Kick-Ass. Iron Man 2. Green Hornet. Thor. Green Lantern. Captain America. These are just a few of the superhero films that are coming out over the course of the next year or so. It’s hard to remember the days when superhero films weren’t so prevalent at the cinema, but rewind to ten years ago, and this pseudo-genre was largely being ignored by the studios. After the abomination that was 1997’s Batman & Robin, it seemed as though the superhero “genre” was pretty much dead. Joel Schumacher’s planned fifth film in the series, Batman Triumphant, was aborted, and the director himself even recorded an apologetic commentary track for the special edition release of his notorious film, blaming Warner Bros. for getting greedy and forcing him to basically turn the film into a commercial for toys. (Perhaps the inclusion of nipples on the heroes’ costumes was some kind of artistic statement on his part, then….?)
However, the following year provided us with a glimpse of hope. The Stephen Norrington-directed Blade, an adaptation of Marvel’s vampire hunter comic starring Wesley Snipes and written by future Christopher Nolan collaborator David S. Goyer, received mixed reviews but was a box office hit that spawned two sequels and a TV series. Marvel, convinced they could revive what DC killed off, decided to finally put the X-Men film into production, leading to a film franchise whose popularity continues today. Today, superhero films are a hot commodity, perhaps best exemplified by Disney’s multi-million dollar purchase of Marvel Entertainment and The Dark Knight’s valiant effort to earn Oscar-worthy status – at least in many film critics’ and fans’ eyes at least. But with so many superhero films coming out, it may be difficult to decide which films stand out from the rest. So, to celebrate over a decade of superhero film success, here is a list of the Top 10 Superhero Films!