When it comes to the superhero movie, it feels a bit like “I know it when I see it.” However, it’s more complicated than it sounds. If you don’t count James Bond, do you count Black Widow? Do you include Star Wars? Do you include all movies based on comic books regardless of content? I mean, you obviously include Superman, but do you include Zorro?
Recently, I was inspired by a book by Jeanine Basinger called The World War II Combat Film: Anatomy of a Genre. I would encourage anyone interested in genre to read it. In it, she explores the question of genre through the WWII combat film. She demonstrates that genre is more complicated than it sounds.
So, I am going to watch every superhero movie ever made in (mostly) chronological order to try and understand the genre.
The Goals
I am modeling my work after Basinger’s. My purposes are currently modeled after her as well which are:
- To establish a definition of a superhero movie
- “To trace the evolution of that genre” from its creation to present day in order to “reflect its shifting ideologies and usages”
- “To indicate what happens to the basic definition when it is altered by comedy, music, and [women]”
- “To demonstrate how this definition, as it evolves and varies, transforms itself, comingles with other genres, disguises itself as another genre, and allows other genres to enter itself” (9)
Here are my preliminary rules for defining a superhero movie:
- They must star characters who have abilities beyond those of a normal human (or who thinks they do/tries to).
- Superheroes might have a separate identity from their hero identity. This excludes Luke Skywalker. Weirdly enough, this includes Zorro.
- No spy films disconnected from a comic book universe. Meaning, Black Widow stays, and James Bond goes.
- No animated films. Animated films have their own rules and including them would be too messy.
- No TV movies, straight-to-DVD, or unreleased films. Theatrical release only.
- Hollywood films only. While I hope to review some foreign superhero films, I will be focusing on Hollywood films.
A movie must follow most or all of these rules in order to be included in my final list. Below is my preliminary list for getting started. To be honest, I’m not even sure how many of these films I’m going to be able to find. We’ll have to see. I’m excited to get started, and don’t be surprised if this project changes as I go along. Be prepared for a review of every single movie.
Shout out to Flights, Tights, & Movie Nights which helped me compile this list.
If you’re interested in helping me out with this project, consider donating a few dollars so I can rent the movies if I need to. I’m going to try and get everything through the library, but I’m sure it won’t be possible to get every movie. If you donate, I’ll be sure to give you a shout out during my next superhero movie review. Thank you in advance!
The Superhero Movie Official List
| Title | Date | Director |
| The Mark of Zorro | 1920 | Fred Niblo |
| The Shadow Strikes | 1937 | Lynn Shores |
| International Crime | 1938 | Charles Lamont |
| The Mark of Zorro | 1940 | Rouben Mamoulian |
| Captain America | 1944 | Elmer Clifton |
| The Shadow Returns | 1946 | Phil Rosen |
| Superman and the Mole Men | 1951 | Lee Sholem |
| Invisible Avenger | 1958 | James Wong Howe |
| Batman | 1966 | Leslie H. Martinson |
| The Wild World of Batwoman | 1966 | Jerry Warren |
| Fearless Frank | 1967 | Philip Kaufman |
| Barbarella | 1968 | Roger Vadim |
| The Mark of Zorro | 1974 | Don McDougall |
| Abar: The First Black Superman | 1977 | Frank Packard |
| Superman | 1978 | Richard Donner |
| Flash Gordon | 1980 | Mike Hodges |
| Hero at Large | 1980 | Martin Davidson |
| Pumaman | 1980 | Alberto De Martino |
