6 Movies That Would Be Way More Awesome With Superman

Clark Kent has a problem that not even Superman can solve. No matter what he does, he just can't seem to connect to mainstream audiences. Blame the talent behind the camera or the cynical studio logic involved in plunging one of the brightest pop culture icons into a world of permanent overcast, but everything from Bryan Singer's loving throwback to Zack Snyder's sped-up aerial punch-outs have had a hard time getting off the ground at the box office. But maybe the problem is just that Supes isn't really leading man material. Maybe, in an age of big-budget spectacle, making us believe that a man can fly isn't good enough anymore. Maybe nowadays the Kryptonian marvel can have more impact from a greater distance. And now that Superman is officially getting second billing in the sequel to his own movie - sandwiched between a character that already has seven major Hollywood films to his name and a weak plug for an inevitable Avengers knock-off - we thought it was time to examine what other classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) films would benefit greatly from a cameo by the Big Blue Boy Scout.

6. Rocky V

The Rocky Balboa series chronicles the not-at-all-true-story of a legendary boxer whose humble roots and fighting style are kinda-sorta based off of a composite of actually real boxers. The laws of franchise escalation mean that he not only rose up from the mean streets of Philly to become the worldwide heavyweight champion but then went on to also beat up Mr. T and convert the U.S.S.R. to democracy by the power of his fists and his heart alone. And that was all pretty neat and America was very entertained by this ongoing saga right up until Rocky V when series star Stallone and director John G. Avildsen decided that the best approach would be to model the new film after the much lower-grossing original rather than the admittedly wacky but also mega-successful sequels that had followed it. Gone was Balboa's fame and wealth. Gone was the creepy, talking robot. And gone were the larger-than-life nemeses that had tested our hero for years. So yeah, it tanked. Who cares about a guy reconnecting with his whiny son when the last film featured an oiled-up Dolph Lundgren punching so hard that he broke physics? But if Stallone had done the sensible thing and upped the ante even further then where he could reasonably go? Superman, that's where. And before you think that that's out of the question, we'd like to point out that Superman actually has a long and storied history of fighting in various gladiatorial and sporting matches, even taking on Muhammad Ali himself in the ring in the '70s. And in 1990, Christopher Reeve was even still alive and hadn't yet suffered his traumatic spinal-cord injuries. The opportunity was right there in front of them! But as you'll see from the rest of this list, squandered opportunity is sadly common in the film industry.