Welcome to our Reel Fives pre-launch movie rankings five DC Superhero movies. After conducting research, our Reel Fives team has found 130 published superhero movie rankings (listed at the bottom of this post). For each list, we have taken the top five superhero movies. Then we ranked our top DC movies list according to how many lists had each movie in their top 5. For this we considered all superhero movies, both live-action and animated, based on DC comic book characters.
DC, along with Marvel, account for most superhero movies ever made and as discussed in our previous post, Best Superhero Films: What 130 published online rankings say the top 5 superhero movies of all time are, where we provide the overall rankings for top 6 superhero movies, DC has a slight edge over Marvel in terms of very top movies in the superhero movie rankings. As with the top overall movies for the superhero movie genre, Dark Knight (2008) is the overwhelming number one ranked movie. After Dark Knight (2008) there is an extreme drop off. Note that there was a tie for fifth place with Batman (1989) and Dark Knight Rises (2012). Three high profile and successful directors account for the six movies: Christopher Nolan, Richard Donner, and Tim Burton.
As we pointed out earlier, DC is extremely limited in the variation of superheros. While 10 of the 45 movies in our top superhero movies of all time are based on DC comics superheros, only a single one of those 10 movies is not a Batman or Superman feature. It's interesting that the only other entry from DC comics into the overall superhero top movies of all time, based on the 130 published online movie rankings, is Watchmen. This signals the potential limitation of DC-based superhero movies in contrast to Marvel. Of what can be considered the eight titular DC comics superheros (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Shazam, Green Arrow, and Hawkman) and two newer entries quickly rising in popularity: Catwoman (in hero form) and Nightwing (once Robin, sidekick to Batman, that became an independent character), the only 2 characters besides Batman and Superman that have had a feature movie released on or before 2015 are Catwoman (2004) and Green Lantern (2011). Furthermore, Catwoman (2004) is only loosely based on the DC character. A question that comes to mind is whether the origins of the superheros in the DC universe relied too much on fantasy, such as Aquaman and Wonder Woman, as opposed to Marvel comics-based superheros that are typically individuals part of normal society with a power explained in 'scientific' terms. Many of Marvel's most popular titles ( X-men, all of the avengers except for Thor, the Fantastic Four, Punisher, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider) are explained in this way. While this point is certainly up for debate, it warrants some discussion.
This is the first superhero sub-genre top movie rankings. Soon we will be posting the top 5 rankings for two more superhero movie sub-genres: Marvel superhero movies and animated superhero movies. After the superhero sub-genres, we will post the complete list of all top superhero movies.
Reel Fives pre-launch top 5 DC Superhero movies
Percent of tops fives in which it appears: 96%
Director: Christopher Nolan
Budget: $180,000,000
Percent of tops fives in which it appears: 43%
Director: Richard Donner
Budget: $55,000,000
Percent of tops fives in which it appears: 36%
Director: Christopher Nolan
Budget: $150,000,000
Percent of tops fives in which it appears: 19%
Director: Richard Donner and Richard Lester
Budget: $54,000,000
Percent of tops fives in which it appears: 18%
Director: Christopher Nolan
Budget: $250,000,000
Percent of tops fives in which it appears: 18%
Director: Tim Burton
Budget: $35,000,000
Here the 130 published movie rankings lists:
| Hitfix | (Their top 25 superhero movies ranked) |
| io9 | (Their top 105 superhero movies ranked) |
| imdb | (Their top 100 superhero movies ranked) |
| Telegraph | (Their top 21 superhero movies ranked) |
| Empire Online | (Their top 30 superhero movies ranked) |
| Screen Crush | (Their top 25 superhero movies ranked) |
| Thrillist | (Their top 84 superhero movies ranked) |
| Gamespot | (Their top 30 superhero movies ranked) |
| Techradar | (Their top 15 superhero movies ranked) |
| Dorkly | (Their top 69 superhero movies ranked) |
| Ranker | (Their top 177 superhero movies ranked) |
| Watch Mojo | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Vulture | (Their top 25 superhero movies ranked) |
| Orlando Sentinel | (Their top 50 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Street | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Rolling Stone | (Their top 15 superhero movies ranked) |
| Monster & Critics | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Maxim | (Their top 15 superhero movies ranked) |
| Hollywood | (Their top 20 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Script Lab | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Guardian | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Submarine Channel | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Top Tens | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Time Out | (Their top 20 superhero movies ranked) |
| We Got This Covered | (Their top 50 superhero movies ranked) |
| Games Radar | (Their top 50 superhero movies ranked) |
| Matts Movie Reviews | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| All Womens Talk | (Their top 8 superhero movies ranked) |
| Unreality Magazine | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Ebay | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Filmefy | (Their top 13 superhero movies ranked) |
| Flick Chart | (Their top 100 superhero movies ranked) |
| College Humor | (Their top 15 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Cinemaholic | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| List Challenges | (Their top 40 superhero movies ranked) |
