Nowadays, it seems like there's very little that could knock Marvel off the box-office podium. Its characters have occupied three major spaces in film (Sony, Fox, and Disney), as well as on Netflix, with properties such as Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage. Of course, the real giant is Disney's Marvel Studios.
Most of the films released through Disney's Marvel Studios have been incredible financial successes. T hough they have had the occasional stumble in quality or with casting, the vast majority of the products have been well-received by both fans and critics alike. Sure, they all follow similar formulas, but things seem to be working far more than "just fine" for them. However, this wasn't always the case.
It's easy to rip on the current DC Extended Universe, but when you go back 10 - 15 years, it was Marvel who was in the sam eposition. Right now, they have Robert Downey Jr., a boat-load of good-looking Chrises, and Rocket Racoon. Back then, they had Ben Affleck in a red suit that looked like an ugly couch, Nic Cage, and Howard the Duck.
Nonetheless, most people have absolutely no clue about the crazy stumbles Marvel took back-in-the-day. They only see what's going right at the moment. The hardcore fans, however, know exactly what went on. it's one of the many reasons they're just so thrilled about the way things are going. They know that things could be a lot worse because they have been.
Without further ado, here are 25 Forgettable Marvel Movies Only Superfans Remember.
25. The Punisher (2004)
The biggest problem with this version of The Punisher has to do with the fact that's he's kind of likable. A lot of this has to do with how actor Thomas Jane played him in Marvel's 2004 film, The Punisher, but the script is to blame as well.
This movie, produced by Lionsgate, explores an alternate take on The Punisher origin that had Frank Castle's entire family wiped out after an undercover sting goes terribly wrong. Unfortunately, it was almost a complete wash with both the fans and critics.
23. Captain America (1990)
This straight-to-video film featured Matt Salinger as the iconic comic book character. Matt is actually the son of renowned author, J.D. Salinger, who, of course, wrote Catcher In The Rye. Besides that interesting bit of trivia, there really isn't much to say about the 1990's Captain America.
Back in the late '80s, film producer Menahem Golan parted ways with low-budget movie specialist
Cannon Films, with a severance deal that gave him the rights to Captain America. He decided to put together a film that ultimately became regarded as a sloppy, low-budget piece of trash that was only seen on the big screen in France, of all places.
22. Ghost Rider (2007)
Poor Nicolas Cage. For an actor with such a strong early career, he certainly made a few missteps in the last few years. Such missteps include 2007's Ghost Rider. Of course, he stars as the leather-clad title character complete with a flaming skull. Yeah, it's pretty hard not to make a flaming-skull cool, but Nic and Columbia Pictures sure managed that.
Though the effects in the film aren't half-bad, the story leaves something to be desired.
The ending, in particular, is very disappointing, especially since the movie's cast includes such talents as Eva Mendes and Sam Elliott.
21. Hulk (2005)
While Ang Lee's Hulk did take some interesting risks, especially visually. However, using a multi-panel storytelling technique throughout the full length of the movie, in order to make it appear more like a comic book, is so irritating and takes you right out of the story.
The villain is also a bit of a misfire, as are the special effects which may have been somewhat innovative for the time, but now seem almost as strange as Lou Ferrigno's Hulk.
However, Ang Lee did bring a very thoughtful approach to dealing with the character that did save aspects of the film, but it's been erased by Mark Ruffalo's MCU portrayal of the character.
20. Blade Trinity (2004)
Perhaps the most disappointing thing about Blade Trinity is the fact that it was written by David S. Goyer, the man responsible for Batman Begins, not to mention Blade and Blade 2, which were unquestionably better than the unbelievably forgettable third film.
In the third Blade movie, Wesley Snipes teams up with a band of human vampire slayers to battle Dracula.
Most of the acting in this movie is a little atrocious but at least Ryan Reynolds got an early chance to shine. Regardless, the movie was utterly forgettable.