| Super Fuzz | 1980 | Sergio Corbucci |
| Superman II | 1980 | Richard Lester |
| Swamp Thing | 1982 | Wes Craven |
| Superman III | 1983 | Richard Lester |
| Sheena: Queen of the Jungle | 1984 | John Guillermin |
| Supergirl | 1984 | Jeannot Szwarc |
| The Toxic Avenger | 1984 | Michael Herz |
| Howard the Duck | 1986 | Willard Huyck |
| Masters of the Universe | 1987 | Gary Goddard |
| Robocop | 1987 | Paul Verhoeven |
| Superman IV: The Quest for Peace | 1987 | Sidney J. Furie |
| Batman | 1989 | Tim Burton |
| The Punisher | 1989 | Mark Goldblatt |
| The Return of the Swamp Thing | 1989 | Jim Wynorski |
| The Toxic Avenger Part 2 | 1989 | Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman |
| The Toxic Avenger Part 3 | 1989 | Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman |
| Captain America | 1990 | Albert Pyun |
| Darkman | 1990 | Sam Raimi |
| Robocop 2 | 1990 | Irvin Kershner |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle | 1990 | Steve Barron |
| The Rocketeer | 1991 | Joe Johnston |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 2 | 1991 | Michael Pressman |
| Batman Returns | 1992 | Tim Burton |
| Robocop 3 | 1993 | Fred Dekker |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 | 1993 | Stuart Gillard |
| The Crow | 1994 | Alex Proyas |
| The Shadow | 1994 | Russell Mulcahy |
| Batman Forever | 1995 | Joel Schumacher |
| Judge Dredd | 1995 | Danny Cannon |
| Barb Wire | 1996 | David Hogan |
| Black Mask | 1996 | Daniel Lee |
| The Crow: City of Angels | 1996 | Tim Pope |
| The Phantom | 1996 | Shuki Levy |
| Batman & Robin | 1997 | Joel Schumacher |
| Spawn | 1997 | Mark A.Z. Dippé |
| Star Kid | 1997 | Manny Coto |
| Steel | 1997 | Kenneth Johnson |
| Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie | 1997 | Shuki Levy, David Winning |
| Blade | 1998 | Stephen Norrington |
| The Mask of Zorro | 1998 | Martin Campbell |
| Mystery Men | 1999 | Kinka Usher |
| The Crow: Salvation | 2000 | Bharat Nalluri |
| The Specials | 2000 | Craig Mazin |
| Unbreakable | 2000 | M. Night Shyamalan |
| X-Men | 2000 | Bryan Singer |
| Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV | 2000 | Lloyd Kaufman |
| Blade II | 2002 | Guillermo del Toro |
| Spider-Man | 2002 | Sam Raimi |
| Daredevil | 2003 | Mark Steven Johnson |
| Hulk | 2003 | Ang Lee |
| The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen | 2003 | Stephen Norrington |
| X-Men 2 | 2003 | Bryan Singer |
| Blade: Trinity | 2004 | David S. Goyer |
| Catwoman | 2004 | Pitof |
| Hellboy | 2004 | Guillermo del Toro |
| The Punisher | 2004 | Jonathan Hensleigh |
| Sky High | 2004 | Mike Mitchell |
| Spider-Man 2 | 2004 | Sam Raimi |
| The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl | 2005 | Robert Rodriguez |
| Batman Begins | 2005 | Christopher Nolan |
| Constantine | 2005 | Francis Lawrence |
| The Crow: Wicked Prayer | 2005 | Lance Mungia |
| Elektra | 2005 | Rob Bowman |
| Fantastic Four | 2005 | Tim Story |
| V for Vendetta | 2005 | James McTeigue |
| The Legend of Zorro | 2005 | Martin Campbell |
| Special | 2006 | Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passmore |
| My Super Ex-Girlfriend | 2006 | Ivan Reitman |
| Superman Returns | 2006 | Bryan Singer |
| X-Men: The Last Stand | 2006 | Brett Ratner |
| Zoom | 2006 | Peter Hewitt |
| Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer | 2007 | Tim Story |
| Ghost Rider | 2007 | Mark Steven Johnson |
| Hero Tomorrow | 2007 | Ted Sikora |
| Spider-Man 3 | 2007 | Sam Raimi |
| The Superhero | 2007 | Adam Simcox |
| Underdog | 2007 | Frederik Du Chau |
| The Dark Knight | 2008 | Christopher Nolan |
| Hancock | 2008 | Peter Berg |
| Hellboy II: The Golden Army | 2008 | Guillermo del Toro |
