I am not a fan of today’s superhero movies, but even I’m surprised how few I’ve seen. Here’s a literal complete list.
All four of the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve | 4 wasn’t as bad as everyone says, 3 was worse than people say, and I don’t remember a single thing about 2, other than that the villains were the criminals who were banished at the beginning of the first movie, though I am sure I saw it in whole once. |
The Batman Movie based on the show from the 60’s | AKA the only true Batman, according to Boomers. (“Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb.”) |
The two Tim Burton Batman movies with Michael Keaton | AKA not fun like the 60’s Batman was, again according to Boomers. It was okay in a ten year old boy fandom kind of way. |
The first Spiderman with Toby Macguire | It sufficed as entertainment on a flight. |
First two Christopher Nolan Batman movies with Christian Bale | Batman Begins and the Dark Knight, these were pretty entertaining actually, but I can’t say I really thought about them a lot after. |
Mystery Men | Underrated parody of superhero movies. (“We’ve got a blind date with destiny, and it looks like she ordered the lobster.”) |
The Powerpuff Girls Movie | Which was not unlike a longer episode of the show, so it was pretty good. |
Guardians of the Galaxy Part 2 | My brothers dragged me to see it. It did not convince me to give any other Marvel movies a chance. |
An that’s it. There are a few more dubious superhero movies I’ve seen, such as The Rocketeer and Robocop.
What amazes me is how pervasive the concept of a superhero has become. I don’t read comics, and have watched little TV and fewer movies about superheroes. Most of my exposure comes from watching cartoons as a kid. Yet, almost nothing about a superhero is unfamiliar to me, the whole story cycle of a superhero and every note it hits is as well known to me any story archetype.