100 Greatest Comic Book Movies Of All Time

34. Watchmen

Watchmen might well be the most divisive comic book movie of all time: in most eyes it's either a visionary masterpiece or a disaster that drags Alan Moore's seminal classic through the mud.

Objectively speaking, it's incredible that Zack Snyder managed to get a movie out of the material at all, given the number of attempts that were made before he got it to the screen. And his commitment to the material is as admirable as the work he put into capturing an aesthetic that was both rooted in comics and also entirely his own.

The cast is mostly brilliant, the effects are great and it's an important comment on superheroes even now, offering a curiously timed post-superhero commentary before the bubble even expanded. It's just a shame it inspired the DCEU.

[SG]

33. Deadpool

Following a disastrous, genuinely insulting version of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Deadpool's full debut had to be something special. Thankfully, though Ryan Reynolds' passion project lacked a blockbuster budget, he knew that ample distance could be made up with a phenomenal script and his born-to-do-this perfect casting.

Up there with RDJ's Iron Man and JK Simmonds' J. Jonah Jameson, Ryan Reynolds IS Deadpool, making everything from mid-gunfight one-liners to slapstick comedy land like nothing else.

Simply because if it stopped you might notice that budget again, Deadpool is utterly relentless; a just-holding-on rollercoaster of gore, black comedy and badass choreography.

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32. Captain America: The First Avenger

Even though it's probably the least fondly remembered Phase 1 MCU instalment, Captain America: The First Avenger is perhaps the most important movie of that era. While Iron Man may have been the heart and soul of those early years, this first Cap flick proved that the MCU could diversify across different sub-genres, time periods and characters.

All of that experimental tinkering is supplementary to the core characterisation of Steve Rogers himself though, who’s arguably the most well fleshed out of all those early heroes. His development into the superhero his best friend Bucky always knew he was, and that final, A Matter Of Life And Death-inspired goodbye to Peggy, makes for easily one of the most emotional arcs in this 19-film franchise.

[JB]