Ranking All 31 Marvel Comic Book Movies - From Worst To Best

28. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Five years after the first Ghost Rider movie had arrived to general indifference, along came the sequel that nobody had been begging for. With half the budget of the original, it was hoped that directorial duo Neveldine and Taylor would bring the low-fi insanity of their Crank movies to the world of Johnny Blaze. They didn't. Anticipation for Spirit of Vengeance rose when the trailer dropped, making this movie look much more interesting than its predecessor. Unfortunately, despite a few visual flourishes and some great CGI it suffers from the same problems as the first Ghost Rider; a nonsensical plot, underdeveloped characters and Nicolas Cage at his most irritatingly Nicolas Cagiest. The only things to gain pass marks are the production design and the always-reliable Idris Elba. Although Spirit of Vengeance grossed less than half of the first Ghost Rider through its domestic opening weekend, the lower budget (and 3D surcharge) saved it from being a financial disaster. The movie ultimately earned $132.6m worldwide, a disappointing return that nixed the idea of any further adventures for Johnny Blaze before the rights reverted back to Marvel in May last year.

27. Fantastic Four (2005)

After years in development hell, the Fantastic Four finally hit the big screen in 2005 with Tim Story's brightly-coloured adaptation of the superhero team. Although it was an undoubted financial success, the movie itself is mediocre at best and a high-camp atrocity at worst. The problems with Fantastic Four are numerous; Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba and Julian McMahon are incredibly miscast in their roles (although Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis are never less than entertaining), the script is awful and features reams and reams of clunky exposition, and for a movie with such potential for thrilling CGI set-pieces it is often crushingly dull, with no sense of urgency that causes the plot to move at a snail's pace. Nonetheless, the popularity of the characters and audience appetite for superhero movies saw Fantastic Four open to an impressive $56m domestically, and the movie would earn over $330m worldwide which was more than enough to guarantee a sequel. More on that later...

26. Punisher: War Zone (2008)

After 2004's version of The Punisher failed to gain much traction, the character was rebooted in the first release to fall under the Marvel Knights banner. An incredibly violent throwback to the 'one man army' action movies of the 1980s, despite some ridiculously over-the-top set-pieces War Zone takes itself far too seriously and is often shockingly dull for a movie that features such high volumes of bloodshed. Knives are embedded in skulls, free-runners are blown up with bazookas and faces are literally punched in, but besides the glut of laughably violent scenes there really isn't much to recommend. Ray Stevenson makes for a solid Frank Castle but the script never attempts to make him more than a two-dimensional killing machine, with director Lexi Alexander shooting the movie in often-impenetrable darkness. War Zone tanked at the box office and remains the lowest-grossing Marvel movie ever, earning just over $10m worldwide on a $35m budget and marking the third outing for The Punisher that couldn't make it past one movie, with the rights to the character ending up back at Marvel in 2010. However, since its release the movie has gone on to become something of a cult favourite amongst fans of ultraviolent shoot-em-ups.