Like it or not, we are all feeling fatigue. After relentless releases, people are finally sick of all these superhero films flooding the big screen. Perhaps even reading this article or even seeing it in your timeline would be enough to make your eyes roll back into your skull.
After continuous flops, the genre is slowly dying out in the collective consciousness – but it still has some fight left (by trying to make itself known with more flops). But some turkeys are bigger than others, and here are my picks of the worst superhero movies of all time.
Fantastic Four (2015)
Being the first family of superheroes to ever hit the mainstream, the “Fantastic Four” always had a loving fanbase across generations. Unfortunately, it seems as though the title has a rather cursed reputation when it comes to the big screen, as all its interpretations have flopped, with the 2015 entry being the worst offender.
One of the positives of the film is that it shows how all the main characters got together and became friends, which was a nice touch, and that’s literally my only praise for the film. Unlike Tim Story’s 2005 and 2007 films, the dialogue among the 2015 cast was mediocre at best and cringy at worst; the story was weak, and the CGI was college-level passable. Sure, Tim Story’s creation isn’t necessarily better, but it was still a memorable take (positive or negative, depending on your point of view) on this storied superfamily, where this version had to band together just because.
Morbius (2022)
Easily one of the most infamous entries on this list, “Morbius” is a film that nobody really wanted or asked for. The film was originally scheduled for release in July of 2020, but it was pushed back several times due to COVID-19. To further add salt to the open wound, when the film did come out, it was universally mocked for its terrible story, resulting in it flopping at the box office.
However, the main reason why this film made it to this list is because Hollywood can’t tell the difference between genuine praise and scathing sarcasm. The film was so bad that people were making memes of it — very insulting ones at that. “It’s Morbin’ time” trended online for all the wrong reasons, and, unfortunately, Hollywood didn’t get the joke, as they re-released the film and received another round of internet flogging. Since then, the film has received several review bombs from audiences who are hoping that film executives would release it a third time.
Batman & Robin (1997)
If you’ve been on the internet for awhile or were alive to watch its original theatrical release, then you might be intimately familiar with the cinematic disaster that is “Batman & Robin.” Why is that? Well, for starters, the film was so campy and over-the-top that it alienated a lot of fans who were leaning towards the darker and edgier version of the Caped Crusader that was gaining traction in the ‘90s.
The majority of people who watched the film largely hated it, but some still like it today, citing its whimsical tone as a sort of guilty pleasure. Unfortunately, this film nearly killed the Bat for the big screen, and if it weren’t for the 2005 film “Batman Begins,” we might have said good-bye to our favourite Dark Knight.
Madame Web (2024)
“Remember, you’re the Madame of this Web. You are Madame Web.” If that dialogue didn’t kill you through sheer cringe, nothing will. “Madame Web” is another shoddy entry from Disney into the post-Endgame MCU. If you’re a comic fan, you’d know how significant “Madame Web” is to the Spider-Man mythos, and if you watched the film, you’d know how much her film interpretation diluted her character, to say the least.
Given that there were a lot of hurdles in the filmmaking process, the creators were trying to introduce a character who isn’t a pop culture mainstay, but its predictable plot, garbage dialogue, and uneven execution make for a forgettable superhero adventure. What’s even more infuriating is the fact that the creators of the film hinted several times at Tom Holland’s Spider-Man – and then proceeded to milk the gullible audience, who just wanted to see how the most traumatised (so far) interpretation of the Wall-Crawler was fairing after the events of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
Max Steel (2016)
Hailed as the absolute worst superhero movie ever, “Max Steel” was something that should have never been made and is something that you shouldn’t watch, for your own sake. Both critics and moviegoers alike universally agreed that the flick could only make back US$6 million to US$10 million of its production budget.
But why is the film so bad? For starters, it was based on a toyline, which was popular to be sure, but no one really wanted to watch a film that was derived from a toy. However, once you realise that important fact, you’ll also realise that this film was just designed to push merchandise and toys, a trick that Hasbro has been pulling since their first live-action Transformers film.
What’s painful is that many agreed that it had the potential to be a great film — a solid contender against Marvel, who were, at the time, unstoppable. Characters are likeable, action scenes were flashy, but unfortunately that was it – overall, it was your run-of-the-mill “hero saves everyone” story line.
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