Comic book movies are in a truly golden age at present. With two or three yearly releases proving to be gigantic box office smashes and with Marvel and DC having release schedules planned past 2020 it seems that there is no end in sight, but why would there be? These films are veritable cash cows for their studios, and it's not really hard to see why. Comic book movies pretty much have it all. Huge, visually stunning action sequences of worldwide peril are punctuated by intimate, personal drama stories that strike at the heart. They are played out by courageous but often flawed heroes and dastardly, charismatic villains. When all these parts come together the comic book movie is a marvellous thing (pun not intended) with the power to invoke wonderment, awe and even heartfelt emotion. What these movies also have, however, are just a few moments that are spectacular for somewhat different reasons. With little exception, each of the comic book movies that has released in this golden age has contained one or two moments of pure, cringe-inducing embarrassment. The kind of embarrassment that makes you squirm in your cinema seat as you fear that the stranger sitting beside you may think you're enjoying such a ridiculous lull in the film's overall quality. We may initially have hoped to destroy these moments, but here we can collectively bask in their cringe-worthy glory. While these (mostly) don't detract from the film's overall quality, these are moments that just make you cringe all over. Come, join us on this journey through ten cringe-inducing moments of recent comic book movies. Hopefully you're sitting in a deep seat, you're going to want to disappear into it...
Gareth is 28 years old and lives in Cardiff. Interests include film, TV and an unhealthy amount of Spider-Man comics and Killers songs. Expect constant references to the latter two at all times.
Follow on twitter @GJCartwright.
