5 Most Important Superhero Movies

2. X-Men X-Men In the two decades and change after the release of Superman: The Movie, there were superhero films, but there was hardly a genre. Children of the 1980s and 1990s often dreamed of the day when studio bosses would look beyond Superman and Batman for big budget blockbusters. Blade was a surprise, qualified success in 1998, but felt more like an action horror mash up than the beginning of all fanboy dreams coming true. Two years later, director Bryan Singer€™s X-Men finally gave birth to a genre. X-Men was a critical and financial success that proved heroes with more complex super powers (especially Marvel characters) were ready for the big screen. In truth, these characters had been ready for some time and it was visual effects technology that needed to catch up. In the five years that followed, feature film debuts for Spider-Man, Daredevil, Hulk, Punisher, Elektra, Fantastic Four, Hellboy, and more were all released. Warner Bros. joined the party with films for Catwoman and a rebooted Batman. Not all of these films were successful, much less good, but the blame for that lies with the people who made those pictures. They wasted the opportunity X-Men helped create. Sam Raimi€™s Spider-Man and its sequels overshadowed X-Men in the 2000s, especially after Singer departed to make Superman Returns, but there ought to be little doubt as to which film inspired more growth in superhero cinema. X-Men helped pull a lot of films out of the development hell in which they spent the 1990s. It was the first film in what has become the longest-running, continuously active superhero film franchise ever while helping to ensure a steady supply of new franchises for years to come. Thanks to X-Men, fanboy wishes became mainstream reality.

 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

Sean Gerber is the founder and editor-in-chief of ModernMythMedia.com.