Worst superhero movies of all time

[Flint Marko]

I haven't seen this exact poll yet, so I apologize if this is redundant:
What is the absolute worst theatrical superhero film of all time?
I have only included the movies that are widely regarded as the worst of the worst. I don't include the unreleased or TV movies, and I don't include films that were polarizing like MoS, TDW, IM2, etc. This poll only consists of theatrically released major superhero films that I personally feel are truly indefensible.
For me, and this may be a controversial answer, I'm swaying towards ASM 2 at the moment. I just watched it and realized that, as a life-long Spider-man, it drove me to a place where I didn't care about Spider-man anymore. It had dazzling special effects, solid performances, and everything I thought I wanted in a Spidey film, but ultimately was completely empty. The from the word "go" I could tell I was watching an advertisement entirely funded by Sony®. It made me completely numb and uninterested in any future Columbia Pictures/Spider-man installments because all of them would be so completely hollow.
I'm not going to throw that answer in on the poll just yet because I might not feel this way a week from now. But it got me thinking about whether or not I would rank it as the worst of the worst, and now I want to know what your thoughts are.

 

[Lead Cenobite]

For me, it's probably a toss-up between Batman & Robin and Superman IV. I think Superman IV has a slight edge as the better movie because it has Christopher Reeve and the original cast, while Michael Keaton was long gone from the Batman franchise by 1997.

 

[Fincher]

If The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen doesn't count, then the worst I've seen is the horrendously acted The Phantom.

(Was Superman IV so bad that it deserved two spots?)

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

Superman IV, Catwoman, Elektra, Batman & Robin and probably so,e not on the poll

 

[Flint Marko]

If The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen doesn't count, then the worst I've seen is the horrendously acted The Phantom.

(Was Superman IV so bad that it deserved two spots?)

Whoops! Thanks for the heads up, been a late night. Can a mod fix this issue? Keep the Superman IV option Cyclops voted on to get it started.

 

[Boy Scout]

I remember turning off the original Hulk not too long ago. I don't remember if it was that bad, or just really boring, but I couldn't take more than like forty-five minutes of it.

 

[Flint Marko]

I remember turning off the original Hulk not too long ago. I don't remember if it was that bad, or just really boring, but I couldn't take more than like forty-five minutes of it.

I thought about including it but that movie has its fair share of avid defenders, so I kept it off the list. I definitely considered it though.

 

[Boy Scout]

It's probably not the worst film, but it's the only one I can remember purposely turning off. There are a lot of movies on your list I either haven't seen at all, or since I was a child.

 

[harryoscop]

FFINO (2015), Batman and Robin, Spirit of Vengeance, Wolverine Origins.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

I love HULK. It was ahead of its time. People wanted "hulk smash" and not a cool character study from debut of the franchise. Was one of the few Superhero movies to show the emotional affect of being super powered and the very few to show it not being an advantage

Has an excellent score too

 

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Definitely not Spider-Man 3. I'm with the 63% of critics who enjoyed that movie.

 

[First Avenger]

I think it's a bit unfair to put SM3 and ASM2 in this list. There are many people that like those movies. I like Spider-Man 3 and found ASM2 mediocre. Heck,the Story FF are somewhat still fun to watch. For me the worst are GR2,F4 2015 and Batman and Robin.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

For me X-Men 3 deserves to be on the poll more than some of the ones on there. Most disappointing movie of my life and I hated it for years.

Jonah Hex was awful too but nothing can beat Batman & Robin for me

Personally never saw Catwoman or FFINO so they could be worse.

I love HULK. It was ahead of its time. People wanted "hulk smash" and not a cool character study from debut of the franchise. Was one of the few Superhero movies to show the emotional affect of being super powered and the very few to show it not being an advantage

Has an excellent score too

agreed, love that movie.

 

[First Avenger]

I know X3 make A LOT of hardcore X-fans mad,but its reception was mixed IIRC,not unlike MoS or ASM2. Besides I think the general audience liked it.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I know X3 make A LOT of hardcore X-fans mad,but its reception was mixed IIRC,not unlike MoS or ASM2. Besides I think the general audience liked it.

