that decade were real-life superheroes and international celebrities, just like Reed Richards and company. Too risky a financial move, the studio ultimately decided against it and hired director Tim Story (“Barbershop”) to direct. He helmed both movies, which feature a laughable Jessica Alba and poor Michael Chiklis (so good as Vic Mackey on FX’s “The Shield”) buried under blocky Thing makeup. Today’s world is too cynical for these government celebrity-heroes born straight out of the space race, and the dated rapport between the dysfunctional family of the Four would have seemed more natural has the film been set in its proper 1960s setting. As it stands, they are both just cheesy, forgettable superhero pictures.
7. Ghost Rider (2007)
Mark Steven Johnson (“Daredevil”) strikes again, giving Marvel’s fringe-tastic flaming-skull motorcyclist a truly boring and arbitrary film adaptation. This one would have been better set in the 1970s, when daring stunt performers like Evel Kneivel captured the American imagination. Instead, we get Johnny Blaze, who seems like a relic who plays state fairs, a silly cat-and-mouse courtship between Nic Cage (trying really hard to play younger) and Eva Mendes, and a sloppily laid-out set of “demon possession” rules–complete with a sleepwalking Devil (Peter Fonda, who looks like an inspired choice on paper) and an emo-goth wannabe bad guy named Blackheart (Wes Bentley) who wears long trench coats and hangs out with “The Lost Boys.” Sometimes the special effects are almost convincing and they are always are fun to look at even when they’re not (did I mention that Blaze is a flaming skeleton who wears a black-leather coat and rides a motorcycle?), but using digital VFX to illustrate the inner possession “battle” at the end between Ghost Rider and the hell spawn baddies is just plain lazy. Nothing is less suspenseful than people convulsing while their skin is overtaken by CGI—except maybe this entire film.
6. The Punisher (1989)/(2004)
I read recently that another “Punisher” movie is planned (starring Ray Stevenson who was so good in HBO’s “Rome”) and I can’t for the life of me think why. They already did such a great job with the first two! Dolph Lundgren (best known as Drago from “Rocky IV”) tackled vigilante assassin Frank Castle, better known to comics fans as “The Punisher,” in the midst of Schwarzenegger fever. It seemed like any high-octane action flick with a burly dude, a strange foreign accent, and some quippy one-liners was a hit at the box office. Not this one. So in 2004, they rebooted it with Thomas Jane and featured a campy-ass John Travolta as the villain. The appearance of Travolta trying to be evil by way of Hugh Hefner and Tony Manero is funny enough, but the addition of some slapstick later in the film lightens, for the moment at least, what is an overbearingly grim and depressing movie. I wish Stevenson all the luck in the world, because nobody has been able to make revenge quite as boring as “The Punisher” films.
5. Superman III (1983)/Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
These two put the nail in the coffin of the Superman franchise for almost a good twenty years. As a fan of the original Richard Lester cut of “Superman II,” it is sad for me to admit that Lester’s1983 sequel, starring Richard Pryor of all people, is such a fantastic misfire. Pryor is a half-witted computer genius who accidentally splits Superman in two, forcing a face-off between Clark Kent and the Man of Steel (both played by Christopher Reeve). This film all but abandons the mythology of the character (and abandons Lois Lane completely) while trying to squeeze in a subplot with Supes’ Smallville pal Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole). Synthetic kryptonite, a lame villain (Robert Vaughn), and a lot of failed gags essentially put this series to rest. Reeve, however, got Gene Hackman and everyone else back on board to help Superman rid the planet of nuclear weapons in installment number four. Reeve co-wrote the screenplay, and I’m sure he meant well, but having a Nuclear Man created as a clone from hair that was attached to a missile thrown into the Sun by Superman is a bad, bad idea. It’s almost as bad as Nuclear Man’s look—he’s a moussed, tanned bumblebee wearing a crooked “N” on his chest. And if you thought movie special effects couldn’t regress, wrong; there was virtually no budget for the movie either. Jon Cryer played Luthor’s new wave Duckie-like nephew and reportedly Reeve took him aside just before the release and confessed to him that it was going to be “terrible”.
