100 Greatest Comic Book Movies Of All Time
40. Ghost World
Here we are again with another comic celebrating unconventional characters and misfits. The film based on Daniel Clowes' comic is acerbic, intelligent and deeply loveable and has captured the hearts of many an outsider since its release.
Unfortunately, but somewhat fittingly, it made almost no money when it was released in cinemas, just about clawing back its production cost, but it's the kind of witty, challenging movie that grows in stature the longer it's around. And it's even unfair to call its appreciation cult-like, because that does it a disservice and somehow suggests it's lesser.
What it is is a heartfelt, odd tale of angst and growing up with the nagging fear of imprisonment and the stabbing concerns of identity issues. It's a lot smarter than most on this list, in other words.
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39. Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker
Look, in an ideal world, WhatCulture.com's 100 Greatest Comic Book Movies Of All Time would have had Mask of the Phantasm and Return of the Joker in the Top 10. In that world would also exist a rule where, for every one vote Josh Brown and Scott Tailford received, Ewan Paterson would receive two.
Alas, we are not in that world, and so we have to make due with the fact that the DC Animated Universe’s finest efforts fall into the obscure vestiges of 40 and 51 respectively. That's fine. However, it's equally just as fine for me to say - oh, I don't know - that they are the two greatest Batman movies in existence, because they are.
Longtime fans of the Dark Knight won’t need introducing to Batman: The Animated Series, but perhaps less famous are the spin-offs that came in its wake. Spearheaded by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, Dwayne McDuffie and countless others, Warner Bros. Animation produced dozens of mesmerising depictions of the DC mythos, and Return of the Joker was undoubtedly the studio’s best.
Spinning off from the Batman Beyond TV show, Return of the Joker dares to tell the ‘last’ Joker story, and contains an infamous 10 minute flashback sequence that detailed the Clown Prince’s death. It’s the perfect bookend to BTAS, and with Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill and Will Friedle turning in spectacular performances as Bruce Wayne, Joker and Terry McGinnis respectively, it’s a production no Bat-Fan can afford to miss.
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38. Deadpool 2
There were some concerns for Deadpool 2 after Tim Miller departed, given how instrumental he appeared to be to the first movie, but the decision to give Ryan Reynolds more freedom to realise his vision as well as bringing in David Leitch proved to be genius.
The sequel is funnier, more emotional and smarter, as well as being more vulgar, more acerbic and more outrageous, which is a hell of a balance to achieve. It's chock-full of Easter Eggs and references as well as huge surprises, hilarious gags and the kind of moments you share long after the movie ends.
After this, it will be a disgrace if Marvel don't let Reynolds continue making Deadpool movies in his image.
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