1936–1978: Early years '' (by
Republic Pictures, 1941) Superhero stories initially gained popularity through
comic books and were later adapted into
film serials. Early examples include
Flash Gordon (1936),
Mandrake the Magician (1939),
The Shadow (1940),
Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941),
Batman (1943),
The Phantom (1943),
Captain America (1944), and
Superman (1948). Between 1941 and 1942,
Fleischer Studios produced a series of eight
animated cartoons and one additional short based on the
Superman comic book.
Famous Studios, the successor of
Fleischer Studios, created eight more cartoons between 1942 and 1943. In the following decades, the decline of Saturday matinée showings of
serials and
turmoil in the comic book industry slowed superhero motion picture production greatly, although films were still being produced. These films included
Superman and the Mole Men (1951), starring
George Reeves, and
Batman (1966), a big-screen extension of the
Batman television series starring
Adam West.
Superman and the Mole Men was a
pilot for the TV series
Adventures of Superman. Compilations of the series were later released theatrically.
Tokusatsu In 1957,
Shinto Ho produced the first film serial featuring the
Tokusatsu superhero character
Super Giant, marking a shift in
Japanese popular culture toward masked superheroes in
Tokusatsu. The
Super Giant film series and
Astro Boy heavily influenced later Japanese
Tokusatsu superhero films.
Moonlight Mask also became popular around that time, with six films retelling the story of the TV series. Another early Japanese superhero film was
Ōgon Bat (1966), starring
Sonny Chiba, based on the 1931
Kamishibai superhero Ōgon Bat.
Kaiju films Although
kaiju movies, or movies featuring
kaiju monsters, do not typically fall under the superhero category, the
kaiju monster
Godzilla, originally a villain, transitioned into a superhero role in subsequent films. Godzilla has been described as "the original radioactive superhero" because his nuclear origin story predates
Spider-Man's 1962 debut. By the 1970s, Godzilla was viewed as a superhero, with the magazine
King of the Monsters describing Godzilla in 1977 as the "Superhero of the '70s."
Donald F. Glut wrote that Godzilla was "the most universally popular superhero of 1977." 1966 saw the debut of the
Ultra Series with the
kaiju TV show
Ultra Q. With the release of the original
Ultraman, the franchise started focusing on superheroes and the series averaged an audience rating of 36.8% through its first 39 episodes. In 1967,
Ultraman started expanding to films. Early films, such as
Ultraman: Monster Movie Feature, were compilations or theatrical releases of TV show episodes. The first original
Ultraman film was
The 6 Ultra Brothers vs. the Monster Army, a
co-production with
Thailand. The popularity of television superheroes in Japan led to the
Kamen Rider and
Super Sentai franchises by
manga artist
Shotaro Ishinomori in 1971 and 1975, respectively. As with
Ultraman, many early
Kamen Rider and
Super Sentai episodes were released as films. Original
Kamen Rider films released before 1978 include
Kamen Rider vs. Shocker,
Kamen Rider vs. Ambassador Hell,
Kamen Rider V3 vs. Destron Mutants, and
Five Riders vs. King Dark. Original superhero characters emerged in other, more
comedy-oriented films, such as the
French political satire film
Mr. Freedom (1969), the Polish
parody Hydrozagadka (1970), and the American
B movies Rat Pfink a Boo Boo (1966) and
The Wild World of Batwoman (1966).
1978–1998: Rising popularity Following the success of
Star Wars,
Richard Donner's
Superman (1978), the first big-budget DC feature film, was a critical and commercial success. The same year,
Toei Company's
Spider-Man reimagining and the first
Super Sentai crossover film,
JAKQ Dengekitai vs. Gorenger, were released. Other entries emerged throughout the 1980s, including
Eight Riders vs. Galaxy King (1980),
Kamen Rider Super-1: The Movie (1981),
Richard Lester's
Superman II (1981), ''
Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge'' (1981), and
Paul Verhoeven's
RoboCop (1987). These were followed by
Kamen Rider Black: Hurry to Onigashima and
Kamen Rider Black: Terrifying! The Phantom House of Devil Pass, released in 1988. The success of
Tim Burton's
Batman (1989) and its direct follow-up,
Batman Returns (1992), spawned the
DC Animated Universe. One of the first superhero films of the 1990s was
Marvel's
Captain America (1990), which did not have a theatrical release.
