There’s no way we can like every single one of Marvel’s new movies.
Fans are entitled to at least a minimum degree of excellence, and while we recognize that not every superhero movie can have the budget of, say, an Avengers: Endgame.
What follows is a list of what we consider to be the worst Marvel flicks.
Hulk (2003)
It’s still hard to believe that Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s director, Ang Lee, took on a Marvel movie after making one of the best films of the 2000s.
Hulk is undeniably gorgeous because Lee directed it. The film’s emphasis on Bruce Banner’s tragedy and its similarities to the narrative of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde provide it a degree of empathy that was unusual in superhero movies at the time.
Not to mention, Danny Elfman composed an amazing score.
The good points of Hulk end there, however. The film is incredibly dull. Considering he’s the movie’s main protagonist, Hulk doesn’t get nearly enough screen time.
Yeah, we understand it. Lee aimed for subtly because he didn’t want the audience’s attention drawn away from the novelty of seeing Hulk on screen.
Nonetheless, superhero movies are rarely appreciated for their artistic merit. Action is something that fans crave, yet Hulk has very little of it.
Ghost Rider (2007)
Nicolas Cage can be a fantastic actor, and the character of Ghost Rider is fantastic to watch him portray.
But he was obviously not cut out for this part. If the picture had been released with its intended R rating, his casting might have made more sense.
Cage claims that “Ghost Rider” always should have been classified as a R film.
I really wanted to adapt David Goyer’s fantastic script, so… and they wouldn’t let us film it for some reason.
It’s a pity we didn’t get Ghost Rider in its final, polished form.
Instead, we got a dull, disjointed story that couldn’t have been redeemed by even solid special effects and stunt work.
In general, this is one of the weakest Marvel films with the potential to be excellent.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
It can’t be denied that Wolverine is one of the most awesome Marvel heroes. Hugh Jackman was a great choice to play Wolverine because he was able to convey both the character’s inherent badassery and his touching desperation.
Fans were eager to learn more about Wolverine’s mysterious past after numerous hints were thrown in the X-Men flicks. It would have been difficult to completely botch a Wolverine film.
Somehow, nonetheless, this film became a major blunder in the genre of superhero movies.
Deadpool was the worst offenders, but the entire film felt like a horrible attempt at fan service, trying to squeeze in as many bad renditions of famous X-Men characters as possible.
Even for 2009, the CGI was embarrassing; there was no good reason to animate Wolverine’s claws using (poor) CGI.
The plot, above all else, was illogical. The Canadian soldier Logan fought in the American Civil War by using.
In addition, the film’s events threw off the continuity of the earlier X-Men movies. Wolverine apparently knew Cyclops even before the first X-Men movie.
But Cyclops in that movie mysteriously forgot about him. This is only one example of the many problems with continuity in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Fortunately, Wolverine was given a second opportunity at a standalone picture in 2017’s Logan, and he did not disappoint.
Iron Man 2 (2010)
It wasn’t simple to top the success of Iron Man in 2008. The picture is the essence of mindless entertainment, thanks to its tightly wound story, nonstop action, and stellar turn by Robert Downey Jr.
However, Iron Man 2 veers more toward the ridiculous and less toward the entertaining.
Not that there aren’t positive aspects to the movie. It continues the trend of mindless action from the first film and, in a welcome twist, delves more into Tony Stark’s increasingly destructive behavior.
It strives too hard to accomplish too much in its lengthy running time.
It’s understandable that the writers felt pressure to incorporate so many subplots, given that this picture was intended to introduce most of the ensemble of the impending Avengers flicks.
Unfortunately, the finished product is not as strong as its parts.
Fantastic Four (2015)
The 2005 version of Fantastic Four was horrible enough that it deserved a spot on a worst Marvel movies list all on its own, but the 2015 remake was much worse.
It tries too hard to be dramatic and evocative, but fails miserably. Characters are underdeveloped.
(Even after 100 minutes, we don’t feel like we’ve gotten to know any of the heroes very well.)
The film’s treatment of one of Marvel’s greatest villains, Dr. Doom, is probably its biggest sin.
Not only are his reasons unclear, but the film also completely abandons the elements that made Doom an unforgettable monster.
Doom never lacked for strength or speed in the comics. On the basis of his intelligence alone, he was a formidable foe of the Fantastic Four.
However, the film’s creators opted to provide him with extraordinary abilities for unknown reasons.
It’s worth mentioning that the movie’s version of Dr. Doom didn’t live up to the comics visually, which is a minor complaint. It’s difficult for us to imagine Dr. Doom without his trademark metal mask.
There are also numerous continuity mistakes throughout the film. The studio was unhappy with the finished product, so they ordered several days of additional filming.
This leads to a number of discrepancies, the most glaring of which is the alteration of Sue’s hairstyle.