11 Comic Book Characters Who Shouldn't Have Had A Movie (And The Alternatives Who Should)

3. The Rocketeer

Despite being an "old school" character (who was created in homage to the Saturday matinee serial heroes of the 1930s-1950s), the Rocketeer didn't actually first appear until 1982. He was a popular character amongst his readership - but his readership simply wasn't very big and making this 1991 movie was unlikely to end as a massive success story. Casting relative unknown Billy Campbell in the titular role was a mistake in itself, because if there's one thing an unknown character needs to bump up his popularity it's a big actor playing him. Even a supporting cast that included Timothy Dalton and a young Jennifer Connelly wasn't enough to sway the movie in to the realms of blockbuster territory. The film actually did okay, with earnings of $62 million from the box office - a $20 million profit on the budget - and average to slightly above average reviews. That said, it didn't blow anyone away and with all the other heroes out there, the Rocketeer shouldn't have made it to the big screen. Alternative movie that should have been made: Buck Rogers. For starters, the character has a more familiar name. Even if you never actually watched or read anything about the character, you've generally heard of him (and Daffy Duck's "Duck Dodgers" character assisted with that fact). But the key factor is that the concept of Buck Rogers, despite him being a World War I veteran, is that the character is kept in suspended animation for half a century, awakening in 2419. A new 1991 depiction of how 2419 might look could've made the film a modern, high-tech adventure, despite the character's origins.