Roger Corman's
The Fantastic Four (1994) was
produced solely to maintain the film rights to the property and was not released theatrically or on
home video.
Alex Proyas'
The Crow (1994) became the first
independent comic superhero franchise film. The success of
The Crow may have influenced the release of a film version of
Spawn (1997),
Image Comics's leading character. After Marvel bought
Malibu Comics (which owned
The Men in Black comic series), Marvel and
Columbia Pictures released
Men in Black in 1997. This film was the first Marvel property to win an
Academy Award and, at the time, was the highest-grossing comic book adaptation. While commercially successful,
Joel Schumacher's
Batman & Robin (1997) was critically panned for its
campiness and deviation from the darker style of the series' first two films directed by
Tim Burton. Some have cited it as a factor in the temporary decline of the superhero film
sub-genre. In Japan in the 1990s, original
Ultraman films became more common. In 1996,
Tsuburaya released
Ultraman Zearth, which parodied the original TV series and later installments. The following year, the sequel titled
Ultraman Zearth 2: Superhuman Big Battle - Light and Shadow premiered.
1998–2007: Further rise starred as
Blade in the
Blade films. In 1998, Marvel released
Blade, a darker superhero film blended with traditional action and horror elements. The
title character possesses the powers of a
vampire and an arsenal of weaponry.
Blade II was released in 2002. Adam Sternberg of
Vulture stated that
The Matrix (1999) was influenced by comic books,
cyberpunk fiction, Japanese
anime, and
Hong Kong action films. He also credits the film and its incorporation of
Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) with reinventing the superhero film by setting the template for modern superhero blockbusters. According to Sternberg, this inspired the superhero renaissance in the early 21st century.
John Kenneth Muir, in
The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film and Television, describes
The Matrix as a re-imagination of movie visuals, paving the way for the visuals of later superhero films. He credits it with helping to "make comic-book superheroes hip." He notes that the
bullet-time effect successfully demonstrates the concept of "
faster than a speeding bullet" onscreen. In Japan, following the success of the
Kamen Rider Kuuga television series, a new era of the
Kamen Rider franchise began, leading to the production of annual
Kamen Rider movies, starting with
Kamen Rider Agito: Project G4 in 2001. The popularity of the
Ultraman Tiga TV series led to several films based on it and later installments, including
Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna: Warriors of the Star of Light (1998),
Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace (1999), and
Ultraman Tiga: The Final Odyssey (2000).
2008–present: Ubiquity of the MCU and DCEU and the expansion to streaming services '' (2012), a commercially successful superhero film and a key entry in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe.
2008–2014 The release of
Iron Man in 2008 began the
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). A few months later,
The Dark Knight was released to widespread critical acclaim and became the first superhero movie to make over $1 billion at the worldwide box office. 2009 saw the release of
Watchmen and
X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The 2010s saw continued success for superhero films both culturally and economically, taking the sub-genre's success and ubiquity to new heights.
Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of
Kick-Ass was released in 2010, followed by
Iron Man 2 a month later. 2011 releases included
The Green Hornet,
Green Lantern, and
X-Men: First Class. After referencing the "
Avengers Initiative" in the
Iron Man films and
The Incredible Hulk, Marvel released
Thor in May 2011, followed by
Captain America: The First Avenger in July 2011. While
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012) had little audience interest, three superhero films made it to the top ten in the box office chart for the year, both in the US and internationally. These were
The Avengers (May 2012),
The Dark Knight Rises (July 2012), and
The Amazing Spider-Man (July 2012). A
Superman Returns sequel was planned for 2009 but was delayed and later scrapped in favor of
Man of Steel (2013), a reboot of the Superman franchise. At the 2012
San Diego Comic-Con, Marvel confirmed an
Ant-Man movie was in development, as well as a
film based on the 2008 comic book series
Guardians of the Galaxy, which was released in August 2014.
