10 Movies That Almost Destroyed The Superhero Genre

3. Spider-Man 3 (2007)

If X-Men: The Last Stand created cracks in the superhero genre, Spider-Man 3 turned them into giant rifts full of superfluous villains. The two dominant franchises that acted as poster boys of the resurrected genre were now spiralling into mediocrity with box office takings not matching predictions. Could the superhero bubble have burst? Spider-Man 3 has multitude of well-documented flaws, most of which stem from being the third film is a series that felt it needed to keep getting bigger. Everything, from the number villains, scale of action and dorkiness of Peter struggling with his powers, are all amped up to obnoxious levels. After Sam Raimi had worked so much magic with the first two, seeing him buckle under studio demands and his own bad ideas was a sad sight. The fallout from Spider-Man 3 can still be felt in the franchise (although thanks to successes elsewhere it's not had a detriment on the rest of the genre); Sony haven't been able to get the character to work since, forced to release lacklustre installments lest they lose the rights. What saved it: As we've already said, Iron Man and The Dark Knight injected new life into superheroes only a year later. Had they not turned up the genre would probably have petered out.