Top 20 Things Superhero Movies Got WRONG

A film about a team of spider-themed heroes might sound exciting, but this one falls flat in almost every way. The main character, Cassandra, is impossible to root for, and her connection to Peter Parker is aggressively shoehorned in. And let’s not even get started on the painfully obvious audio dialogue replacement. If you were hoping for at least one decent action sequence from our heroes, you’d be disappointed again. In fact, calling these characters “heroes” is a bit of a stretch. For most of the film, they’re just ordinary teenagers barely involved in the action, and the one fight scene they have in costume doesn’t even last up to one minute. Who knew the disaster that was “Morbius” could be topped?

When it comes to their Spider-Man movies, Sony clearly has a villain problem. They’re either poorly adapted from the source material, or there’s just too many of them involved in the plot. The Rhino embodies both of those problems. Paul Giamatti gives it his all, but his performance is way too cartoony, even for a comic book movie. Then the film gets even more embarrassing when he dons a mechanized suit to fight Spider-Man. Not only does it not resemble a rhino, but it’s so big that it makes Giamatti look absolutely ridiculous. Really makes you appreciate the movies that get the supervillain costumes right.

After the successes of Thanos and Mysterio, we were hoping for another great villain in Taskmaster. In the comics, Tony Masters is often depicted as an arrogant mercenary with a wry sense of humor. But the only elements that made their way to the movie were his powers and costume. In the MCU, Taskmaster is reimagined as Antonia Dreykov, a brainwashed assassin who works for the Red Room. This new version lacked the original character’s personality, making her feel more like a knockoff Winter Soldier. Additionally, her backstory mainly served to drive Black Widow’s plot, rather than be compelling on its own. These changes only resulted in a far less interesting villain than we would have loved to see.

This film is infamous for making some strange decisions when it came to its villains. Poison Ivy didn’t just have a weak motivation, she also lacked the depth of her comic book counterpart. And do we even need to mention Mr Freeze’s embarrassingly bad ice puns? Somehow, Bane manages to be worse than both of them. If you’re going to reduce one of Batman's most cunning villains into a mindless brute, at least give him a decent costume or an intense fight scene. But the filmmakers couldn’t even deliver on that. Thankfully, Christopher Nolan came around and redeemed this character, helping us almost forget about this horrendous rendition.

Marvel Studios has turned C-list characters into fan favorites, transforming obscure heroes like the Guardians of the Galaxy into icons. Sadly this wasn’t the case for the Eternals. Despite solid performances from the cast, the film struggled to develop its nine characters. We only get brief glimpses into their backstories, and the character growth that does exist feels half-baked. Even Kingo left the movie when it got too crammed. While “Infinity War” and “Endgame” also had large ensembles, they focused mainly on one or a few characters at a time, most of whom were already established in previous solo projects. But introducing a team of nine new heroes in one go might be too much for any movie to handle.

Calling this sequel disappointing is putting it mildly. It was plagued with lackluster action, bad visual effects, and convoluted writing. Among the most baffling choices, however, was the return of Steve Trevor. When Diana wishes to reunite with him, Steve is resurrected- but in another man’s body. This raises a lot of questions about how the Dreamstone works, particularly why it caused Steve to possess someone else rather than be brought back in his own body. Even more troubling is that neither Diana nor Steve seemed to care that they took away another man’s autonomy for their own selfish interests. This felt like a huge oversight that should definitely have been rewritten.

Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films are known for their great villains, but this one stands out for all the wrong reasons. Fans of the comics remember Eddie Brock’s Venom as a disgraced journalist who’s obsessed with killing Spider-Man. While the film keeps some aspects of the character, the casting of Topher Grace was a huge miss. He played a convincing dark parallel to Peter Parker but he just wasn’t intimidating or scary. Instead of a bulked up monster driven by hatred, he came off more like an entitled frat boy. To make matters worse, the film peeled off Venom’s iconic mask at almost every opportunity to show his face, constantly reminding us of this poor casting choice.

The film debut of DC’s most famous female hero turned out to be a surprise hit with audiences and critics. But it has a major flaw that many have since pointed out. The final battle with Ares falls short compared to the strong first two-thirds of the movie. David Thewlis’ over-the-top performance didn’t mesh with the gritty tone the film had already established. Hence, when the final showdown between him and Diana arrived, it felt like any run-of-the-mill third act finale, especially when compared to the earlier battles on Themyscira and in No Man’s Land. It’s clear that this final act was mandated by the studio, so we can’t pin all the blame on director Patty Jenkins.

Audiences have come to expect the MCU to put its own spin on the Marvel Universe, and many of the changes made have been welcomed by fans. However, their take on MODOK is one of the studios’ biggest misfires. Not only does he feel like an unnecessary addition to the plot, but he’s just downright unpleasant to look at- no shade to actor Corey Stoll, who clearly deserved better. Beyond just pushing us deep into the uncanny valley, Marvel also gets a lot wrong about his characterization. Sure, this version has the self-seriousness fans wanted, but it also lacks the tragic and comedic edge that makes him interesting. Maybe some things are better left on the page.

