7 Times Comic Book Movies Had Crossovers Before Marvel

2. Supergirl Was The First Expansion Of A Major Superhero Movie Franchise

Everyone's still waiting to see how, if at all, Supergirl will link into the expansive DC television continuity (say what you want about the movies, on the small screen the Distinguished Competition have it down), but while you wait there's always the 1984 cross-continuity film to watch.

Actually, don't; it's terrible. Just as the Christopher Reeve series was beginning to take a sharp nose-dive, a British-produced flick focusing on Kara Zor-El was released. Set in the same universe as the much more popular and successful movies, it was intended to reinvigorate fan interest in the franchise following Superman III, but was so turgid it almost sank without a trace.

In fact, the film is rarely ever mentioned in conjunction with the rest of the series, which, considering Warner Bros. still happily recognise A Quest For Peace, says an awful lot about how bad it is. Still, it is in the Reeve canon, and not just down to marketing and vague, throwaway continuity references either; the film features Marc McClure reprising his role as Jimmy Olsen.