10 Terrible Superhero Movies With One Redeeming Feature

10. Spawn Championed Diversity Long Before Black Panther

The roaring success of Black Panther has been hailed as a big win for diversity in Hollywood. A superhero movie with a predominantly-black cast playing articulate, strong and well-rounded characters is a breath of fresh air for the genre, though it wasn't the first film which attempted to broaden the horizons.

When Todd McFarlane and New Line Cinema brought Spawn to the big screen, they did so with the best intentions. Efforts were made to adapt the Image Comics smash as it should be adapted: with a hard R rating and an African-American in the lead role.

Michael Jai White was cast as hellspawn Al Simmons, marking the first time an actor of colour had headed up a blockbuster comic adaptation. Granted, there were African-American-led superhero movies before Spawn. The Meteor Man came out in 1993 and Steel arrived the same year, but this was the first time it felt like a big deal.

Spawn's creative team started out on the right foot, but the end result was a far cry from what it should have been. Special effects were prioritised over story and at no point does it feel like there's any substance to accompany the extreme violence.

Critics at the time agreed that it added little to the superhero genre, but in retrospect, it should be viewed as one of the films which paved the way for Black Panther.