4. Blade Trinity (2004)
The Death of a Franchise, Part Two: The first two “Blade” movies were guilty pleasures—dumb and typically plotted action films, but visually exciting, with just the right dash of humor. Wesley Snipes (currently prepping for a real-life “trilogy” of his own) was dead serious in his role as the part-vampire vampire killer, while Kris Kristofferson played the grizzled old vet/smart ass sidekick with the requisite amount of authority. But by the time of the series’ third movie, these characters had nowhere to go. Enter Ryan Reynolds (cursing up a storm as the poor man’s Jason Lee, but with dialogue so bad even Kevin Smith would have tossed it out) and Jessica Biel (sexy as she wants to be). Reynolds is a constant annoyance—you can tell he thinks that he’s so good that the series will eventually spin off his character. Thank God that didn’t happen. Even the special effects in “Blade Trinty” are awful, which is a shame because Guillermo del Toro’s quadra-jaw-splitting monsters from the second film really upped the ante. Here, everything is a montage, obscured by flashing lights, close-up camera angles, and bad 90s-style techno-goth music. Wrestler Triple H is also on hand to throw around some Styrofoam “rocks,” and Parker Posey does her best to liven the undead, but it’s no use.
3. Batman and Robin (1997)
The Death of a Franchise, Part Three: Before George Clooney became the symbol of the effortlessly cool Hollywood leading man, he toiled around in junk like the generic romance “One Fine Day” with Michelle Pfeiffer, and this—the second Joel Schumacher “Batman” film and the only one featuring—you got it—rubber nipples. Val Kilmer was lucky enough to have a hit song by Seal and Jim Carrey as the Riddler for big box office draw to buttress his installment, but 1995’s “Batman Forever” also took the series entirely away from Tim Burton’s brooding goth leanings and moved 100 percent towards Schumacher’s campy style (complete with ice skates and glowing, fluorescent dance sequences). If “Batman Forever” was the first date, then “Batman & Robin” is full-on legalized gay marriage, bringing Chris O’Donnell’s Robin front-and-center and introducing Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Depending on which way you look at it, the movie is either a massive departure from the character-as-intended or the first movie to call it like it is. Hardcore fans of the Dark Knight don’t like acknowledging Robin’s very existence, yet here he was, thrusting his tights straight into the spotlight and right onto Taco Bell cups everywhere. As if to distract the audience from the sheer stinkiness of a script by future Oscar-winner Akiva Goldsman (“A Beautiful Mind”), Schumacher crammed “Batman & Robin” full of villains, including Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ridiculous Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman’s laughable Poison Ivy, and pro wrestler Jeep Swenson as the masked Bane. What any of this had to do with anything, I’m still not sure. Mystery Science Theater 3000 alums Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo), and Bill Corbett (Crow) make the whole mess bearable with their recently released, fan-written “Batman & Robin” MP3 commentary track from RiffTrax to be played with the DVD.
2. Catwoman (2004)
With the proper frame of mind, one can at least enjoy “Batman & Robin” one way or another. I don’t know if that’s at all possible with this movie. In addition to giving her actual superpowers that the character never had, the makers of “Catwoman” also changed her name and everything catty about this supervillain’s nature. What made Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt—and Michelle Pfeiffer, for that matter—so much fun was their rambunctious and (pardon the obvious pun) catty nature. This Halle Berry vehicle sucks all the life and humor from her, has nothing to do with Batman, doesn’t take place in Gotham, and has the gall to rename Selina—I’m not kidding—”Patience.” Of course, this moniker is so one-name French director Pitof can give his feline lead some “real girl power” courtesy of some Egyptian God. But he mistakes ferociousness for character, and Catwoman doesn’t do anything for herself really. She exists as a mindless sex object trying to take down an evil cosmetics company—an irony that doesn’t really work as social commentary. The movie won Worst Film, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, and Worst Actress at the Razzie Awards (for which Berry and the film’s writer good-naturedly showed up to accept), but supporting actress Sharon Stone was robbed of her deserved Worst Supporting Actress win for her over-the-top histrionics.
1. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
While “Catwoman” may be a more acclaimed bad film, this movie (which received nary a Razzie nomination) sits proudly atop all others on this awful, awful list for one reason: It may be the biggest waste of fantastic, inspired source material ever. As bad as these other films are—let’s face it—they are not exactly based on award-worthy material. This miserable failure of a film is adapted from Alan Moore’s Eisner-winning series, a fantastical pastiche of classic characters from famous turn-of-the-century writers like Bram Stoker, Jules Verne, Robert Louis Stevenson, and H.G. Wells. Moore’s famous disgust with this and other movie adaptations has led to his taking his name off of all future film projects based on his work. Here’s the strange part: This absurdly creative, well-researched, dark, and rollicking literary amalgamation was stripped of everything that made it original in the first place when the filmmakers retained only the basic premise of “famous characters who unite.” They added some (Tom Sawyer, Dorian Gray) and took away others (Fu Manchu), and fashioned around them a dumbed-down, formulaic storyline. 
Two writers eventually sued the studio for stealing their similarly-themed screenplay and inserting the plot into this “League” adaptation. The movie looks dull as well, bathed in blurry grays and blacks everywhere to cover up the lack of concrete art direction or maybe disguise that they had run out of money. Even if this weren’t based on such a colorful, vibrant comic, the movie would suck of its own accord for so many reasons. I’ll let my original review say the rest:
I can’t imagine anyone thinking that this “League” was good. Director Stephen Norrington should be made to watch his own “Blade” over and over again, so he could at least figure out how to have fun with a comic character again. And Sean Connery should fire his agent for letting him star in such an insipid mess. Did he even read the script? Was there even one? Or did they decide to go with the premise of the League and simply improvise the rest? There is an ending that suggests a sequel, but I guarantee it’ll never be made. When word gets out on this stinker, it’ll be lucky to cover the cost of that fake smoke effect. Terrible dialogue, terrible plot, terrible set design, terrible CGI effects, terrible insult to the book, terribly unintentionally funny, terribly joyless proceedings all around.
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runners-up:
Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of Scene-Stealers.com, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and contributor for The Pitch. He’s former President of the KCFCC, and drummer for The Dead Girls, Ultimate Fakebook, and Truck Stop Love . He is also the 2013 Air Guitar World Champion Mean Melin, ranked 4th best of all-time. Eric goes to 11. Follow him at:
{ 32 comments }
A funny moment from Daredevil:
Foggy Nelson (John Favreau) is going through Matt Murdoch’s (Ben Affleck) mail and comes across an invitation to a fancy event. The exchange:
Foggy Nelson: Your invitation to the Black & White Ball at The Grand.
Matt Murdoch: Plus one.
Foggy Nelson: Plus one? All right.
Matt Murdoch: Guess I gotta rent a tux.
Foggy Nelson: Wow. They spent some serious money on this invitation. I mean, you should feel it. lt’s engraved.
Just so everyone knows. . . it’s NOT engraved at all.
Ghost Rider is actually the best unintentional funny film of the past couple of years. I laughed harder at it then most real comedies that came out in the last 2 years. It would be in my top 5 best films of the genre.
Jon Favreau is funny!
I can’t argue with your top 5, except for order, but I will stick up for Daredevil a little bit. Despite it’s many flaws including casting, a low-budget, and an annoying soundtrack, it does get the character right which is much more than Ang Lee’s Hulk ever did. I’d rate it similar to The Phanton and the Shadow as a flawed but fun and passable flick. It’s not a great film but it’s far better than Elektra, Supergirl, Steel or Howard the Duck.
Other nominees – the first Punisher film with Dolph “I will break you” Lundgren, Barb Wire with Pamela Anderson, The Return of Swamp Thing with Heather Locklear, Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone, Brenda Starr with Brooke Sheilds, Man-Thing, Tank Girl with Lori Petty, X-Men: The Lamest Stand, and Michael Bay’s Transformers.
