Best superhero movie of all time? (Nominations thread)

[GreyLord]

So these are more Live Action Superhero films...because there's quite a number of Animated ones out there as well.

The GREATEST Superhero Films (probably because they are so much older than the others, and thus their impact on movies, the movie industry, and superhero films and what and how they are made) are probably a competition between the Original Superman with Christopher Reeves and Batman (1989).

Batman itself truly changed the concept and view of what a Superhero film was. You would have no Dark Knight without it, and many of the Marvel Universe movies would be completely different. The Snyder films probably wouldn't even exist. That's just superhero films. The film industry itself has had a decent impact from those two movies as well.

However, I'd say the BEST as in how it's judged by the world, cinemaphobes, and their fellow guilds would probably be the Dark Knight by any summation or gathered view of the critics and others.

My favorites tend to be other ones though. I love Batman (1989) but it was something that had to grow on me initially.

If we can include series rather than movies, the greatest Superhero stuff on film is absolutely the Seasons of Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. Nothing even comes close in that competition.

Next up is still not a Live action film or series. It would be Batman the Animated Series.

And finally, then it starts getting tough as we go to other movies, but once again, my favorites beyond the above mentioned Batman (1989) would probably be something like Lego Batman (yes, it's animated) which is a GREAT film, or Spiderman: No Way Home.

 

[OB1]

This is tough! I think to tackle this question, I'd first put together a list of Hall of Fame Superhero movies. That is, those films that you can't tell the story of the evolution of the genre without.

My HOF:

Superman (1978)
Batman (1989)
X-Men: X-2 (2003)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Iron Man ((2008)
The Avengers (2012)
Into the Spider-verse (2018)
Black Panther (2018)

I'd then argue that Into the Spider-verse is the best superhero movie of all time as a singular work of art, while Black Panther might be the peak of the live action form of the genre.

 

[Reynard]

while Black Panther might be the peak of the live action form of the genre.

Really? Huh. While Bozeman was great, and the movie was important for representation, I did not think it was actually particularly good as a superhero film. Especially that last fight scene. Oof.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Really? Huh. While Bozeman was great, and the movie was important for representation, I did not think it was actually particularly good as a superhero film. Especially that last fight scene. Oof.

Audiences put it up there. CinemaScore of A+. I note this because I was interested to see it there. Avengers: Endgame also got A+. As did Spider-Man: No Way Home (but neither of the other two), and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Avengers (2012) got it as well.

No other MCU movies and no DCU movies at all. Also, just speaking anecdotally, the only MCU movies I've been to where the audience was like, really, really into them, in a way unusual for Britain were Endgame and Black Panther. Yeah Black Panther's CGI was terrible and the pacing fell apart at the end, but man the audience was there for it (cinema packed in both cases too). The hootin' and hollerin' was louder in Endgame, but it was present in Black Panther (again, unusual in Britain - less so in the US - the most hootin' and hollerin' I've ever seen was watching American Pie at the cinema near Santa Monica pier, with audience of rowdy US college kids - I was only like 21 myself).

 

[Reynard]

Audiences put it up there. CinemaScore of A+. I note this because I was interested to see it there. Avengers: Endgame also got A+. As did Spider-Man: No Way Home (but neither of the other two), and Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. Avengers (2012) got it as well.

No other MCU movies and no DCU movies at all.

I mean, people like what they like. But I remember absolutely hating that final battle.

 

[OB1]

Really? Huh. While Bozeman was great, and the movie was important for representation, I did not think it was actually particularly good as a superhero film. Especially that last fight scene. Oof.

Bozeman was great but it's the fully realized villain, and Jordan's portrayal of him, that elevates this movie to incredible heights.

What's important isn't just the representation, it's the tackling of big themes that matter to today, and making the audience think and empathize with these incredible characters and relate it to our own world.

Not even the questionable CGI in the end battle can take away the power of Black Panther and Killmonger 's conversation overlooking Wakanda at the end of the film.

Black Panther is a masterpiece.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I mean, people like what they like. But I remember absolutely hating that final battle.

The CGI fight between the two Panthers was pretty damn bad yeah, but I dunno, I remember liking some of the other stuff, like armoured rhinos. I think by then the film had already won most audiences over, and the emotional climax wasn't the battle, it was after it, so it didn't ruin its own ending, you kinda forgot the terrible CGI because of that - or I did at least.

 

[Arilyn]

I didn't notice the bad CGI, but I rarely do. I love Black Panther for the characters and performances. Black Panther and Kilmonger talking at the end made this picture unique and beautiful.

And then Bozeman gives us another thoughtful portrayal of Black Panther in Civil War.

 

[Ryujin]

Bozeman was great but it's the fully realized villain, and Jordan's portrayal of him, that elevates this movie to incredible heights.

What's important isn't just the representation, it's the tackling of big themes that matter to today, and making the audience think and empathize with these incredible characters and relate it to our own world.

Not even the questionable CGI in the end battle can take away the power of Black Panther and Killmonger 's conversation overlooking Wakanda at the end of the film.

Black Panther is a masterpiece.

And it's one of those rare cases in which the villain is right. Just wrong in his methods.

 

[Mannahnin]

And it's one of those rare cases in which the villain is right. Just wrong in his methods.

The best villains usually are.