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Best Comics-based Movies

It's like a comics movie rennaisance

It used to be that when you were a comics fan, you were setting yourself up for disappointment in the movie theater. When I was growing up, comic book-based movies were really bad. But the past decade finally reversed that trend with the MCU and other great films. Here are ALL the comics/superhero movies I could think of, in order of greatness.

1. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2. Avengers: Endgame
3. The Dark Knight
4. The Avengers
5. Avengers: Infinity War
6. Iron Man
7. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
8. Batman Begins
9. Wonder Woman
10. Spider-Man: Far from Home
11. Thor: Ragnarok
12. Logan
13. Captain America: Winter Soldier
14. The Incredibles
15. Spider-Man: Homecoming
16. Superman I
17. Spider-Man 2
18. X-Men 2
19. Shazam!
20. Guardians of the Galaxy
21. Scott Pilgrim
22. Captain America
23. The Lego Batman Movie
24. Kick-Ass
25. Ant-Man and the Wasp
26. Big Hero 6
27. Captain America: Civil War
28. The Dark Knight Rises
29. Black Panther
30. Avengers 2: Age of Ultron
31. Amazing Spider-Man
32. Watchmen
33. All-Star Superman
34. Hellboy
35. Thor
36. Spider-Man
37. Chronicle (not based on a comic)
38. Josie & the Pussycats
39. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women
40. Unbreakable (not based on a comic)
41. Ant-Man
42. Dr. Strange
43. Captain Marvel
44. Sky High (not based on a comic)
45. Iron Man 2
46. Deadpool 2
47. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
48. Thor 2: The Dark World
49. X-Men: Days of Future Past
50. Amazing Spider-Man 2
51. X-Men: First Class
52. The Crow
53. Sin City
54. American Splendor
55. Kick-Ass 2
56. Deadpool
57. Daredevil
58. X-Men
59. The Rocketeer
60. X-Men: Apocalypse
61. The Incredible Hulk
62. Iron Man 3
63. Superman Returns
64. Batman: SubZero (animated)
65. Batman V Superman
66. V for Vendetta
67. The Flash (TV Pilot)
68. Superman II
69. Fantastic Four
70. Constantine
71. Men in Black
72. Ghost World
73. Green Lantern
74. Fantastic Four 2
75. Justice League
76. Suicide Squad
77. Man of Steel
78. Smallville (TV Pilot)
79. From Hell
80. Batman (1989)
81. The Hulk
82. The Mask
83. Spider-Man 3
84. X-Men 3
85. Batman Forever
86. Superman III
87. Superman IV
88. Batman Returns
89. Batman & Robin

Best superspeed

I'm a huge fan of the Flash, so I'm excited for those rare moments when superspeed is shown on film or TV. Here's a short list. Some of these are the "freeze time" effect, which is one aspect of superspeed.

1. X-Men: Apocalypse
2. Justice League (cartoon)
3. Flash tv show (2014)
4. The Incredibles
5. X-Men: Days of Future Past
6. Young Justice (cartoon)
7. Flash tv show (1990)
8. Clockstoppers
9. Cashback
10. Smallville

Why aren't more superhero movies better?

Recently, someone on Quora asked, "Why aren't more superhero movies better?" Here's my response:

This question contains an unsubstantiated assumption. Yes, some superhero movies are bad, but there are bad movies in every genre. Why are so many sci-fi movies bad? Why are so many romantic comedies bad? Why are so many action movies bad?

Why pick on superhero movies? I feel strongly that superhero movies aren't measurably worse than other genres ... although I don't have the numbers to back up this assumption any more than you do. (It would be great to get those numbers!) One thing that I think few would argue with, though, is that superhero films gotten much better in the last decade.

Looking past your assumption, there are two other aspects of the question I'd like to examine. One is, why were superhero movies disproportionately bad before, and what changed? And the other is, regardless of what proportion of superhero movies are bad, some certainly are ... so how can they be improved?

These two questions have the same answer. I think the differences between good and bad superhero movies are:

1. realistic special effects
2. quality acting and scripts and other high production values,
3. and above all, staying true to the characters.

1. Realistic effects are particularly important in this genre because it is so spectacle-heavy. Many old films look laughable now because of their poor effects, and the most outlandish scenes from comic books were worked around or excluded because they were simply impossible. Nowadays, superhero films generally have huge budgets and the effects are univerally amazing. However, we all know examples of bad movies that had great effects. So this is the least important of these three factors.

2. Quality is self-evidentally what separates the good from the bad in any film genre (or artistic endeavor of any kind), but I want to call it out here for a reason. I think one reason comic book films were worse in the past was because they were looked down on as for kids, and so did not have enough legitimacy to attract great talent or serious themes. This has changed.

3. Staying true to the original characters is the secret to a great superhero film, though. Marvel has created film characters that seem like perfectly realized versions of their comic characters. Despite years of reading Iron Man comics, for example, when I think of him now, Robert Downey Jr. immediately comes to mind. He is more Tony Stark than Tony Stark is. But no one thinks of Henry Cavill first when they think of Superman, despite his suitable appearance and adequate acting, because Man of Steel didn't stay true to Superman's character at all.

Each significant superhero who has stood the test of time has a key theme woven into their character. Spider-Man has themes of responsibility and "everyman" themes. The Hulk is id vs. superego, our warring personalities. The Flash represents science and optimistic progress. The Fantastic Four is about family, the X-Men is about school themes, and also deals with prejudice. A key theme of Superman is that he has what we all want - great power - but ironically wants what we all have - a normal human life. By excluding the Clark Kent disguise, Man of Steel ignored this key theme, to its detriment. On the other hand, the recent Captain America 2 movie dealt with themes that Captain America has always tackled - the role of government, liberty vs security, and the appropriate role of patriotism.

Just like in any movie, resonant themes and great characters will continue to be what separate the good superhero movies from the bad.

Most comics-accurate superhero actors/roles, ranked

1. Christopher Reeve - Superman
2. J.K. Simmons - J. Jonah Jameson
3. Gal Gadot - Wonder Woman
4. Chris Evans - Captain America
5. Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man
6. Matt Ryan - John Constantine
7. Chadwick Boseman - Black Panther
8. Anne Hathaway - Catwoman
9. Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool
10. Ron Perlman - Hellboy
11. Margot Robbie - Harley Quinn
12. Hugh Jackman - Wolverine
13. Kevin Conroy - Batman
14. Mark Hamill - Joker
15. Jackie Earle Haley - Rorshach
16. Margot Kidder - Lois Lane
17. Heath Ledger - Joker
18. Patrick Stewart - Professor X
19. Kirsten Dunst - Mary Jane Watson
20. Tom Holland - Spider-Man
21. Chris Evans - Human Torch
22. Michael Caine - Alfred
23. Tyler Hoechlin - Superman
24. Viola Davis - Amanda Waller
25. Chris Hemsworth - Thor
26. Alfred Molina - Dr. Octopus
27. Brec Bassinger - Stargirl
28. Melissa Benoist - Supergirl
29. John Wesley Shipp - Jay Garrick Flash

Check this out on iFanboy.com: The all-time comic book movie box office ranking list.

Don't forget to visit the Comics section of my site, and the TV section.

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