Iron Man 3 was released in May 2013,
Thor: The Dark World in November 2013, and
Captain America: The Winter Soldier in April 2014.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2, the sequel to the 2012 reboot, was released in May 2014. A sequel to the 2009 film
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, titled
The Wolverine was released in 2013. In 2014,
X-Men: Days of Future Past was released. In 2014, Italian filmmaker
Gabriele Salvatores directed a superhero-fantasy film titled
Il Ragazzo Invisible (
The Invisible Boy), which won the
Young Audience Award at the
2015 European Film Awards.
2015–2018 An
Avengers sequel, titled
Avengers: Age of Ultron, was released in May 2015. Following the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rival
DC also planned to make and produce their own shared film universe called the
DC Extended Universe (DCEU), which tied back to the release of
Man of Steel in 2013
. A sequel titled
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was scheduled for release in May 2016 but was postponed to March 2016.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, a 2015
Nickelodeon film, features the main characters transforming into superheroes.
20th Century Fox rebooted the
Fantastic Four series and released
Fantastic Four in August 2015. On March 9, 2015, publishing house
Valiant Comics made a nine-figure deal with Chinese company
DMG Entertainment to produce their series of superhero movies set in their cinematic universe. The series was co-produced by
Sony Pictures and started with a movie adaptation of
Bloodshot for a
2020 release, followed by
Harbinger, both movies receiving a sequel and ending in a crossover movie based on the
Harbinger Wars arc from the comic books. In 2015, Italian filmmaker
Gabriele Mainetti directed the superhero film
They Call Me Jeeg starring
Claudio Santamaria. Its original title is
Lo Chiamavano Jeeg Robot, from the Italian name of the anime and manga series
Steel Jeeg. It was released in Italy on February 25, 2016. The eighth installment in the
X-Men series,
Deadpool, was released in February 2016. It became the highest-grossing
R-rated film of all time (when adjusted for inflation) and the highest-grossing film of the series. The ninth instalment,
X-Men: Apocalypse, was released in May.
Warner Bros. released
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the first film to feature both Batman and Superman, in March 2016.
Suicide Squad, released in August, featured a team of antihero/supervillains.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and
Suicide Squad are in the DCEU. In May 2016, Marvel Studios released
Captain America: Civil War, where the Avengers split into opposing factions. In October,
Max Steel, based on
Mattel's eponymous toy line, was released. In November of the same year, Marvel Studios released
Doctor Strange, which recounts the superhero origin of
Stephen Strange. The first Finnish superhero film,
Rendel: Dark Vengeance, was released in September 2017, and it won the Best Action Movie award at the Erratum Film Festival in Mexico.
Power Rangers, a movie reboot of the TV series, was released in March, with
Lionsgate planning a seven-film franchise. The film
Logan, which was
Hugh Jackman's and
Patrick Stewart's last appearances as their characters in the
X-Men film series before Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, was the first ever canon X-Men movie to be rated R and the first superhero movie to receive an
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. In the summer movie season,
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,
Wonder Woman, and
Spider-Man: Homecoming confirmed the superhero film domination in the mainstream movie market. That trend continued into the fall with the success of
Thor: Ragnarök. Due to this,
Warner Bros. attempted to have a
shared universe media franchise, the
DCEU, with
Justice League, though this was poorly received and
a box office disappointment. In February 2018, Marvel Studios released
Black Panther, featuring the solo film adaptation of the first mainstream African American superhero, the
Black Panther, a commercial and critical success in the MCU franchise. It became the first superhero film nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. This MCU project was soon followed up by
Avengers: Infinity War, released in April 2018, which earned both critical acclaim and worldwide financial success, earning more than $2 billion. Soon after, 20th Century Fox released
Deadpool 2 in May 2018. In addition,
Incredibles 2's wide release in June 2018 was met with considerable critical acclaim and earned $182.68 million during its premiere weekend. The next superhero film in the MCU,
Ant-Man and the Wasp, was released on July 6th. The antihero film
Venom, based on the comic book character of the same name, was released in October 2018 to poor reviews but
box-office success. In December 2018,
Warner Bros. released
Aquaman, a film about the DC Comics superhero of the
same name, marking a box office success for the DCEU, grossing $1.152 billion worldwide.
