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.
9. Catwoman
Another offshoot of the original Batman movie franchise that lost its way during the '90s and 2000s, Catwoman was originally intended to be a Batman Returns spinoff focusing on Michelle Pfeiffer's Selina Kyle. However, years of development hell saw the studio take a big swing that missed in just about every way.
Dropping all ties to DC Comics, the film introduced new, original character Patience Phillips (played by Halle Berry) who was killed when she uncovered some dark secrets about her boss Laurel Hedare (Sharon Stone). But the power of the cat brought her back to life, and she returned to stop those who wronged her, becoming her city's new savior / antihero Catwoman.
The response was, well, not good. Critics were extremely harsh on it, with many calling it one of the worst superhero movies ever made, and it flopped at the box office, too. Though opinion towards it has softened over the years, it's still held up as one of the biggest misfires the comic book genre has ever seen.
In fairness to Catwoman, it absolutely belongs in the "so-bad-it's-good" territory of cinema and that makes watching it very enjoyable. Sure, it would never be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Batman or The Dark Knight, but it's also considerably better (and more entertaining) than a lot of the other movies we're going to discuss on this list.
Seriously, where else are you going to see Halle Berry and Sharon Stone fighting for the fate of their city that hinges on dastardly face cream? Peak cinema if you ask me.
8. Morbius
Although Sony Pictures' Universe of Spider-Man Characters has found success in the Venom movies, none of those films were particularly critical masterpieces. The first installment was a fan-favorite but the subsequent two weren't, really, so the franchise didn't have much to go on... but this was as especially true outside of Venom (as you'll come to see).
Morbius was the first attempt to produce a success story outside of the Tom Hardy-led franchise and, to say it missed the mark might be an understatement. Starring Jared Leto as the titular character, the film sought to bring relatively well-known Marvel vampire Michael Morbius to life, but it only succeeded in being the nail in the coffin for his cinematic story.
In fairness to Morbius, it wasn't the worst example of what this franchise was capable of, but it was far from good either. The pacing was off, the story itself was questionable (and really quite dull) and it certainly didn't help matters that the finished product ended up being nothing like the trailers implied. The post-credits scene, in particular, was widely reviled for being both poorly shot and incredibly senseless (why was the MCU's Vulture in this world? How did it happen? Who knows, really?).
The only thing that Morbius succeeded in doing was making people take the franchise less seriously as it spawned the meme-ification of the Sony Spider-Verse, with fans playfully dragging the movie for both its storyline and its underperformance at the box office. Sony tried to capitalize on that with a theatrical re-release, but it performed even worse the second time around.
7. Dark Phoenix
The image above of Jean Grey crying is basically how all of the X-Men fans felt watching Dark Phoenix... and that's such a shame because it was the franchise's second failed attempt at bringing the iconic Marvel Comics storyline to life.
The X-Men movie series is one of the most pivotal of all time, it kept conversations surrounding Marvel Comics characters ongoing at a time when there weren't too many superhero movies. But that doesn't mean that it wasn't prone to the odd dud here and there. X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine were lower points for the franchise but they were still very watchable movies; the consensus would say that Dark Phoenix is not.
The final movie in the linear X-Men saga, as well as the final movie of the prequel series, this one was littered with issues from start through finish. Although the serious tone does succeed in adding gravity to Jean's transformation into the Dark Phoenix, it also results in a pretty joyless affair. All of the characters are miserable, the triumphant X-Men score is nowhere to be seen, and the whole thing is just kind of depressing.
It also isn't helped by the lacklustre demise of Mystique, the complete underuse of Quicksilver and the inherent reliance on the same group of characters. Jessica Chastain is also wasted as the bizarre alien villain that rarely feels worthy of the seriousness of the situation.
There's a lot of potential in Dark Phoenix, particularly in the performances, but it rarely lives up to it.
6. Madame Web
Madame Web is an interesting one because, for a while there, many were expecting that it would end up on a list like this one. But then the trailer dropped and it looked like a lot of fun, with the potential of some decent and clever writing thrown in there, too. Well, it's safe to say it was a good trailer then, because unfortunately the finished product was nothing like that.
The Dakota Johnson-led film is part of Sony's unusual universe of Marvel characters franchise but it's also set two decades before the other films in the series and might even exist in a parallel dimension. It's all very confusing, but not nearly as confusing as the movie itself; for Madame Web is a web of missed opportunities, questionable creative choices, and story beats that just don't go where they are promised.
I like the brand of "so bad, it's good" superhero movie, and Madame Web had all the potential of being part of that category, but the movie takes itself too seriously and it wants us to take it seriously too; and it doesn't thrive - it can't thrive - if we do that. If we don't, it's a much more enjoyable watch, but that doesn't change the fact that this is a movie that didn't need to happen, didn't justify its existence, and probably won't get the sequel it needed to expand on some of the plots it juggled.
5. Fantastic Four (2015)
Fantastic Four is such a strange movie. It was a by-the-numbers attempt to allow Fox to hold onto the movie rights to Marvel's First Family before they inevitably reverted back to Marvel Studios, but it was so exponentially reviled that it left everyone wishing the studio had just made a third film in the original Fantastic Four movie series instead of this needless reboot. I can tell you that a lot of people would have preferred to see Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis back for another adventure over this.