Was Brenda Starr a comic book? I thought it was just a newspaper strip…either way, good memory– I forgot all about that one. The 3rd X-Men was indeed a lame wrap-up but it didn’t completely offend me like the above films did, and I’ve never been one for “accuracy” to the source material, so I like “Hulk” and “Transformers,” the latter being the best teenage sex comedy since the 1980s!
I’d keep Hulk off the list and but in the abominable “ELECTRA”
OH, I see ELECTRA, you’ve double listed some entries…this list can easily go to 20.
It’s a pretty good list. Though I’ll agree “The Incredible Hulk” has me worried, I’m going to say that the updated look of HULK himself is a huge improvement.
RCM- Maybe I’m alone on this. A co-worker said the same thing to me just today about the new Hulk’s design. I think I liked the old one because I liked the movie, the same way somebody becomes more attractive to you when you get to know them and they have a great personality. Yeesh- maybe I took that analogy a little too far!
Cmon man, no Masters of the Universe…
Howard the Duck was awesome! Best theme song ever! Didn’t the guy who wrote that die recently? A moment of silence, please…
I liked Ang Lee’s Hulk. A lot.
One thing the 2004 Punisher film had going for it was fight sequences. This is an area where big successful films like Transformers 2007 and Batman Begins had issues. Plot- and cast-wise, though, I agree that Punisher belongs on the list. Jane could have pulled off the part, but Travolta was a joke as the villain.
As for Hulk 2008, I can’t imagine it will be much more boring than Ang Lee’s Hulk. It’s a comic book movie…the audience shouldn’t be screaming “do something already” at the screen.
Catwoman would have been number one on my list. I don’t think any of the writers had ever read a Catwoman comic book. They seemed to be under the impression that all comic book characters have some sort of super- or supernatural powers. For the first hour, the audience is staring blankly at the screen wondering what the heck is going on. By the time they’ve tried to talk themselves into forgetting everything they already knew about Catwoman from the comic books, it’s too late.
I’m not sure it technically qualifies as a comic book movie, though, since it isn’t based on the comic book character of Catwoman at all.
The first Hulk movie is still one of the best comic-book movies ever made, because it wasn’t willing to be “just” a comic book film. Every moment in it was about the psychology of the main character, and not just a dumbed-down “superhero MUST SAVE UNIVERSE from arbitrary supervillain with powers equal and opposite to those of the superhero”. Now, why doesn’t anybody besides myself like the film?
You all forgot spider man 3
GhostRider AWFUL- I agree with this being on the list
Didn’t help that some scenes had Australian Gum trees in the background!
I have to disagree with alot of what you said. First off, I really liked ang lee’s hulk, i thought he looked awesome. And Eric Bana rocked as the main character….and tho i really like edward norton, we’ll see how I take his taking over the roll. I will give you that daredevil needed alot of work tho. However, spawn…is one of my favorite movies, my one beef, is what you hint upon though….it should have been rated R…make it as dark as the comic. I liked both fantastic four movies..and consider the 2nd superior to the 1st..the silver surfer was badass. I also liked ghost rider, tho it also would have benefited from a darker more R rated showing. Now, thomas janes punisher ima have to just call you an idiot on…he was perfect, the movie itself was almost so…travolta did good, my only problem with him is its hard to see him in a villian role. And for the league, i also liked that movie, it was fun and the characters were interesting.