| The Incredible Hulk | 2008 | Louis Leterrier |
| Iron Man | 2008 | Jon Favreau |
| Jumper | 2008 | Doug Liman |
| Punisher: War Zone | 2008 | Lexi Alexander |
| The Spirit | 2008 | Frank Miller |
| Superhero Movie | 2008 | Craig Mazin |
| Wanted | 2008 | Timur Bekmambetov |
| Defendor | 2009 | Peter Stebbings |
| Push | 2009 | Paul McGuigan |
| Super Capers | 2009 | Ray Griggs |
| Watchmen | 2009 | Zack Snyder |
| X-Men Origins: Wolverine | 2009 | Gavin Hood |
| Iron Man 2 | 2010 | Jon Favreau |
| Jonah Hex | 2010 | Jimmy Hayward |
| Kick-Ass | 2010 | Matthew Vaughn |
| The Losers | 2010 | Sylvain White |
| Super | 2010 | James Gunn |
| Captain America: The First Avenger | 2011 | Joe Johnston |
| Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance | 2011 | Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor |
| The Green Hornet | 2011 | Michel Gondry |
| Green Lantern | 2011 | Martin Campbell |
| Priest | 2011 | Scott Stewart |
| Thor | 2011 | Kenneth Branagh |
| X-Men: First Class | 2011 | Matthew Vaughn |
| Alter Egos | 2012 | Jordan Galland |
| The Amazing Spider-Man | 2012 | Marc Webb |
| The Avengers | 2012 | Joss Whedon |
| Chronicle | 2012 | Josh Trank |
| The Dark Knight Rises | 2012 | Christopher Nolan |
| Dredd | 2012 | Pete Travis |
| Iron Man 3 | 2013 | Shane Black |
| Kick-Ass 2 | 2013 | Jeff Wadlow |
| Man of Steel | 2013 | Zack Snyder |
| Thor: The Dark World | 2013 | Alan Taylor |
| The Wolverine | 2013 | James Mangold |
| The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | 2014 | Marc Webb |
| Birdman | 2014 | Alejandro G. Iñárritu |
| Captain America: The Winter Soldier | 2014 | Anthony & Joe Russo |
| Guardians of the Galaxy | 2014 | James Gunn |
| The Posthuman Project | 2014 | Kyle William Roberts |
| Real Heroes | 2014 | Keith Hartman |
| Robocop | 2014 | José Padilha |
| Sparks | 2014 | Todd Burrows, Christopher Folino |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | 2014 | Jonathan Liebesman |
| X-Men: Days of Future Past | 2014 | Bryan Singer |
| American Hero | 2015 | Nick Love |
| Ant-Man | 2015 | Peyton Reed |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron | 2015 | Joss Whedon |
| Fantastic Four | 2015 | Josh Trank |
| Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | 2016 | Zack Snyder |
| Captain America: Civil War | 2016 | Anthony & Joe Russo |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows | 2016 | Dave Green |
| Deadpool | 2016 | Tim Miller |
| Doctor Strange | 2016 | Scott Derrickson |
| The Masked Saint | 2016 | Warren P. Sonoda |
| Max Steel | 2016 | Stewart Hendler |
| Suicide Squad | 2016 | David Ayer |
| X-Men: Apocalypse | 2016 | Bryan Singer |
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 | 2017 | James Gunn |
| Justice League | 2017 | Zack Snyder |
| Logan | 2017 | James Mangold |
| Power Rangers | 2017 | Dean Israelite |
| Spider-Man: Homecoming | 2017 | Jon Watts |
| Thor: Ragnarok | 2017 | Taika Waititi |
| Wonder Woman | 2017 | Patty Jenkins |
| Ant-Man and the Wasp | 2018 | Peyton Reed |
| Aquaman | 2018 | James Wan |
| Avengers: Infinity War | 2018 | Anthony & Joe Russo |
| Black Panther | 2018 | Ryan Coogler |
| Deadpool 2 | 2018 | David Leitch |
| Venom | 2018 | Ruben Fleischer |
| X-Men: Dark Phoenix | 2019 | Simon Kinberg |
| Captain Marvel | 2019 | Anna Boden, Ryan Fleck |
| The New Mutants | 2019 | Josh Boone |
| Shazam! | 2019 | David F. Sandberg |
| Spiderman: Far From Home | 2019 | Jon Watts |
| Hellboy | 2019 | Neil Marshall |
| Avengers: Endgame | 2019 | Anthony & Joe Russo |
| Wonder Woman 2 | 2020 | Patty Jenkins |
What do you think? Are there any movies you think should be on the list? Shouldn’t be on the list? Let me know!
// Basinger, Jeanine. The World War II Combat Film. Wesleyan UP, 2003.