With decades of source material and legions of fans, it’s no surprise that most films based on comic books are met with a tremendous amount of anticipation prior to their release. After all, until the boom in superhero cinema hit in the early 2000s, most – aside from Batman and Superman – had yet to make their big-screen debuts, placing even greater pressure on the few films that had had the chance to influence the future of the genre. Still, few superhero films fell as flat as these releases, which stand as some of the biggest letdowns to ever hit theaters.
Batman and Robin (1997)
Even with the campy tone adopted by the initial Batman film series, with director Joel Schumacher’s Batman Forever, the prospect of its sequel bringing popular villains Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy to theaters likely gave hardcore Bat-fans reason to hope that this chapter might redeem its predecessor. Alas, Batman and Robin marked an even steeper decline for the series, stripping the films of nearly any trace of their former glory. Without the involvement of Tim Burton (the director stayed on to produce Batman Forever), the film fell flat in terms of spectacle and narrative logic. It was such a misfire, in fact, that Warner Bros. pulled the plug on the in-development sequel and shelved the Batman franchise for nearly a decade before Christopher Nolan brought it roaring back to life with Batman Begins.
Catwoman (2004)
Another monstrous flop based on the world of Gotham City, Catwoman must have been a project that looked great on paper. After all, the film had Oscar winner Halle Berry onboard to star as one of the most popular comic book anti-heroes ever. The character of Catwoman was universally beloved and recognizable to the masses. So the introduction of her own solo adventure should be a license to print money, right? Nope. Directed by a French filmmaker known as Pitof, the film strips the character of her established mythology – starring Berry as Patience Phillips in lieu of Catwoman’s traditional alter-ego of Selina Kyle – and replaces it with a laughable script, shoddy visuals and an even campier tone than Batman and Robin. Naturally, the film “won” several Golden Raspberry Awards that year, including Worst Picture, Worst Actress, and Worst Director.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
As the most popular member of Marvel’s X-Men, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine has always been among the franchise’s biggest crowdpleasers. So Fox made the right call in developing a film around the character’s mysterious backstory. Centering on the military experiment gone awry that gave him his signature adamantium claws, X-Men Origins: Wolverine aims to reveal the story that led Logan to lose his memory and ultimately seek redemption alongside Professor Charles Xavier’s team. However, the film’s script is so by-the-numbers and its visual effects so poor (those CGI claws!) that audiences were likely left checking their watches throughout. Also, the film makes a mess of the X-Men movie timeline and does an absolute injustice to the character of Deadpool (finally reprised in 2016 by Ryan Reynolds in this year’s R-rated adventure). Once intended to kick off a series of X-Men Origins solo films, Fox wisely cut its losses and delivered the far superior The Wolverine four years later.
Green Lantern (2011)
Reynolds may now be back in the title role for Deadpool, but it’s been a long road to superhero stardom. The actor who previously played Hannibal King in the universally loathed Blade: Trinity and some version of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, hopped over to the world of DC Comics for this film. As Hal Jordan, Reynolds does what he can with the material, but the film around him is so poorly constructed and CGI-heavy that it never managed to capture much of an audience. Moreover, Green Lantern was at first considered to be the launchpad for a DC Comics shared universe, but it was so reviled that the company decided to postpone any reboot plans until 2020. Going cosmic is a tricky move for comic book films, but hopefully, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy has proven that it can be done right. With any luck, Warner Bros.’ in-development Green Lantern Corps. film will be worth the wait.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
The response to the 2012 release of The Amazing Spider-Man was decidedly mixed when the film hit theaters. While the film trod the familiar ground of Peter Parker’s origins, it provided enough new material to establish a solid foundation for sequels to build upon (and a winning chemistry between then-real-life couple Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone). However, the 2014 sequel botched any chance of a larger Spider-Man franchise. With this film, Sony hoped to develop a web (pun intended) of sequels and spin-offs that would have rivaled Fox’s plans for the X-Men. Still, with a narrative overstuffed with too many villains, a half-cooked script, and a cartoony aesthetic, the studio tried to do too much too soon, essentially duplicating the mistakes it made on Spider-Man 3. Thank goodness Sony is now working with Marvel Studios for the next Spider-Man reboot, which will be included as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
What do you think is the most disappointing superhero movie ever made? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