2019–present Marvel's
Captain Marvel was released in March 2019 and faced online hostility, originating from star
Brie Larson's comments about the lack of diversity in the film and
film criticism industries. Despite the controversy, it earned over
$1 billion worldwide and received largely positive reviews. Later in April, the DCEU's
Shazam!, featuring the lead character who was previously known as
Captain Marvel, had decent box office success for a relatively low budget, which has been seen as further evidence of the revitalization of the
Warner Bros. media franchise. That same month,
Avengers: Endgame ended the
Infinity Saga to widespread acclaim, broke numerous box office records, and became the fastest film to exceed $1 billion worldwide, doing so in just five days.
Avengers: Endgame became the
highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing
James Cameron's
Avatar before the latter reclaimed its place in 2021. By contrast, the X-Men film
Dark Phoenix performed poorly—critically and financially—upon release in June. This would be the last film in 20th Century Fox's X-Men series. Afterwards, X-Men and the Fantastic Four entered the MCU with Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox. However, neither franchise would receive a standalone film in the MCU until 2024's
Deadpool & Wolverine, and 2025's
The Fantastic Four: First Steps. In July 2019, Phase 3 of the MCU was concluded with the Marvel and Sony co-produced film
Spider-Man: Far From Home, which was released to critical and commercial success. In 2019,
Hellboy, the reboot of Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy franchise, was released to negative reviews from critics and was criticized for its R-Rating and its gore and it was a box office flop. In August 2019,
Joko Anwar's
Gundala was released in Indonesia. It screened at the
Toronto International Film Festival in September. It also took the first entry in the
Bum Langit Cinematic Universe (BCU) film series based on characters from comic books published by
Bum Langit. The second and third films in the series,
Sri Asih and ''Patriot Taruna: Virgo and the Sparkling's'', were announced for a 2020 release but were pushed back to 2021 as the
COVID-19 pandemic significantly delayed production. The production company's strategy of announcing films in volumes with a team-up film as the climax has led to the media dubbing it the "Indonesian equivalent to the MCU and DCEU". In 2020,
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and
Bloodshot received limited theatrical releases due to the COVID-19 pandemic despite Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) received positive reviews and Bloodshot received negative reviews. Despite being released during the COVID-19,
The Old Guard was released on
Netflix to positive reviews while the DCEU's
Wonder Woman 1984 was released to mixed reviews from critics and audiences worldwide. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, 20th Century Fox's X-Men movie
The New Mutants was released to negative reviews and was a box office flop, marking the end of
20th Century Fox's X-Men Universe.
The Suicide Squad was released in August but was
a box office disappointment despite receiving positive reviews. The poor performance was attributed to the disruption of cinema during the
COVID-19 pandemic (particularly the
Delta variant) and confusion from the general audience on whether the film was a sequel,
reboot, or
remake. Meanwhile, Marvel's
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings broke Labor Day records, while similar successes were seen in
Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU) film
Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Despite mediocre reviews and the first rotten rating for an MCU film on
Rotten Tomatoes,
Eternals opened to moderate success at the box office.
Spider-Man: No Way Home was released in December 2021, and became the
highest-grossing film of 2021, the
highest-grossing film of all time, the
third-highest-grossing film in the United States and Canada, the highest-grossing
Spider-Man film, and the highest-grossing film produced by Sony. It also became the first film to gross over $1 billion since
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, mainly due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the highest-grossing film not to be released in China (one of the world's biggest box office markets). In 2022, Warner Bros. released
The Batman, a reboot of the
Batman film series, unconnected to the DC Extended Universe. It was a critical and commercial hit, with praise for the film being a grounded detective story, due to
Matt Reeves' direction and
Robert Pattinson's performance as the titular hero. It became the second biggest pandemic debut, after
Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Morbius, starring Jared Leto and based on the
Spider-Man villain of the same name, debuted that April as another chapter in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. The film was critically panned and a box-office bomb.