What went wrong with the movie that was also known as Fant4stic? Well it certainly wasn't the cast, as Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan, and Jamie Bell committed to their roles, but the film's dark, drab, dull, moody, broody, and all around depressing tone zapped all of the potential - and life - out of the 2015 movie. As much as we all love our grounded and gritty Batman origin stories, the Fantastic Four of all people did not need one.
The film completely misunderstood its characters and that includes its unique portrayal of Doctor Doom, which didn't go down well at all with audiences. That, the grim tone, the dark color palette, and the inconsistencies due to the reshoots resulted in a heavily-flawed, unenjoyable film that made a lot of poor judgements.
I don't hate this movie like everyone else apparently does, but I will admit that you would have a tough time trying to defend more than just a few things about it.
4. Kraven the Hunter
You have to be a unique kind of bad to screw up a movie with Aaron Taylor Johnson playing a badass. Truly, it's remarkable, because Aaron Taylor Johnson is such a natural badass, oozing charisma from his pores that he's so darn believable as Kraven the Hunter. So why - why?! - was Kraven the Hunter so bafflingly bad?
Sony Pictures' Universe of Spider-Man Characters (or the Sony Spider-Verse, as it was called by now) had a way of producing superhero movies without producing any of the heart, depth, or emotional investment we've come to expect from superhero movies. And after the franchise hit new critical and commercial lows with Madame Web, it somehow found a way to do it all again in the same year with Kraven.
Kraven the Hunter received vile reviews from audiences, boasting just a 16% score on Rotten Tomatoes as critics ravaged its poor special effects, and dull, inconsistent story that did a complete disservice to the titular character. It's hard to argue with that, although some fans might try as it scored a pretty impressive 72% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The thing that Kraven the Hunter truly drops the ball on is that it isn't ridiculously over-the-top or enjoyably campy like some of the other bad movies on this list. Even Madame Web and Morbius are meme-able - not to mention enjoyable to watch for all the wrong reasons - but the 2024 film just takes itself too seriously. And those types of movies only work if they're objectively good - something that Kraven the Hunter, unfortunately, is not.
3. Steel
These days John Henry Irons, a.k.a. Steel, is known by mainstream audiences for endearing himself to viewers on The CW's critically-acclaimed Superman and Lois, but once upon a time he was a movie star of his own. Heck, he was even played by NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal. So why has the 1997 movie been forgotten to all of existence? Well, it's complicated.
For starters, Steel is not good. It's ridiculously cheesy and just one of the many indicators that Hollywood had lost sight of how to make superhero movies in the late '90s - or even 1997 (looking at you Batman and Robin) - but it also didn't have a lot to say. Some critics said the film was like an extended episode of a TV show and that's a great comparison because Steel often feels like any old caper of the week instead of what should have been a character-defining breakthrough into the mainstream.
It just doesn't highlight the depth that the John Henry Irons character is known for and it robs audiences of what could have been a really great story. The film's lack of connection to Superman didn't help as Steel and Supes' stories are closely-intertwined in the comics, and that resulted in this one feeling a little too much like a bad RoboCop movie.
In fairness to Steel this is the kind of "so bad, it's good" that we love from these movies, and it's one of the many reasons why bad movies of yesteryear are always more enjoyable than bad movies of today. There is a charm about it that makes it easy to watch on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and sometimes that's all that matters.
2. Justice League
We can't discuss the biggest misfires in the history of superhero movies without discussing Justice League. For clarity purposes, I'm not referring to the Zack Snyder-directed version that came out in 2021 (that movie might have been long but it was the larger-than-life spectacle a Justice League movie should have been); no, this entry is solely reserved for the absolute disaster that was the 2017 theatrical version.
Directed by Joss Whedon (who stepped in after Snyder stepped away), the film is a complete mismatch of the two styles, desecrating the ambitious visuals of the previous director's vision with cheap substitute CGI landscapes, an awful redesign for villain Steppenwolf, and unfunny 2000s jokes that stood out like a sore thumb in a universe that had yet to produce anything with that kind of humor. The characters were misunderstood, the showdowns lacklustre and unmoving, and don't even get me started on the awful CGI-laden attempt to conceal Henry Cavill's mustache during the reshoots.
It's only when you watch the Snyder Cut that you realize how much damage the creative changes and the reshoots did to this movie. Everything about Snyder's version carried more emotional weight, gravitas, and power, and even though it was longer than it needed to be, it felt like what a Justice League movie should feel like.
The 2017 version, however, felt like the antithesis of that.
1. Superman IV: The Quest For Peace
Some of the movies on this list were "so bad, they're good", while others were just pretty poor watches. None, however, produce the overwhelming feelings of disdain that Superman IV: The Quest For Peace does.
The film's predecessor Superman III had its issues, but it looked like it belonged to the mighty Superman franchise. This one didn't even look like a Hollywood movie, so that - and the fact that it managed to double down on the previous movie's issues - made it a much, much harder watch.
I don't even know where to begin with this one. The special effects are so poor that it's crazy to think they ever made it to the screen. It's not a case of just being considerably worse than the visuals of the original 1978 movie (that was released nine years prior), it's that they are horrendous and not at all worthy of the franchise they appear in. And the material certainly isn't worthy of the actors involved.
The great Christopher Reeve was dissatisfied with the movie during production as well as the final product, which ended up being nothing like anyone who cared about the franchise wanted it to be. It was a shell of what the Superman franchise represented and a sad conclusion for one of the most iconic film series in the history of Hollywood.
Everyone involved deserved much, much better.