7 Comic Book Movie Endings That Really Needed A Sequel
Batman really needed to Return again.
It's no longer enough for a comic book movie to stand alone. Heck, it's not even enough to set up one sequel; instead, a superhero flick needs to entertain on its own merits, while establishing the basis for a follow-up and fitting into or building a shared universe.
It's not even that modern a thing, either: Superman, the first real big-budget superhero movie, spawned three sequels (which gradually declined in quality). It's rare, then, that a comic book film doesn't get the sequel it sets up and/or deserves.
The reason this usually happens is if the movie fails commercially (and critically): the likes of Spider-Man 3, Green Lantern, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 all had serious potential for another story, but lacked the quality and box-office haul to warrant them.
On other occasions, the studio might simply decide to go in a different direction, which is what led to Spider-Man 4 becoming The Amazing Spider-Man, or Tim Burton's Batman becoming Joel Schumacher's becoming Christopher Nolan's.
Most of the time it's the right call to move on, but sometimes, when the movie is so good or the tease so enticing, there are movies that outright demand a follow-up, but they sadly never happen.