19. Howard The Duck (1986)
Casual Marvel fans still have absolutely no idea who Howard the Duck is, even though he was shown in a brief moment in Guardians of the Galaxy. The truth is, they are probably right not to know who he is. However, George Lucas clearly disagreed when he spent a ridiculous amount of money turning this character into a blockbuster star.
It's all very camp.
In 1986's Howard the Duck, Howard (The Duck) stumbles around Earth poking fun at American xenophobia while battling "The Dark Overlords of the Universe" who aim to invade the planet.
18. Daredevil (2003)
When it comes to costumes that resembles bad '70s furniture, you don't get more on point than Ben Affleck's Daredevil suit.
The movie itself wasn't a complete misfire. After all, it did offer a couple of entertaining sequences, a fun score, and interesting special effects. The cast is strong as well, but it doesn't mean a whole lot due to a very thin script with characters written even more thinly.
Now that Netflix has successfully reintroduced Daredevil, it's almost completely wiped this film off of the map.
Only hardcore Daredevil fans (or haters) remember its existence.
17. Dr. Strange (1978)
Far before Benedict Cumberbatch cast his spell on the silver screen, CBS tried bringing the character of Doctor Strange to life in a TV movie called Dr. Strange.
It starred Peter Hooten as the titular character and Jessica Walters (from Arrested Development) as the villain, Morgan LeFay.
Though the film was certainly trying to do what the recent Doctor Strange pulled off successfully, it just didn't land, due to an overcomplicated scheme by the villain, a thin script full of boring padding, and poor special effects.
24. Man-Thing (2005)
In 2005, Lionsgate decided to release a film based on the Marvel entity Man-Thing. This scary swamp monster was basically an unknown property except for hardcore Marvel fans. That was one of the many reasons why Man-Thing was sent straight-to-video and shelved for years before debuting on the SyFy Channel.
Everything about this film was bashed, especially its hokey story-line.
Worst of all, the effects were nowhere up to par, which makes it hard to sell the idea of a giant swamp-monster. What was Marvel thinking with this one?
16. The Punisher (1989)
Perhaps the strangest thing about 1989's The Punisher is that Marvel wouldn't let the filmmakers use the iconic skull t-shirt on the film's star, Dolph Lundgren.
Funnily enough, this version of this Punisher film holds up better over time than the one that came out in 2004.
Aside from a few comedic interludes, this film was exceptionally dramatic and chock-full of violence. There's upwards of 90 on-screen eliminations.
It also had some interesting moral quandaries surrounding The Punisher struggling to save the kids of the men he plans to terminate. Even with all of this, the movie has easily been forgotten.
10. The Incredible Hulk Returns (1988)
Without a doubt, Lou Ferrigno's Hulk was a beloved character on television. Much like Adam West's version of Batman, The Incredible Hulk was campy and just straight fun - for the time.
Nowadays, it's hard not to laugh when you see a professional bodybuilder painted bright green.
Due to the success of the show, NBC decided to make a TV movie as a follow-up to the series. The film itself was actually the first Thor/Hulk team-up movie. Though the first half is on the slow side, it still offers a great deal of fun for those who love a bit of superhero camp.
15. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2011)
Due to the financial success of the first movie, Columbia Pictures decided to push ahead with a sequel, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
Even though the second Ghost Rider movie was an improvement of the first, mostly due to a stronger performance by Nic Cage as well as some pretty insane action sequences, the movie has largely been forgotten.
In fact, the superhero himself doesn't seem to have fared well, as he's only featured in the TV series in the MCU. Still, the movie does contain some entertaining moments that are worth watching.
14. Elektra (2005)
Even though 2003's Daredevil was largely panned by critics, it made enough money to warrant a spin-off. Enter 2005's Elektra, one of Marvel's biggest missed opportunities.
The character herself is one of the more interesting in their catalog as well as easily holds the coolest name. With a well-liked star commanding the role, and a talented team of filmmakers in the wings, it should have succeeded, but the movie just wasn't good.
Jennifer Garner plays the title character well, but the film would have fared far better if it had a less generic plot that actually came to a rewarding resolution. Ultimately, the entire film feels outlandishly mediocre.
