There have been a string of amazing comic book movies coming out lately (shout out to Wonder Woman, Spider-Man Homecoming, Thor Ragnarok, to name a few), but before the greatness we have now, fans had to sit through some movies that were so bad, it’s mind-boggling how they even got made.
Which is why today we’re going over the 10 Worst Comic Book Movies!
Videos by ComicBook.com
What do you think the worst comic book movie is? You know, the one you wish you could forever erase from the banks of your memories? Yeah, that one. Watch the video at the top of the article to see if it landed on our list, or simply scroll on down and read all about our choices.
10. Fantastic Four
Starting off the list is Fantastic Four, but which one? Let’s be real, they’ve all been pretty awful. Not the 1994 version though because it was never officially released so no one saw it. Not the 2005 version because, as bad as it was, Rise of the Silver Surfer wasn’t all that terrible and did have some cool stuff in it. No, the clear winner is Fantastic Four from 2015. By now, there’s even a basic formula that works to make a mediocre superhero film and if you just stay close the source material, you’ll manage to make something watchable. There’s simply no excuse in 2015 to make a comic book movie this bad.
9. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
This movie was so bad that it featured action movie tropes from long ago like (a) screaming into the sky, (b) slow motion explosion walk aways, and (c) SOMEHOW even managed to screw up both Deadpool AND Gambit. Seriously… how do you take two of the most popular comic book characters and strip them of everything fans love about them? Was it a bet to see which one you could do worse?
8. The Spirit
Coming in at No. 8 is the Sin City knock-off directed by the once great Frank Miller – The Spirit. Nobody liked The Spirit. Heck, I didn’t even finish watching The Spirit. And I finished Boo: A Madea Halloween if that tells you anything.
7. Jonah Hex
What hurts the most about Jonah Hex is the missed opportunity. As a character, Jonah Hex is DC’s scar-faced Clint Eastwood. Old school gritty, tough-as-nails, and with bonafide tough guy Josh Brolin as the title character, this property had SO much potential to be the comic book version of Tombstone, but instead we got Wild, Wild West.
6. Superman IV: Quest for Peace
Superman IV: Quest for Peace is pretty disappointing. And considering how good the Superman movies started out, it makes how terrible Superman IV all the sadder. The budget was clearly stripped away and poor, poor Christopher Reeve has to make due with what he’s given. Could the movie have been better if Bizarro hadn’t been replaced with He-Man’s evil twin, Nuclear Man? Probably not.
5. Howard the Duck
The biggest problem with Howard the Duck is that it doesn’t really know what kind of audience it wants. It’s too dirty for kids, and too stupid for grown-ups which ends up making the whole movie kind of awkward. So really, the only people who seem to enjoy it are kids who were pre-teens when it came out and managed to watch it when mom and dad weren’t around. But if you’re basically anyone else, the movie was not good in the eighties, and it’s way worse now.
4. Supergirl
Seriously.You have to be a special kind of awful to cast legendary actors like Peter O’Toole and Faye Dunaway and STILL get a 7% on Rotten Tomatoes. The attempt to cash-in on the success of Superman was hugely misguided and met with a roll of the eyes at the box office. Thankfully, the CW show is far better than this.
3. Steel
Yup. Steel. The best thing anyone can say about Steel is that it’s actually not the worst Shaq movie — that honor goes to Kazaam.
2. Batman and Robin
You knew it was going to be here – With bat nipples and Arnold one-liners and zombified Bane, this is the movie that shelved live action Batman for 8 years. It also pretty much single handedly ruined Alicia Silverstone and Chris O’Donnell in one fell swoop. And for good reason because it’s a pretty horrible movie. Joel Schumacher’s attempt to remove the darker tone set by Tim Burton while realigning Batman with the campiness of the 60s show was off putting to say the least. The only reason it doesn’t take the top spot is sometimes it’s so bad it’s… well, not good, but watchable.
1. Catwoman
But the worst comic book movie of all time? That honor goes to Catwoman. The movie was a shallow Halle Berry vehicle that completely separates itself from Batman and Selina Kyle and basically anything we love about the DC comics. Which Hollywood big wig thought that was a good idea? More importantly, Catwoman is not even so bad, it’s good. It’s just really, really bad.