I’m surprised nobody mentioned Zoom (2006), based on Jason Lethcoe’s Zoom Academy, with Tim Allen, Courteney Cox and Chevy Chase. Also, the 1940s Saturday morning serial versions of various comic book heroes (Superman, Batman, Captain America, Captain Marvel, The Vigilante, Blackhawk, Spy Smasher, et cetera) are probably a lot worse than anything listed here. And let’s not forget contributions from the rest of world, particularly the Filipino cinema which has given us such copyright-violating gems as James Batman (1966, in which Batman meets James Bond) and the musical comedy Alyas Batman en Robin (1993) with its finale featuring Marvel and DC characters singing and dancing to “At the Hop.”
good content thanks .
you people are just a bunch of bitches if these movies are so terrible then why don’t you make a better one?
do you guys have a recommendation section, i’d like to suggest some stuff
Batman & Robin gets a lot of cred for being a lousy movie. And I agree, it is pretty bad. I think B&R has become overrated for a terrible movie…it’s just very EXTREME, to the point of being cartoony. Batman Forever set up this environment, but I’d consider BF pretty faithful to the characters and a good comic book film overall. I personally can’t stand watching the original Burton Batman; terrible effects, Jack is too over-the-top, Keaton is too small, etc.
Man, I loved Howard the Duck as a kid….or maybe it was love for the chick that had the main role. I am drawing a blank here on her name.
Troy, it was Lea Thompson…and Batman & Robin I believe is great, as in it is absolutly so bad and corny that you can’t help but laugh to think how bad it is.
The League may not have been a gr8 movie, but for God’s sake, it was easily better than Batman & Robin, Blade Trinity and Catwoman put together!! That shud be a no brainer
My main problem with comics as movies is that they are two different things. I like comics, but I don’t really like movies. So when I see a movie about one of my favorite comics it doesn’t even hit the radar. Nothing to me is ever going to look as good as comic panel.
My one true hope in this life is that they never make a Green Lantern or Green Arrow movie.
Thank you so very much for putting Ghostrider on you list, I take a lot of shit from a lot of people for condemning that overrated piece of fucking shit. Nick Cage is dead to me. Correct me if I’m wrong but he hasnt done anything good since leaving las vegas. Fuck Nicholas Cage in his gay stupid ass.
You fucking nerd. hahaha do you realize how ridiculous you are??! Nice comments, keep up the good work!!! ahahah
OMG, how the fuck did League of Extraordinary Gentlemen be the number one worst film eva? That is so fucked!!
I absolutely loved this film. It’s funny, and packs a hilarious punch. So, the plot may not be good, and the special effects need to be improved, but seriously, I loved this film.
The characters were awesome, in particular Dorian Gray. So come on guys, stop rattin on the film. Take a look at some of the fuckin modern shit, like Twilight. That is nothing compared to this.
This list is FUCKIN’ BULLSHIT! Daredevil, The Incredible Hulk, Ghost Rider and The Punisher kicked ass! I agree that the fantastic four were bad but i still enjoyed them. This is just one dumb asses opinion and its bullshit!
Nicola & Tommy- Its the worst comic book film ever because it failed so spectacularly to capture one ounce of what made the book so great. Its Hollywood stripping a story of all that made it unique–doing what Hollywood does the worst!
X- Thank you for your insightful comment!
WOW . . . again first of all dude or dude’et you really need to do your research oar pole or something wow how did you still manage to mess even this one up. . . . . . This new Hulk over the crappy version of the other hulk was spectaular, the SFX of the show and the way the HULK looked was awsome and edward norton was much better than eric banna, so you dropped the ball there, you rwo Hulk’s need to switch places, seriously do a pole and then Superman III and IV are not the worst movies either yes i will admit that they lack what the first 2 movies were especially the first but they were still good, richard pryor i could do without on the 3rd and the 4th i loved it dispite some things mainly the salkinds and cannon fucked up and they can all kiss my ass and all of ours they gave no special effects at all to the 4th movie and it could have been something really good if that and some other things came about but i would watch Superman III, IV and i do more than any of those other bad movies you have listed, hell even Supergirl and i liked that to again it had its faults to but i would watch all three of them and Batman 3, 4 i would do the same, yes i hate the bat nipples and some things but there entertaining and it makes me feel like i’m watching those old cartoons come to life. so those 4. 5 movie shouldn’t even be on either page.
And agin as for the best superman and superhero movie of all time. . . Superman The Movie! I would tell you to go see a shrink orr somthing
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