Variety reported that whilst the initial opening was hopeful for
Morbius, "the character is not nearly as recognizable to general audiences as Spider-Man, Batman or Venom, nor is the film connected to a larger story like
Eternals or
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Thus,
Morbius wasn't expected to match the receipts for recent comic book tent-poles based on those characters." Scott Mendelson further stated Sony seemed to rely on the film's connection to the Spider-Man universe, the success of
Venom, and a misguided assumption that audiences were interested in villain movies. In May 2022,
Sam Raimi returned to the superhero genre with
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The film was met with mixed-to-positive reviews and earned $187million on its opening weekend. It became the eleventh-best domestic debut of all time, the best summer debut for a Disney release during the pandemic, and Raimi's best opening. The film earned $61 million in its second weekend, becoming one of the MCU's most significant second-weekend box office drops. The 67% decline was attributed by
Deadline Hollywood to the "bad word of mouth" on the film and its
CinemaScore grade. At the same time, Intelligence saw more than a 17% downsize of available seats for the film, resulting in fewer showtimes, which also led to the decline. In its third weekend, the film earned $31.6million, contributing to the 800-million-dollar mark at the box office to become Hollywood's second-highest-grossing film released during the pandemic behind
No Way Home. The film earned $16.4million in its fourth weekend, contributing to the total box office that helped it to become the highest-grossing film of 2022, previously held by
The Batman. As of June 2022, the film stands as the 11th highest-grossing of the MCU worldwide. on October 21st, the DCEU released the film
Black Adam to mixed reviews and it was a failure at the box office as it failed to break even at the box office, grossing $393 million against a budget of $190–$260 million. Much like Black Adam, the MCU movie
Thor: Love and Thunder was released mixed reviews. However
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was released to positive reviews. In 2023, a majority of the superhero films released, such as
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,
Shazam! Fury of the Gods,
The Flash,
Blue Beetle,
The Marvels, and
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, were moderate commercial failures. Only two superhero films released that year,
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, performed well at the box office, grossing $845 million and $690 million respectively, turning a profit alongside positive reviews from audiences and critics. In February 2024, Sony released its fourth film in the Spider-Man Universe,
Madame Web. The film was panned by critics and underperformed at the box office. In July, the MCU's first film of the year,
Deadpool & Wolverine, was also its first R-rated film. It was Hugh Jackman's first X-Men film since 2017's
Logan and
Ryan Reynolds'
Deadpool's MCU debut. The film was highly acclaimed and grossed over $1.33 billion worldwide, making it the
20th highest-grossing film of all time, the
highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, and the second-highest-grossing film of 2024. Warner Bros.'
Joker: Folie a Deux, a sequel to the 2019 film,
Joker, was released in October 2024.
Joaquin Phoenix reprised his role as
The Joker and
Lady Gaga made her superhero film debut as
Harley Quinn.
Joker: Folie a Deux was followed by Sony Spider-Man Universe films
Venom: The Last Dance in November 2024, and
Kraven the Hunter in December 2024. In 2024,
Hellboy: The Crooked Man, the second reboot of Guillermo Del Toro's Hellboy franchise, was released to negative reviews from critics and was criticized for being worse than the 2019 reboot. In 2024,
The Crow, the remake of the 1994 film, was released to negative reviews from critics but was praised for Bill Skarsgard's performance as Brandon Lee's character Eric Draven/the Crow. In February 2025,
Captain America: Brave New World was released to moderately poor reviews by critics, and to date has the fourth-lowest box office earnings of any MCU movie. In 2025,
The Old Guard 2 was released on Netflix to negative reviews from critics who deemed it inferior to its predesessor. Unlike
Captain America: Brave New World,
Thunderbolts* received mostly positive reviews. On June 11th the DCU released
Superman which was directed by
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn to positive reviews from critics who praised Gunns direction and David Corenswet's, Rachel Brosnahan's and Nicholas Hoult's portrayals of Superman, Lois Lane and Lex Luthor respectively.
Economic importance Since the 2010s, superhero films have played a significant role in the film industry. According to
The Hollywood Reporter, "With rare exception, even A+ stars aren't making what they used to"—making superhero films "one of the last ways for an actor to earn a major payday." They write that if an actor wants to get paid, they "have to put on a cape" and that characters like Spider-Man and Batman are more important than the actors themselves. Since 2022, superhero films (especially from the MCU) have seen more inconsistent performances.
The Marvels (2023) had the worst nominal box-office outcome amid a broader trend of box-office disappointments for superhero films. Fans, critics, and actors alike have pointed to cultural fatigue and the exhaustion of well-used storylines to explain this sudden dip in earnings and popularity. On the other hand, director
Joe Russo has suggested a "generational divide" in media consumption driving declining box office performances. == Animated ==