Make no mistake, we are living in a time of superheroes. Now a global juggernaut, Marvel Studios can release a movie every two months and battle it out for box office numbers against its rival (or perhaps arch nemesis) DC, while movies like Black Panther and Avengers top end of year lists in terms of ticket sales.
And while this list could easily be 30 entries long, for the most part the superhero films that we regard as bad are merely just boring and empty attempts at pulp adventure. Movies like Electra or Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice — or even the much maligned Morbius from Sony last year — see out their runtimes without saying anything remarkable or doing anything interesting. They aren’t offensively bad, or ‘so bad they’re good,’ but just banal. No, there are much more critically despised films which have rightfully become the worst-rated superhero movies ever made, and these are some of the worst mainstream offenders.
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8 Fantastic Four (2015)
20th Century Studios
Every rule has an exception, and Fantastic Four from 2015 is the one here — a film so simply bland that it does make our list. With a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, “It doesn’t get worse than this,” as Inverse states.
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Although this film absolutely ruined the look of Doctor Doom, one of Marvel Comics’ greatest villains, it’s on this list mostly just for being as dull and useless as it is. No one likes this movie, and the fallout from director Josh Trank (formerly of the superb Chronicle) is now stuff of legend. The whole thing seemed like a disaster, with Trank keeping a gun on-set due to bitter fans, and ultimately reviewed his own film honestly by saying, “The movie is ALRIGHT. I was expecting it to be much worse than it was. I literally haven’t seen it since like two weeks before it came out, and I was in a heavily f*cking traumatized state of mind.”
Watch blandly as the cast lack even a whisper of chemistry in this dull and uninspired take on Marvel’s first family, proving that it is in fact not “Clobberin’ Time”.
7 Dick Tracy (1990)
Touchstone Pictures
This is a divisive and unpopular opinion, but Warren Beatty’s bizarre Dick Tracy film was a byproduct of style over substance, as the actual set design and coloring of this is beautifully garish, sumptuous, and intrusive all at once, as if it has jumped right off the comic book page and assaulted you. Unfortunately, the end product is far less than that, with Dick Tracy’s move to the big screen coming off like a school play you really didn’t want to go to.
A stacked cast including Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Kathy Bates, James Caan, and loads more can’t save this slog of a film, but the movie did (quite rightfully) win the Oscar for Best Makeup that year, as the above stars are transformed into unrecognizable monstrous caricatures of gangster life. Some have come around to Tracy’s charms, but it’s a real let down based on the genuine magic that slips through the cracks here and there.
6 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)
Infamously the film that made Sean Connery retire from acting altogether, sees Alan Quartermain (Connery) heading a team of misfits all with special abilities in a last ditch effort to save the world. Based on the Alan Moore comic of the same name, its original pulp themes are felt, but the finished product only comes off as melodramatic and flat, and was unfortunately to finalize Connery’s illustrious career.
Look at this how you will, but prior to Marvel’s domination of our cinemas, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen does half resemble the exact same blueprint that Kevin Feige and friends have found themselves adopting for every single one of their own flicks…
5 Son of the Mask (2005)
Warner Bros.
While not a film about superheroes per se, the Jim Carrey original is based on a comic book by Dark Horse and features some shapeshifting superpowers, so we’re including this steaming pile of green dung. Featuring Jamie Kennedy (Randy from Scream), Son of the Mask loosely picks up from where The Mask finished, after the all-powerful wooden mask is found in a river. Zany and grotesque to look at, this movie is rubbery and high on the uncanny valley of animated babies and dogs, while a struggling animator and new-found father battles Loki for some reason.
Whereas the original film toed the line as a movie kids could watch while adults enjoyed, Son of the Maskwent directly for the children in a similar vein to that of the Pied Piper. Actively loathsome and quite rightfully hailed as one of the worst movies of all time. This one only ranks so low as it’s not about any actual superheroes.
4 Batman & Robin (1997)
Warner Bros. Pictures
Although recently reevaluated as schlocky, campy fun, Batman & Robin did what the Joker never could and killed the Batman (franchise). Cheesy and utterly panned at the time, the out-there casting of George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Uma Thurman made the Val Kilmer and Jim Carrey casting of Batman Forever look like Citizen Kane. This movie is pure pantomime and bad acting, as Batman takes on Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy. It’s certainly fun in a crappy kind of way, but compared to basically any other Batman film, it’s really, really bad. If, however, ice-based puns are where you get your kicks, you’re in for a chilly treat.
3 Daredevil (2003)
20th Century Fox
Ben Affleck plays blind lawyer and superhero Daredevil, making you wish that you also didn’t have the power of sight to not have to watch this again. Daredevil is mostly a product of a time, but it actually is ’that bad.’ Arriving in 2003, it stinks of that naughties edginess, with slow-mo, bad CGI, and a soundtrack by Evanescence, Nickelback and The Calling… and its characters couldn’t be duller for it, with Colin Farrell and Jennifer Garner playing villain and love interest, respectively.
Daredevil certainly isn’t very good, but is mostly a scapegoat let down by its own bland lead and lack of identity. However, anyone aware of the brilliant Frank Miller-penned comic arc that this is based on will know that what the movie was a real let down in comparison. A saving grace is that the late Michael Clarke Duncan excels as antagonist Kingpin — and it’s a genuine shame we didn’t get to see him do more with the character. Also, stick around for the very first example of the now ubiquitous superhero after-credits scene.
2 Spawn (1997)
New Line Cinema
When special agent Al Simmons (Michael Jai White) is double-crossed and burnt alive, he is sent to Hell only to return as anti-hero Spawn. Horribly scarred (just like the rest of this movie), Al is ugly as anything alongside crappy makeup and rushed, vile CGI scenes that completely engulf everything going on. As we’ve previously written when explaining why Spawn deserves its bad ratings, “[It looks like it’s] been created via Microsoft Paint — and then annihilated by a blender.”
Tacky and frustrating to watch overall, there is next to nothing about Spawn that is good, despite promoting a stacked cast with support from John Leguizamo and Martin Sheen. We would say that we hope that the supposed remake will be better… but there’s no way it could be worse than this. Fans should stick to the absolutely spectacular animated series for their Spawn kicks.
1 Catwoman (2004)
Grabbing our top spot and pushing it off the table is Catwoman. Michelle Pfeiffer was previously wonderful in her leather and stitches iteration of the character in Tim Burton’s gothic film Batman Returns, but when Halle Berry took on the role of the cat burglar in this Batman-lite spin off, something just doesn’t click, resulting in one of the worst-reviewed films of all time.
When killed and resurrected by badly animated cats, Patience must juggle flirtations with a curious copper and battle an indestructible Sharon Stone who has become addicted to her own makeup regime. Want to see the worst ever basketball scene committed to screen? Check it out right here. But be warned… curiosity killed the cat. If only.