It deserves to be on there much more than those movies ino. It for a mixed reception at the time but many have changed their mind who liked it previously and dislike it now.

 

[John Locke]

I've avoided some of the truly bad but from the ones I've seen, Superman III.

 

[First Avenger]

It deserves to be on there much more than those movies ino. It for a mixed reception at the time but many have changed their mind who liked it previously and dislike it now.

I think I accept it more now that it isn't the end of the franchise and it's just an episode in the ongoing story. I remember you said something similar a while back?

 

[Iron_Stark]

Fant4stic.

The early bad ones like Howard the Duck, Supergirl, Steel, etc were just a product of their time, nobody knew anything about SH movies or how to make them, or to take them seriously.

The early Golden Age movies like Electra, Catwoman etc, were also bad, but are also forgivable because again, they were just barely trying to get the genre right.

Fant4stic, is not forgivable, we're talking about a movie that's made in an era where CBMs are making billions of dollars, are being praised by critics and the GA, are taken serious, have A-list actors and directors make them, and have other movie studios tremble or move dates when a SH movie picks their release date.

It had two (three, but Corman isn't counted) tries and eight years to get it right. When it came down to making it, what do they do, get a hack to direct, he miscasts ALL of the major leads, causes controversy by casting his buddy, a black actor, in the role of Johnny Storm, completely messes up the mythology, tries to make it dark and gritty, messes up the greatest Marvel villain and gets himself fired.

It's the worst reviewed movie of the year, worst reviewed SH movie of all time and one of the worst reviewed movies in general of all time. A complete bomb at the box office and was only made because of their sad blatant attempt to keep the rights.

Shame on you Fox.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

Superman III is an okay Richard Pryor Comedy. Not so much Superman movie

 

[psylockolussus]

X3 is just 2 points away from a Fresh rating and got a A- cinemascore rating. So the general audience didn't hate it.

Anyway, I voted for Ghost Rider 2.

My top5 worst
1. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
2. Punisher: War Zone
3. Catwoman
4. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
5. Jonah Hex

I haven't seen Howard the Duck, Steel and Supergirl.

 

[Flint Marko]

History will be far kinder to X3 than the two franchise-ending Spider-man movies. I think it's a bad movie in nearly every regard but it didn't offend mass audiences in the same way that SM3 and ASM 2 did.
I'm leaning towards FFINO and ASM 2. Soulless, empty cash grabs meant to only hold onto the rights in a pathetic attempt to try and keep up with the other studios. It's less of an artistic endeavor and more of a legal obligation. The old superman movies get a pass because they're from a different time; in this golden age of comic books, FFINO and ASM 2 are truly inexcusable.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I voted for the wrong film because I wasn't paying attention. I meant to vote for the 2015 Fantastic Four, not the 2005 one. The 2005 film was bad, but the 2015 one was an abomination on all levels.

Sorry for messing up the poll.

 

[First Avenger]

History will be far kinder to X3 than the two franchise-ending Spider-man movies. I think it's a bad movie in nearly every regard but it didn't offend mass audiences in the same way that SM3 and ASM 2 did.
I'm leaning towards FFINO and ASM 2. Soulless, empty cash grabs meant to only hold onto the rights in a pathetic attempt to try and keep up with the other studios. It's less of an artistic endeavor and more of a legal obligation. The old superman movies get a pass because they're from a different time; in this golden age of comic books, FFINO and ASM 2 are truly inexcusable.

I think Spider-Man 3 is...good. There I said it,don't shoot me!

 

[HaplessHenchman]

My vote goes to Howard the Duck. How in the world did that movie get made? And who thought it would be a good idea to have a human female/duck sex scene?

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I think I accept it more now that it isn't the end of the franchise and it's just an episode in the ongoing story. I remember you said something similar a while back?

Prefer it to what I used to, but I used to hate it with a passion, now I can tolerate it, still think it's a poor movie though.