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| Scene from Superman and the Mole Men (1951) |
The following discussion is regarding the top superhero movies of all time in the American sueprhero movie genre. This leaves off international superhero movies which might make the top superhero movies list, such as the Japanese superhero film Ogon Bat (1966).
The concept of the superhero is fairly young in contrast to some literary genres that are adapted to film, such as horror literature, which can be traced back to the 18th century. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the first use of
the word “supehero” was in 1917. Comic book superheros first appeared with the 1938 publication of the first issue of Action Comics, which introduced Superman. During the 1940s there was a quick rise in popularity of superheros, followed by a very quick decline. By the early 1950s with the introduction of the Comics Code Authority (CCA), there was a decline in popularity accompanied by a creative censorship that may have limited comic book writers to put out publications that would appeal to a broader and more mature audience. During this early period, for the most part, superheros only appeared in short films (film serials) that were played prior to feature length films in theaters. Only when stitched together would film serials' story lines be completed. For example, in 1948 there was a 15 part
superhero series of shorts that together formed a story. Barring the early Dick Tracy movies, the first feature superhero movie is Superman and the
Mole Men (1951) which essentially served as a pilot for the Adventures of
Superman TV show that ran from 1952 to 1958. Another notable early superhero movie was Batman (1966). The tone of Batman (1966), viewed largely as parody, was a reflection of the post-CCA treatment of superheros.
So, not surprisingly, no movies from this era of cinema made the top superhero movies of all time list, which we have determined using our top five rating system based on 130 published rankings.
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| Superman (1978) poster |
Then in 1978, Superman
showed the potential for the superhero films, which until then had not
been taken seriously. It took the collaboration of several high profile and successful Hollywood people. This included writer Mario Puzo and Marlon Brando, who collaborated six years earlier in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather(1972), considered by many to be one of the top movies of all time. Superman (1978) was directed by Richard Donner who had established his brand a couple of years earlier with the critically-acclaimed The Omen (1976). Superman (1978) also included Gene Hackman who had won one Academy Award and been nominated for several additional Academy and Golden Globe awards in the years immediately preceding its release. Superman (1978) to a large extent also benefited from the commercial success of Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). Superman (1978) was a commercial and critical success, generating $300 million in theaters and earning three Academy Award nominations.
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| Source: Reel Fives own research |
Ever since Superman (1978) there has been an overall increase in the production of superhero movies. However, overall we count roughly 138 live-action supehero movies (America) ever made (depending on which films are considered to fall under the genre). This seems like a small number of movies given the popularity and commercial success of the genre. In one of the genre's peak years, 2008, 10 superhero movies were
released, and three of them (Dark Knight, Iron Man, Hancock) were in the top five highest grossing movies for the year. This limited number of movies in the genre is due to the large budget requirements for many comic book-based movies, as they often require special effects. Compare Green Lantern (2011) with a budget of $200 million to Moneyball (2011) released around the same time with a budget of $47 million, in spite of the latter having several Hollywood heavyweights including Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Aaron Sorkin. Based on 130 published superhero movie rankings, here is the list of the top supehero movies that made the top five movies in at least one list.
The top ranked superhero movies of all time
| Avengers Age of
Ultron (2014) |
| Batman Begins (2005) |
| Batman Mask of The Phantasm (1993) |
| Batman Returns (1992) |
| Batman (1989) |
| Big Hero 6 (2014) |
| Blade 2 (2002) |
| Blade (1998) |
| Captain America: The First Avenger
(2011) |
| Captain America: The Winter Soldier
(2014) |
| Chronicle (2012) |
| Guardians of The Galaxy (2014) |
| Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008) |
| Hulk (2003) |
| Iron Man 3 (2013) |
| Iron Man (2008) |
| Kick-Ass (2010) |
| Man Of Steel (2013) |
| Mystery Men (1999) |
| Robocop (1987) |
| Scott Pilgrim vs The World (2010) |
| Sin City (2005) |
| Spider-man 2 (2004) |
| Spider-man (2002) |
| Superman 2 (1980) |
| Superman/ Batman Apocalypse (2010) |
| Superman: The Movie (1978) |
| The Amazing Spiderman (2012) |
| The Avengers (2012) |
| The Crow (1994) |
| The Dark Knight Rises (2012) |
| The Dark Knight (2008) |
| The Green Hornet (2011) |
| The Incredibles (2004) |
| The Matrix (1999) |
| The Shadow (1994) |
| Thor (2011) |
| Unbreakable (2000) |
| V for Vendetta (2005) |
| Watchmen (2009) |
| X-Men 2 (2003) |
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009) |
| X-Men (2000) |
| X-Men: Days of The Future Past (2014) |
| X-Men: First Class (2011) |
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Identifying the top movies is our mission.
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