Not all superhero movies are based on comic books. While capes and masks usually evoke an automatic association with Marvel or DC, there are plenty of movies about crime fighters that are not linked to either. These movies come in all genres, from horror to drama to even gross-out comedy. Non-comic book superhero movies can be loving homages or twisted satire — sometimes both. With movies and comics being close cousins, it only makes sense that some filmmakers would bypass the page altogether and deliver their superheroes exclusively to the big screen.
Just like with superhero movies that are based on comic books, there are a lot of screen-exclusive supes that aren’t fit to hold Superman’s trunks — you know, now that he’s wearing them again. To help separate the Shark Boys from the Meteor Men, we’ve come up with a list of the seven best superhero movies not based on comic books, ranked.
Look, we’ll cut to the chase: The Toxic Avenger isn’t a “good” movie. It looks amateurish and has a script full of gross-out humor, and is filled with gratuitous nudity and graphic violence. And yet, there’s an undeniable charm to The Toxic Avenger that makes up for the movie’s faults. In fact, Toxie himself is so likable that this over-the-top X-rated fever dream spawned a children’s cartoon in the ’90s.
The Toxic Avenger may no longer be the only superhero from New Jersey, thanks to Ms. Marvel, but he’s still worth checking out if only to see the first superhero born from a horror movie.
Many stories have asked, “What if Superman was bad?” Hancock, though, was the first movie to ask instead, “What if Superman was a drunk?” The result is not your average superhero movie. Unlike, say Homelander or Omni-Man, Hancock wants to help people — he just sucks at it. It’s a simple premise with surprising longevity. Each time Will Smith has trouble flying straight or causes excessive property damage because he’s inebriated, it’s funny.
Eventually, Hancock devolves somewhat into a generic superhero story, losing some of its charm in the process. Overall, however, the movie is a hilarious take on a superpowered individual with regular human vices.
While it’s true that the “Evil Superman” trope has been overused for a while now, when done well, it can still be a powerful concept, and Brightburn is one of the best to do it. Brandon Breyer is like Clark Kent in almost every possible way: he’s an alien who crash-landed in Kansas as a baby, he was brought up by parents with good, old-fashioned Midwest values, and he has the powers of a god. What separates Brandon and Clark, however, is that Brandon was born with an evil nature so strong that no amount of nurture can make up for it.
If you love the idea of Superman as a horror movie monster, Brightburn is the film for you. A word of caution, though: you may want to think twice if you’re squeamish about eye stuff.
Defendor is the best superhero movie you’ve never heard of. Part of the small subgenre of superhero movies that attempt to depict what would happen if real people tried to fight crime, Defendor has something that Kick-Ass and Super are missing: heart. Armed with only a World War I trench club and a jar of hornets, simple-minded Arthur Poppington attempts to fight crime as his alter ego Defendor — and fails miserably.
Defendor is funny, poignant, and criminally underrated. Check this one out if you get the chance. You won’t be sorry.
Fans of Sam Raimi might be surprised to learn that Spider-Man wasn’t the director’s first foray into the world of costumed crimefighters. Over a decade before he tackled the webbed Wall-Crawler, Raimi first gave us Darkman, a disfigured hero who could create synthetic skin masks of anyone’s face, which dissolved after 90 minutes.
Darkman is equal parts Batman, The Shadow, and Universal’s monster movies from the ’30s and ’40s, with an origin straight out of Swamp Thing. It’s a weird, violent, one-of-a-kind superhero romp unlike anything else Sam Raimi has made before or since.
Ask most people what M. Night Shyamalan’s best movie is, and they’ll tell you The Sixth Sense. Real ones know, however, that Unbreakable is his true magnum opus. A love letter to not only the very idea of superheroes, but to mythology itself, Unbreakable is a brilliant, slow-burning drama that explores what a blue-collar sad sack would do if he suddenly realized he had superhuman abilities.
One of the things that elevates Unbreakable above the other movies on this list is Bruce Willis’s fantastic performance as David Dunn, a quiet and restrained security guard who survives a train wreck, sparking the realization that he may be more than human. If you’ve never seen this film, you owe it to yourself to rectify that as soon as possible.
Admit it: you knew this one was coming. The Incredibles was always going to be #1 because it’s quite simply one of the best superhero movies ever made, based on a comic or otherwise. It also happens to be the best Fantastic Four movie ever made and the film everyone will be judging The Fantastic Four: First Steps against when it comes out on July 25th.
The Incredibles is somehow an affectionate homage to early Marvel comics while also managing to be a kid-friendly version of Watchmen with action scenes that rival any live-action superhero outing. It’s that rare movie that is just as engaging for adults as it is for children. A true modern classic.
Capes and masks don’t come solely from comics. Some of the best superhero movies were written specifically for the screen. Read More