| You Nerded | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| My Little Empire | (Their top 30 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Key103 | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Flicks | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Yahoo | (Their top 20 superhero movies ranked) |
| Kesq | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| Comic Book Movie | (Their top 100 superhero movies ranked) |
| Comic Book Movie | (Their top 30 superhero movies ranked) |
| Oner Room With a View | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| CBS | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| Best For Film | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Film School WTF | (Their top 100 superhero movies ranked) |
| News Day | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| clclt | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| erik lundegaard | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Virgin Media | (Their top 20 superhero movies ranked) |
| acomic book blog | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| 98.1 the hawk | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Stuff | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| (Their top 25 superhero movies ranked) | |
| Slide Share | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| real style network | (Their top 8 superhero movies ranked) |
| wattpad | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| prezi | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Mubi | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Reel Deal | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Movie Mavericks | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| Bog Bit | (Their top 20 superhero movies ranked) |
| Wikia | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Top Ten of City | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Revision 3 | (Their top 8 superhero movies ranked) |
| Spin 1038 | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| They Young Folks | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| imdb | (Their top 50 superhero movies ranked) |
| ign | (Their top 25 superhero movies ranked) |
| Flights Tights & Movie Nights | (Their top 100 superhero movies ranked) |
| Influx Magazine | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Invision Free | (Their top 60 superhero movies ranked) |
| Screen Rant | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| etcanada | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Forth 2 | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Crizic | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| What Culture | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| I Check Movies | (Their top 30 superhero movies ranked) |
| Comic Vine | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Rock 101 | (Their top 15 superhero movies ranked) |
| Super Hero Movie Talk | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Den of Geek | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Red Carpet Crash | (Their top 25 superhero movies ranked) |
| Seattlepi | (Their top 20 superhero movies ranked) |
| Ask Men | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Geek Generation | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Charged | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| Hollywood Lollipop | (Their top 25 superhero movies ranked) |
| Reckon Talk | (Their top 17 superhero movies ranked) |
| 100 Top List | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Share Ranks | (Their top 26 superhero movies ranked) |
| Hub Pages | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Movie Fanatic | (Their top 23 superhero movies ranked) |
| Pop Culture Blog | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| Wash fm | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| John Collings | (Their top 13 superhero movies ranked) |
| Maxim | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Tech First Post | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| Midlands Movies | (Their top 15 superhero movies ranked) |
| My Movie Thoughts | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| ktar news | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Upperloop | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| All Time Best 10 | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| The FilmFellas Blog | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| Grinch of Salt | (Their top 30 superhero movies ranked) |
| Rotten Tomatoes | (Their top 39 superhero movies ranked) |
| Cinema Blend | (Their top 6 superhero movies ranked) |
| Yahoo | (Their top 30 superhero movies ranked) |
| Playboy | (Their top 113 superhero movies ranked) |
| Rate your Music | (Their top 62 superhero movies ranked) |
| Forbes | (Their top 20 superhero movies ranked) |
| Techno Buffalo | (Their top 105 superhero movies ranked) |
| Shoreline Beacon | (Their top 11 superhero movies ranked) |
| sfgate | (Their top 20 superhero movies ranked) |
| capes on film | (Their top 127 superhero movies ranked) |
| letterboxd | (Their top 90 superhero movies ranked) |
| ifanboy | (Their top 40 superhero movies ranked) |
| movie melt | (Their top 38 superhero movies ranked) |
| Gamepro | (Their top 30 superhero movies ranked) |
| simple film critics | (Their top 29 superhero movies ranked) |
| Hero Machine | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| wdlafm | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| oldschool | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| culture brats | (Their top 19 superhero movies ranked) |
| What Culture | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| Mutantville | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
| College Times | (Their top 5 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Shelf Is Half Full | (Their top 12 superhero movies ranked) |
| The Celebrity Cafe | (Their top 10 superhero movies ranked) |
Identifying the top movies is our mission.
www.reelfives.com
https://twitter.com/reelfives
https://www.facebook.com/reelfives
