10 Movies That Almost Destroyed The Superhero Genre

2. Green Lantern (2011)

The full repercussions of Green Lantern's flop are still not abundantly clear. Originally set to be the first step in giving D.C. a Cinematic Universe to rival Marvel's, its failure led to them scrapping the character and put the Justice League even further behind the Avengers. With the company now rushing into a vast mythology with little set up (or care) there's a distinct possibility this flop could mark the start of their utter cinematic failure. Boasting a dense mythology and a host of new alien characters, Green Lantern was certainly a hard sell, but its real problems turned out to be more fundamental; it was messy, boring movie. Even though the whole ring, power, oath stuff was new to audiences, they'd have been happy to go along for the ride had it been presented in a remotely entertaining way. Instead the Ryan Reynolds fronted movie marked the first moment D.C. really faltered. Well, since the number one entry on this list. What saved it: With Marvel releasing The Avengers a year later it was clear some people understood how to go forward. D.C. could still implode though.