Throughout the years, the superhero genre has been all the rage with the introduction of Marvel and DC Cinematic Universe. These movies typically include adventure, action, and fantasy elements. They take you into a world that seems far from reality but feels like you're right there with your favorite heroes.
Despite being in the mainstream, comic book movies can be pretty divisive. These films either make too many changes to the source material or feature story elements that don't service the characters. For those being able to look past these stylistic deviations, movies such as The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Wolverine, and Batman & Robin, were severely underrated, according to a few Redditors.
1 'Constantine' (2005)
Directed by Francis Lawrence, this superhero horror movie is loosely based on DC Comics' Hellblazer. John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) does everything he can to get to heaven since he knows what awaits him: his one-way ticket to Hell. He helps a policewoman, Angela Dodson (Rachel Weisz), proves that her sister's death was not a suicide. Constantine uses his ability to communicate with half-angels and half-demons to do good deeds.
There haven't been many horror superhero movies that have been released and received great recognition. Many critics like the intriguing premise but believe it's all over the place. u/Mainer614 disagrees with the negative consensus and states that Constantine is "one of my favorite movies." Fans of the comic might not like this adaptation, but a few Redditors like to watch this movie in their free time.
2 'The Crow' (1994)
One of the few superhero movies that aren't part of Marvel or DC would be The Crow. Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) is resurrected to avenge his death with the help of the Crow, a supernatural avenger. His fiancée, Shelly Webster (Sofia Shinas), is gravely wounded in the attack, which further motivates him to find his killers.
During its theatrical release, it received positive reviews from many critics. It was deemed a success, leading to three sequels and a television show. As one of Redditor u/ShadowJacks2112's favorites, they believe it's "mostly forgotten by today's standards but totally rocked in the day." Regardless of its age, it surprisingly holds up well with its gothic and atmospheric mood that fits the story perfectly.
3 'Batman & Robin' (1997)
Based on the DC Comics characters of Batman and Robin, the final installment of Warner Bros' Batman film series comes to an end. The movie follows Batman (George Clooney) and Robin (Chris O'Donnell) as they work together to stop Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from taking over the world while putting their differences aside to keep their partnership going.
u/Nefessius513 believes this movie has the "it's so bad, it's good factor." Some would say that it's one of their guilty pleasure movies despite its flaws. As the only live-action Batman film currently to feature Batman, Robin, and Batgirl working together, Redditors agree that they wish to see more of this in other live-action movies.
4 'Suicide Squad' (2016)
With the death of Superman, the US government allows a secret government agency to recruit the worst and most dangerously incarcerated supervillains into a team known as Task Force X. They complete missions against other metahuman threats with the idea that they're not expected to come back. The danger of it all is easily subsided with a small bomb implanted in each criminal's neck. So long as they succeed, their sentences will be shortened.
Suicide Squad had a star-studded cast with Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, and Viola Davis. Once the trailers were released, everyone was excited but sorely disappointed about the final product. Despite the tremendous bad reviews, Redditor u/BojukaBob thinks it's fun even if "the plot makes no sense and it's a mess." Their favorite part of the movie is the characters and the actors' performances.
5 'The Wolverine' (2013)
This is the sixth installment of the X-Men film series featuring the Marvel Comics character, Wolverine. Logan (Hugh Jackman) travels to Japan and lives as a hermit in the Yukon. Tortured by hallucinations of Jean Grey, he struggles to battle deadly samurai with the cost of losing his healing abilities.
Redditor u/Lingdingwhoopy is aware that this movie generally got decent critics' reviews, but the fans' reviews are mainly negative. They are "convinced that The Wolverine is the most underrated Marvel film of all time." The director's (James Mangold) ability to put the audience into Logan's headspace in such a short time awed this Redditor. They truly enjoyed the director's cut so much more in light of Jackman reprising the role.
6 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance' (2011)
The antihero Ghost Rider is back for its sequel, which was played by Nicolas Cage. Johnny Blaze is tortured by the Ghost Rider's curse and goes into hiding to make sure he never comes out again. He jumps at the chance for redemption to protect Roarke's son from his father.
The movie received terrible reviews, with criticism aimed at the script, CGI, and acting. Cage decided to step back from playing Ghost Rider and canceled the sequel. Marvel was given its rights back and gave their version of the character in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. No matter what, u/HamburgerJames will always stand behind this "great comic book movie that was ahead of its time."
7 'Hulk' (2003)
Ang Lee directed the first adaptation of the Marvel Comics character, Hulk, on the silver screen. The movie explores Bruce Banner's (Eric Bana) origins through a gamma radiation lab accident. Banner, one of Marvel's smartest characters, transforms into the titular giant green creature whenever his heart rate rises due to stress or emotional turmoil.
Hulk became one of the highest-grossing films of 2003 despite its lack of action sequences and underwhelming dialogue. The feeling of being "in a comic by having pictures in pictures imitating panels" is what makes Redditor u/JavierLoustaunau believe it to be a truly underrated superhero movie and possibly beats Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse.
8 'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' (2014)
The sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man follows Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) as he fights the supervillain Electro (Jamie Foxx) and his best friend, Harry Osborn (Dane DeHaan), who has turned into Green Goblin, all while trying to protect his girlfriend, Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). Peter Parker deals with too much in this movie to the point where he feels like giving up on being Spider-Man.
At the time of the movie's release, the low box office numbers and poor reviews resulted in the two planned sequels being canceled. The appeal of this movie is changing peoples' minds, but it's a bit too late. u/Areyoufknserious is willing to defend Amazing Spider-Man 2 until they are "blue in the face." They believe Garfield is the perfect Spider-Man and dislike that the villains were mishandled.
9 'Captain America: The First Avenger' (2011)
As the fifth movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it has a great deal to live up to. During World War II, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) joins the army and is transformed into the super-soldier, Captain America. His first mission is to stop the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) from using the powerful Tesseract as a way to take over the world.
u/Joker2814 believes "Captain America: The First Avenger is terribly underrated." The movie tells the story of a young man willing to fight for his country despite his physique and lays the foundation for the Avengers. The CGI alone showcases the amazing effects of Chris Evan's scrawny stature compared to his super-soldier body. With its authentic period piece and iconic lines, this classic superhero movie is far better than people remember and deserves another rewatch.
10 'Black Widow' (2021)
Fans of Marvel Comics were finally able to get a Black Widow solo movie. After the Avengers break up, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) is on the run and is forced to confront her past as a Russian spy. She teams up with her sister, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), to end the Red Room and free the other Black Widows caught in Dreykov's (Ray Winstone) grasp.
Being the first film in Phase Four of the MCU, it led to Marvel's success, breaking several box office records. Although the possibility of an actual origin story didn't happen, it's still an enjoyable Marvel movie. Despite that, u/TheWaylandCycle "thought Black Widow was much better than I expected it to be." They believed the opening sequence and credits were excellent for a superhero movie, but it could've even worked as a traditional spy thriller.