One of the most prominent and successful trends that largely defined filmmaking throughout the 2010s was the massive rise of successful superhero films. While the genre certainly had its fair share of successes in previous decades, the 2010s saw a mass explosion of the genre, with new superhero films constantly being released with the rise of the MCU and the creation of DC’s own cinematic universe. While many of the superhero films released during this era are still widely beloved and considered some of the best of their respective genres, such high quality is not shared by every superhero film released in the 2010s.
In the mass fervor and excitement to cash in on one of the hottest trends of the decade, many superhero films simply failed to stick the landing when it came to creating an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. Whether it was a disappointment compared to the source material or previous entries in the franchise, lacking in any originality or vision, or was forgettable to the point of boredom, there was no shortage of botched superhero failures during the 2010s.
They are:
- Green Lantern (2011)
- Fant4stic (2015)
- The Amazing Bulk (2012)
- Max Steel (2016)
- Jonah Hex (2010)
- Hellboy (2019)
- X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
- Justice League (2017)
- Suicide Squad (2016)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013)
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Including a mockbuster is a bit cheap and I’d, personally, move Fant4stic Four to the top slot but it isn’t a bad list.
Fant4stic was one of the few movies where I had to look up the running time afterwards to make sure I didn’t watch some weird edited version.
I haven’t seen Green Lantern to be fair
Green Lantern wasn’t the best of films, but it still had a number of good scenes in it, so putting it #1 seems a bit much.
Word.
Reynolds did a solid job as Hal, and nobody did a bad acting job imo.
It was the script that had issues, and there were some iffy editing choices that amplified those (assuming there was truth to the rumors about the editing choices).
And the cgi was mid tier at best.
But overall, I actually love the movie. Flaws and all it was fun
Yeah I’m with you. It wasn’t a good movie, but I wouldn’t quite call it the worst, just kinda bad. Now Fant4stic? That might be the worst movie I’ve ever seen, period.
I mean if it was a realistic list around 4 (not sure how many were actually released) of the top ten would be fantastic four films.
This is just a list of “superhero films everyone has seen that were kinda mid”. I want a list of the films that were so bad I’ve not heard of them, because they crashed and burned so spectacularly.
I hate that movies like the original suicide squad feel the need to have a world ending event as the main thing they have to stop. Why does it always have to be a big world ending event? Shouldn’t superman be dealing with those? I would prefer movies about low end heroes deal with smaller villains or events that don’t affect the whole planet
You’re not wrong
Poor Jonah Hex. Brolin really wanted to make a good movie out of that story.
I didn’t even think it was that bad. It wasn’t great, but it shouldn’t be so high on this list.
The worst thing about the 2011 Green Lantern movie is how it killed any chance of more Green Lantern movies for so long.
(Ok, to be fair, it wasn’t just the 2011 movie. Also the pandemic. And DC’s complete ineptitude at movies.)
yeah they are my favorite dc heros.
Hellboy doesn’t belong on this list at all.
Have you seen the 2019 version? It’s a hard watch after seeing the del Toro versions.
I would have loved more del Toro and Perlman but it was still pretty good.
To me it felt like one of those movies where everyone decided to hate it before it even came out.
I actually really enjoyed like the first third of the movie. After that was shit though, sadly.
Surprised to not see Cowboys and Aliens on the list, I really despised that one. Dark Phoenix wasn’t that bad. The Amazing Bulk might be worth a watch looks kinda funny
Is Cowboys and Aliens a superhero movie? I also don’t remember having any major complaints with it. It wasn’t top tier cinema, but I think they set that bar pretty well with the title.
It was a graphic novel movie… I guess not really a super hero movie other than there was only one effective weapon and it was attached to a character. I’m probably wrong on this one… mentioned it I guess because it just pushed all my buttons in the wrong ways, and for its time it was one of the biggest financial flops.
(yes I somehow missed the article and title were about superhero movies not comic book movies) when writing my (dumb) comment)
Cowboys and Aliens doesn’t have any superheros.
And you’re wrong. It’s perfect.
I thought Cowboys and Aliens was a fun fluffy jaunt. I’ve certainly seen worse.
Why isn’t Ghost Rider 2 on this list? What the hell is The Amazing Bulk?
This list was put together just to drive “engagement”. I’m glad we’re doing it here instead of Collider’s website.
The Amazing Bulk is a straight-to-DVD rip-off of the Incredible Hulk that somehow manages to make that description far too generous. I actually do recommend looking into it. Not to watch it, more just to gawk and try to figure out whether any of it was ever intended seriously
