10 Awful Comic Book Movies That Would Actually Benefit From A Reboot

One of the reasons why the comic book genre has remained so popular for the last two decades is that there's so much history behind these characters that they can be constantly reinvented and updated for modern audiences, which is both one of the best and worst things about a medium that's come dangerously close to reaching saturation point in recent years.

We've seen two actors win Academy Awards for playing incredibly different but equally successful versions of the Joker, while Hugh Jackman's Wolverine lost none of his popularity despite starring in a string of inconsistent sequels, reboots and spinoffs. Both Spider-Man and Batman are on their third star in a decade, but remain among the crown jewels of their respective franchises on sheer popularity alone.

On the other hand, we'd have much rather taken no Hellboy movie at all over last year's dismal reboot, while the less said about Josh Trank's Fantastic Four the better. The point is, comic book reboots are inevitable at this stage, and while Hollywood tends to favor a return to the well, there are also plenty of well-known and obscure properties that could definitely reach their full potential if rebooted in the right hands.

Frank Miller received a lot of credit for his role on Sin City, where he served as the co-writer and co-director of his own graphic novel adaptation, but when he decided to strike out on his own it appeared as though the size of his contribution alongside Robert Rodriguez had been massively inflated.

Miller at least tried to stick to what he knew, mounting a mid-budget comic book movie that utilized many of the same visual techniques as Sin City while assembling a similarly eclectic ensemble cast, but The Spirit was terrible. Most people seemed to share that sentiment, and it ended up getting panned by critics while also tanking at the box office for good measure.

Having proved a popular character since his debut in 1940, Denny Colt and his alter ego deserved much better. With a more experienced, and most importantly more talented filmmaker at the helm, a much more successful reboot of The Spirit would go a long way to fulfilling the character's potential as the star of his own movie.

And besides, Batman shouldn't be the only comic book hero to corner the market on detective-influenced comic book movies with a heavy noir angle.