Making a superhero film requires a hefty financial investment, because hanging all those green screens doesn’t come cheap. Big risks equal big rewards, with movies like Avengers: Endgame raking in billions of dollars. However, sometimes, even though the special effects are jaw-dropping and the plot is thrilling, a superhero movie fails to draw audiences and leaves its investors with empty pockets.
When a bad movie flops, it’s an understandable reaction to an unwanted product. However, in those instances when a good movie doesn’t connect for whatever reason, it’s hard to move past that disappointment. The following superhero films may have underperformed at the box office, but fans will make sure they’re remembered for years to come. This list will discuss those superhero movies that should’ve been major hits because of their quality, humor, and overall relevance to the genre.
10
‘Mystery Men’ (1999)
Directed by Kinka Usher
The lack of good superpowers didn’t stop a group of heroes from saving the day in the satirical superhero film Mystery Men. A core group of superfriends with dubious powers, led by Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), must overcome self-doubt and the lack of any formal training to save the world from supervillain Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush). Using their combined abilities, such as the talent of using a shovel or throwing a possessed bowling ball, the Mystery Men will step up as the heroes they were destined to be.
Mystery Men might have been a few years too early, both in terms of capitalizing on a growing superhero interest and harnessing the star power of its stacked cast that included William H. Macy and Janeane Garofalo. The offbeat humor and irreverent take on costumed heroes and villains appealed to a certain niche comic book-savvy crowd, but Mystery Men couldn’t pull in a general audience, resulting in the film not making back its budget.
9
‘The Rocketeer’ (1991)
Directed by Joe Johnston
A throwback to the classic black-and-white serials of the 1930s, The Rocketeer was an ambitious project that didn’t live up to its potential. The film follows Cliff Secord (Billy Campbell), a stunt pilot in the 1930s who discovers a rocket pack that allows him to fly. When Cliff uses the rocket pack to save a friend, he draws the attention of the FBI, the mob, and a famous film actor who is not what he seems.
There were big plans for The Rocketeer that included a big-budget trilogy designed to sell plastic rocket packs to children all over the world. However, a disappointing box office haul scrapped any future movies despite positive reviews and a talented cast, including Jennifer Connelly and Timothy Dalton. The Rocketeer would make one more appearance in 2019 when he starred in a Disney Junior show that ran one season, thus remaining an undersung superhero.
8
‘Birds of Prey’ (2020)
Directed by Cathy Yan
In Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is enjoying the single life after a breakup with the Joker. However, no Joker means no protection from the many criminals she has crossed, so Harley must now fend for herself in an always dangerous Gotham City. Never one to back away from a fight, Harley will team up with a crew of eclectic vigilantes to take down crimelord Roman Sionis (Ewan McGregor).
While Birds of Prey can’t be considered a worldwide bomb, its ticket sales didn’t instill confidence in pursuing more movies expanding the characters’ stories. The R-rating probably didn’t help its cause, but Birds of Prey carried the stigma of Suicide Squad with it, and there wasn’t a compelling enough reason for casual audiences to watch a perceived spinoff in theaters. It’s a movie that found the viewers it deserved in streaming, but that didn’t ease the pain for the accountants at Warner Bros.
7
‘Watchmen’ (2009)
Directed by Zack Snyder
The death of a semi-retired masked vigilante reunites a group of costumed heroes in Watchmen. The murder of The Comedian (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), a costumed hero who also worked as a black ops government agent, alarms the brooding detective Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), who thinks other heroes might be on the chopping block. As Rorschach reunites a team of heroes known as The Watchmen, they discover a conspiracy with unspeakable goals.
Flop is a strong word for Watchmen, but it didn’t live up to the lofty expectations Warner Bros. had for a movie about an agreed-upon mass murder. Watchmen is a story that is hard to adapt, and conventional wisdom would say it is even harder to do so in the runtime of a single movie, but it mostly works. While it has flaws and sometimes misses the mark on what the original graphic novel was attempting to say, Watchmen does capture the tone of nihilistic dread needed for such a story.
6
’Eternals’ (2021)
Directed by Chloé Zhao
Immortal beings who have witnessed the entire timeline of Earth’s events must step in as its protectors in Eternals. When the cosmic beings known as the Eternals arrive on Earth, their mission is simple: eradicate threats known as the Deviants and remain impartial observers throughout humanity’s ups and downs. However, when one of their own is mysteriously murdered, the group must reunite after years of separation to learn the truth about who was behind the attack and the truth behind their mission.