13. The Wolverine (2013)
2013's The Wolverine is probably the best film on this list, but that doesn't stop it from being forgettable. Unfortunately for James Mangold's follow-up to Gavin Hood's utterly-disastrous X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the film isn't all that memorable due to the fact that it's stuck between two attention-grabbing films.
James' sequel/spin-off/stand-alone Wolverine movie, Logan, is widely considered to be one of the best superhero films of all time. Naturally, people gravitate toward it when thinking about solo Wolverine films. The remaining focus lands on X-Men Origins: Wolverine because it was so bad that it's impossible to forget.
12. Captain America (1979)
Dressing up Captain America in a bike-helmet should have been the first clue that this CBS TV movie would join the list of forgettable Marvel movies.
The film starred Reb Brown as Steve Rogers, who, in this version, is actually the son of Captain America.
Most of the movie involves Rogers driving around in his car and occasionally falling off cliffs until the very end of the movie, when he actually puts on the superhero suit.
The other irritating thing about the movie is the fact that Captain America ends up stopping the villain's evil plan by choking him on car exhaust. The film itself was a flop, but it still inspired CBS to push ahead with a sequel.
9. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Though some fans still defend 2005's Fantastic Four, they tend to have a harder time rooting for 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
The film is dreadfully miscast and has one of the most anti-climactic endings of any superhero movie.
On the other hand, it at least features a great flight-chase sequence and a couple interesting scenes, mostly involving Doug Jones' Silver Surfer, as voiced by Laurence Fishburne. Ultimately, though, the film has long since disappeared from the mainstream.
8. The Trial Of The Incredible Hulk (1989)
It should be noted that The Trail of the Incredible Hulk is more of a Daredevil movie than a Hulk movie. Rex Smith stars as Matt Murdock, the blind lawyer who defends Banner from an assault charge. The legal battle eventually uncovers a dastardly machiavellian plot by John Rhys-Davies' Kingpin, so the two superheroes team up to take him down.
The film was also the first to feature a cameo by Stan Lee, which, of course, went on to become a staple of any Marvel movie.
Unfortunately, that's the only legacy that has lived on after this movie. Even still, it's worth watching if you can track it down.
5. The Amazing Spider-Man (1977)
When most people think of The Amazing Spider-Man they think of Andrew Garfield's take on the character. There was actually a Spider-Man film with the same title that came out in 1977 and starred Pete Hammond.
The movie was released theatrically overseas but only managed to hit TV screens in North America.
It was supposed to spark a live-action Spider-Man series but that never ended up happening.
The biggest issue with it was the movie's villains, which were a bunch of samurai hypnotists who try to trick Spider-Man into eliminating himself.
Due to the success of at least half of the Spider-Man movies nowadays, there's simply no need to even remember that anyone attempted to make one earlier.
4. Generation X (1996)
This TV movie was intended to launch a teen-oriented mutant superhero series. Unfortunately for the creators, it never took off.
It was seen as a very angsty, campy, and silly movie with thinly written characters and an even worse plot.
It was the predecessor to some of the superhero television shows that we have today, even if the '90s neon costumes became the antithesis of what the filmmakers of the 2000s decided to go for.
The film does have a cast of familiar X-Men characters such as Emma Frost, Banshee, and Jubilee, but none of them fair well even though the cast is clearly trying to do their best. At the end of the day, the film didn't find an audience, the series didn't go, and everyone forgot that it even existed.
3. Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (1998)
Who wants to remember anyone else playing Nick Fury? Samuel L. Jackson has pretty much made the character his own.
But Baywatch's David Hasselhoff had the role long before he did. The Hoff even claimed to Yahoo that Stan Lee once told him that he was "the ultimate Nick Fury", which just seems laughable now.
Speaking of laughable, the movie was far funnier than it intended to be. This is mostly due to David Hasselhoff's performance as well as the downright silly script.
Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. was originally intended to be a feature-length pilot of an eventual television show, but that never happened so it was repackaged as a TV movie that pretty well everybody has forgotten.