It would be an understatement to say that this 2013 film sparked mixed reactions. Many questioned the dour tone and revised Superman origin. Even more controversial, though, was the final battle against Zod. In the heart of Metropolis, the two Kryptonians fly and blast their way through several buildings, battling to death on an apocalyptic scale. This wouldn’t be so distracting if not for Superman’s indifference to all the destruction around him. He doesn’t even try to rescue people trapped in a collapsing skyscraper. Though he does save a family from Zod’s heat vision, snapping his neck felt unnecessarily brutal. This, combined with the wanton destruction, left viewers unsatisfied with “Man of Steel’s” portrayal of the ideal superhero.

For a film with a decent Silver Surfer, the portrayal of Galactus is shockingly poor. At a time when superhero movies still struggled with comic-accurate costumes, one of Marvel’s most iconic villains ended up with a disappointing design. Galactus is presented as a vague, dark cloud instead of an imposing giant who eats planets. Although we see his silhouette by the end, hinting that he’s more than just a big cosmic cloud, this creative choice is too bizarre to forgive. After all, is a black fog really a more menacing representation than a colossal figure who devours entire worlds?

It can be a good idea for film studios and directors to create their own versions of famous comic book characters. However, you also don’t wanna stray too far from the source material, which is exactly what this movie did. Instead of Selina Kyle, Halle Berry plays someone named Patience Phillips. In the comics, Catwoman’s origins are fairly simple – she’s a jewel thief with a sexy persona who evolves into an unlikely hero. Here, she’s murdered, but an Egyptian Mau brings her back to life. Now possessing cat-like abilities, she dresses up in leather and fights evil cosmetic executives. No wonder this movie won several Razzies.

Victor Von Doom is one of the greatest villains in the Marvel universe, but for some reason they can’t get him right on the big screen. In the comics, Doom is the ruler of Latveria, a fictional European country, and his disfiguration and subsequent rise to villainy are a result of his own misguided actions. The films seem to dislike this origin, however, making him more involved with the Fantastic Four, and essentially eliminating his home country altogether. This only serves to confuse the story and make the overall world smaller, severely weakening a character that should be one of the greatest comic book villains ever.

Expectations were high for the third “X-Men” film, since it was going to include one of the most famous plotlines in all of Marvel Comics: the “Dark Phoenix” storyline. In the comics, when Jean Grey turns into the Dark Phoenix, she essentially wields limitless power and is nearly unstoppable. In the film, however, she becomes a pawn of Magneto. Even Pyro is given more to do than her, which is saying something. Her death is also glossed over and done rather quickly, as opposed to the noble sacrifice she makes in the comics to save her friends and the universe.

As annoying and frustrating as it may be for actors and actresses to wear superhero costumes for hours at a time, it’s far better using a real costume than one generated through a computer. That’s the route this film took in 2011, however; and it did not turn out well at all. Critics commented on how the CGI costume did not mesh well with Ryan Reynolds’ live action head. While the film did things this way because his Green Lantern ring generates the costume, it’s still supposed to look like a real costume, which it does not. Even Deadpool agrees.

Marvel has done many things right with its cinematic universe, but one area that remains a struggle is the lack of quality villains. Initially, it seemed like they had a great one here. In the comics, the Mandarin is Iron Man’s greatest foe, and it appeared that they’d created a modern version of the character that was as compelling as he was terrifying. Instead, it’s revealed that Ben Kingsley’s portrayal is exactly that – a performance; the real Mandarin is Guy Pearce’s Aldrich Killian, who has a personal vendetta against Tony Stark, in a twist that’s frustratingly similar to the first two films.

When the initial “Suicide Squad” trailers came out, one of the most intriguing aspects was Jared Leto’s Joker. Could his stand out from other great portrayals of the character we’ve seen? That question is still up for debate. After the film’s release, some people called him merely a gangster in makeup while others praised his original take on the supervillain. One thing is certain, however: he’s completely unnecessary to the movie’s plot. With several scenes involving his character left on the cutting room floor, the Joker is nothing more than an extended cameo, and ultimately had no real reason to be included in “Suicide Squad.”

While Wolverine’s origin story has gotten increasingly complicated in the comics, the basics remain the same: he’s imprisoned as part of the Weapon X program, has adamantium fused onto his bones, and spends the majority of his life fighting to be more than the weapon he was created to be. While the film includes these aspects, there’s also a plot involving the pretend murder of Logan’s girlfriend, Silverfox, by his half-brother, Victor Creed – all of which was orchestrated by William Stryker to make Logan want to have the procedure. None of it makes much sense. But what’s worse is that it detracts from Wolverine’s character, reducing him to a pawn that can be easily controlled.

When it was announced that Jesse Eisenberg would play Lex Luthor, many people had concerns that he wouldn’t be able to capture the supervillain’s intensity. While Eisenberg certainly put it all on the line, his portrayal of the character was far more neurotic than intense, and his over-the-top acting quickly became a distraction. While the script did the character no favors, with its convoluted storylines and questionable character motivations, it can’t be denied that Eisenberg’s performance left a lot to be desired as he turned one of the greatest villains in the DC Universe into what many consider a stuttering mess.

This is easily one of the most baffling portrayals of a great character in cinematic history. Where do we even start? The costume was completely abandoned; they ignored his iconic physical traits and gave him a number of powers, including Cyclops’ optic blast, for some reason. They removed his dynamic personality, instead making him a puppet of Stryker. But worst of all, they sewed his mouth up, leaving him unable to talk. Deadpool. Unable to talk. That’s like removing Spider-Man’s webs or Wolverine’s claws. Luckily, comic book fans everywhere can pretend this version of the character never existed thanks to Ryan Reynolds.