The biggest challenge for Eternals was the comparison it would always face against the other MCU films that looked and sounded different. Even though the film tells a compelling story with solid performances, Eternals didn’t appeal to Marvel fans who wanted recognizable heroes and failed to lure in audiences who had sworn off any movies where people wore capes. It’s likely Eternals won’t be returning in any future MCU movies, but the film is worth a good-faith watch.
5
‘Blue Beetle’ (2023)
Directed by Angel Manuel Soto
Blue Beetle was a promising new superhero franchise that failed to find an audience. College graduate Jaime Reyes (Xolo Maridueña) only wants to provide for his family, but he ends up as a superpowered hero when he bonds with a talisman called the Scarab. Jaime’s new powers come with unwanted attention from a ruthless CEO, Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon), who will kill anyone to have the power for herself.
There’s going to be an uphill battle every time an unfamiliar hero is introduced to theater-goers, and Blue Beetle didn’t have the name recognition for casual audiences in a crowded market of cinematic superheroes. Maridueña was excellent as a young man experiencing the joys and drawbacks of superpowers, and despite low ticket sales, this is a movie comic book fans should take the time to watch. As we transition to a new era of DC-inspired media, it would be a welcome choice to keep Maridueña in the role, provided the Blue Beetle continues to be used.
4
‘Dredd’ (2012)
Directed by Pete Travis
In the sci-fi action film Dredd, Karl Urban stars as Judge Dredd, a futuristic police officer who delivers justice with a black and white interpretation of the laws and punishments for breaking them. While Dredd is in the process of assessing Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), a recruit who failed her aptitude test, the two run afoul of drug lord “Mama” (Lena Headey). Locked in a tower block with Mama’s thugs, Dredd and Anderson will have to rely on one another to survive and escape.
Although not a superhero in the traditional sense, Judge Dredd’s time as a comic book antihero has established him as a larger-than-life character who is worth a mention next to other gritty vigilantes. Dredd trimmed down the campy aspects from the 1995 film, Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone, to make a movie more in line with the source material. While the adjustments were praised by critics, low ticket sales were the judge, jury, and executioner for future installments.
3
‘The Suicide Squad’ (2021)
Directed by James Gunn
A new group of villains team up with some familiar faces in the sequel/reboot The Suicide Squad. The plot follows Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) as she recruits new inmates to be used in her Task Force X program. For their newest mission, the colorful villains are sent to South America to infiltrate a government stronghold and destroy any evidence of a secret experiment. As is to be expected, shenanigans ensue, and the criminals-turned-forced-heroes must improvise to accomplish their mission.
There was a chunk of films, including The Suicide Squad, that had the misfortune of being ready for theaters at the height of the pandemic, when going to an enclosed public space was an unattractive option. The Suicide Squad does the most important thing in a team-based comic book movie: make sure every character has a moment to shine and leaves an impression on the audience. Even Harley Quinn, who had prominent screen time in the previous film, felt like she had received new life as a more textured character with a moral compass that occasionally pointed her in the right direction.
2
‘Thunderbolts*’ (2025)
Directed by Jake Schreier
A group of antiheroes and mercenaries counted out by society are given a second chance to help in Thunderbolts*. When Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) encounters a group of other antiheroes who have all been double-crossed, they temporarily work together to survive a shared trap. After making it to safety, the strained team must decide whether to save the city from an impending threat or watch the destruction from a safe distance while they escape.
Although Thunderbolts* was well-received by critics and audiences, the production budget combined with the marketing budget will leave the superhero team-up adventure barely breaking even instead of breaking records. After a run of MCU films that underwhelmed fans, it has to be disheartening for all involved to make something that connects with audiences but fails to convert into dollars that justify more movies. Time will tell if, or more likely, how, the performance of Thunderbolts* impacts the future of the MCU.
1
‘Batman: Mask of the Phantasm’ (1993)
Directed by Kevin Altieri, Boyd Kirkland, and Frank Paur
One of the biggest cinematic injustices was the poor box office performance of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. A feature film spinoff from Batman: The Animated Series, the movie followed Batman (Kevin Conroy) as he faced off against a new threat known as the Phantasm (Stacy Keach), who is murdering old crime bosses. At the same time, an old love of Bruce’s life, Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delany), returns to stir up old feelings.
Batman: The Animated Series is one of the greatest interpretations of The Dark Knight ever made, but that didn’t translate to ticket sales when the beloved cartoon attempted a big-screen adaptation. While low ticket sales didn’t lead to more theatrical releases, it in no way tarnished the legacy of the animated series that would continue in comic books and other straight-to-video releases like Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero. It has also become arguably the best-known and most beloved animated Batman movie ever, so at least the story had something of a happy ending.
