The superhero genre has delivered some of the greatest highs and lows in Hollywood history. For every success story like Batman, there is a Batman and Robin questionably existing, living on in infamy for some poor creative choices that allowed such a loud spectacle to get released in the first place. That's the world of cinema for you!
But although the latter film has indeed lived on in infamy, it has its high points - which is more than can be said for the murky modern day misfires like Justice League and Morbius, which are rife with studio interference and dull plots that are incapable of understanding the grandeur of the characters they are working with. And that's the sad truth, for even the most popular genre in the world isn't immune to bad storytelling, poor creative choices, and by-the-numbers plots in movies that were clearly just made to make money (and, in many cases, don't).
With that in mind, let's dive into the super archives and look through the bad, worse, and the ugly to determine what truly is the worst superhero movie of all time.
Speaking of Batman and Robin...
10. Batman and Robin
A large portion of you all reading this were likely expecting to find this movie in the top spot. And I mean... I get it, but Batman and Robin has one thing going for it that the others really don't: It's unbelievably fun if you turn your brain off for a little while.
Released in 1997, the Joel Schumacher movie was a direct sequel to 1995's Batman Forever and the fourth film in the original Batman franchise. It would also be the last in that franchise, as the overwhelmingly negative response to the absolute nonsense that unfolded on screens around the world temporarily put The Dark Knight on ice (see what I did there?). Yes, it turned out that ice puns and Bat-Nipples were not what people wanted from their superhero movies, and Batman and Robin's toyetic approach, outlandish visuals (that were outlandish just for the sake of being outlandish), and complete inability to take anything seriously completely misunderstood the assignment.
But again, now that we're almost three decades removed from its release, we can appreciate this as an odd experiment that is actually kind of fun. I grew up loving this movie as a kid before I understood why it was so reviled, and I still kind of love it now (albeit for very different reasons). It's a bizarre, over-the-top pantomime of an adventure, and even though it's not Batman, it's kind of a good time.
That's something that very few of these movies can actually claim to be. Thus, Batman and Robin has the edge.