10 Comic Book Adaptations That Messed Up Iconic Stories

Some comic book adaptations are criticised for straying too far from the source material. Others, albiet more rarely, are scrutinised for sticking to it too closely. But then there's the adaptations who follow the wrong source material all together!

This more often than not results in a mediocre movie or season of television that fails to live up to its true potential. There are exceptions however, as some defy the odds and still go on to become box office and critical successes, though that's not always enough to silence vocal comic book die hards.

Which comic book movie or series could have been so much better if those behind it just chose to pick up a different graphic novel to extrapolate their inspiration from? Arguably, few of the Marvel and DC heavy hitters have been safe from misguided comic book based story lines, be it Batman, Spider-Man or the X-Men. Lower tiered super heroes have also suffered, including the likes of Green Arrow and Daredevil, proving no masked vigilante is safe from villainous writers and directors!

Somewhere out there in the multi-verse, perhaps the relevant stories were chosen and all these comic book films and shows were a success, but as for this reality, this is what we're stuck with...

Despite a far from abysmal return at the box office, the sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man's mixed response at best from critics and fans alike led to to Sony scrapping their plans for the franchise and giving Kevin Feige at Marvel Studios a call to make a deal.

Most will agree it was far too soon for a reboot after Toby Maguire's stint as the web slinger when Andrew Garfield stepped into the role, but retreading old ground from Sam Raimi's trilogy so swiftly accentuated that point even more so. While the first Amazing Spider-Man at least attempted to carve out its own identity and differentiate itself from what came before by introducing characters not yet seen in live action, the follow-up couldn't help but reintroduce Harry Osborne - a character who had appeared in every installment of the previous film series.

With this came the death of Gwen Stacey story from the comics, but with Harry acting as the Green Goblin instead of his father Norman. While there's nothing wrong in theory in bringing to life such a well known and pivotal Spider-Man story, it was simply too soon for the Goblin to show up. After all, Jamie Foxx's Electro was the primary villain of the picture, with the Green Goblin/Gwen Stacey altercation simply shoved in at the end of the movie, with no time allowed for it to build organically.

This wasn't the only thing wrong with the movie, but it certainly didn't help.