10 Most Forgettable Superhero Movies Since 2000

Unplug your freezer and watch it defrost instead.

thor the dark world chris hemsworth
Marvel Studios

Watching Catwoman is a dreadful experience but it’s also an unforgettable one: how many films feature an Oscar winner being given the kiss of life by a laughably bad CG cat?

If all bad superhero movies were this much dumb fun, the world would be a brighter place. Unfortunately, when these kinds of films don’t work, they’re usually pretty banal. Boring fight scenes, no story, just a succession of noisy action sequences where you can’t really tell what’s going on.

They’re not bad enough to mock, but neither are they fun to watch. As Leonard Maltin would say, they’re not funny enough, or dramatic enough or bad enough to qualify as entertainment on any level. Unplug your freezer and watch it defrost instead.

The honeymoon period probably ended in the early 2000s when audiences were underwhelmed by Daredevil and The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The relationship has been hit and miss ever since, with incredible highs (Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies) followed by punishing lows (Zack Synder’s Superman movies).

If you’re looking for an unmemorable viewing experience to rival Batman Vs Superman, read on.

10. Hulk

thor the dark world chris hemsworth
Universal Pictures

Say what you like about 2008's The Incredible Hulk, but it had the good sense to eschew the psychobabble of the green guy’s first big screen outing. Instead of watching Hulk smash, we get endless flashbacks to Bruce Banner’s (Eric Bana) messed-up childhood, which weighs the whole movie down.

The film takes too long for Banner to turn green, then once he does it stops dead again while the filmmakers flail around trying to find things for him to do. Eventually, a nemesis in the form of Banner’s father appears, but it’s too little too late in an overlong movie.

Their climactic encounter has to be seen to be believed, though, because it seems to have been imported from the spin-off video game, with Hulk bouncing around like his gaming equivalent. Completely lacking in thrills, the sequence is a textbook example of how not to make a superhero movie. Director Ang Lee gave up the ghost and returned to making dramas, winning Best Director for Brokeback Mountain in 2005.

Contributor

Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'