The superheroes of Marvel Comics have been headlining movies for decades. We're not just talking about the last few decades, either, when the Marvel Cinematic Universe came to fruition. The juggernaut franchise, created by Marvel Studios, has broken every box office record there is to break, grossing a collective $31 billion (and counting!) in the years since its 2008 inception with Iron Man. 35 movies into that franchise, it shows no signs of slowing down.
But again, the heroes of Marvel Comics were on our screens long before that, with beloved characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men flying the flag for comic book movies at a time when there weren't all that many. And, before that, Captain America was headlining his own TV movies, while Man-Thing became a horror legend.
Even in today's day and age, Marvel Studios doesn't make all of the movies involving Marvel characters. 20th Century Fox produced the Fantastic Four and X-Men films until they were purchased by Disney, and Sony still retains the rights to the Spider-Man films. Without that creative input from the MCU, some of those films have been, well, less-than-stellar. And even now, some of the MCU's films have been receiving less and less praise in recent years. But are any of them bad enough to be considered among the worst?
On that note, let's take a look back through the annals of time and see if we can deduce the worst films to feature a Marvel Comics character (or characters) in the leading role. Just what are considered the most hated, worst, and unforgivable Marvel movies ever made. Can the MCU escape without an entry?
11. Thor: Love and Thunder
The Marvel Cinematic Universe might not completely escape this list but before we dive into Thor: Love and Thunder's shortcomings, I do just want to make it clear that this film is of a far higher standard than the rest of the entries on this list. It's a pretty decent movie, but it's not very good by MCU standards, which unfortunately sees it slipping into this list.
When putting the list together, I was torn between this film and 2013's Thor: The Dark World. Neither one holds a particularly good reputation, but Dark World is simply a dull over-hated movie. Love and Thunder was a completely missed opportunity that ruined a strong story with its over-the-top silliness, making the whole thing harder to sit through than it should have been.
That silliness was its biggest issue. At its heart, there was an important story in there about how Jane Foster, suffering from cancer, found strength in helping others by becoming the Mighty Thor. There were some powerful moments too, particularly because of the strength of Natalie Portman's performance, but so much of that story was undermined by the movie's overreliance on humor, the lack of focus in the story, and those darn screaming goats.
Again, a bad MCU movie is still better than the rest of the films on this list, but that doesn't make Thor: Love and Thunder any less disappointing.