Content Warning: This article contains references to death, kidnapping, and cancer.
Recently, The Batman star, Robert Pattinson, has described the opening scene to the movie as "jarring," which instantly sent comic fans' minds racing. Often, if the first 10 minutes of a movie doesn't hook the audience, it will be a struggle for them to be compelled by the rest of the movie.
Superhero movies are usually great at providing epic openings since the directors usually include action sequences that captivate the audience and set the tone to come. With The Batman now finally upon everyone, it is an interesting time to look at the opening sequences from superhero movies that served to completely floor the audience.
Black Panther (2018)
Black Panther might just be the best MCU film and it has one of the best openings in superhero movie history. After a history lesson on Wakanda's origins, the movie then cuts to Oakland in 1992, where main villain Erik Killmonger's father N'Jobu is confronted by a young T'Chaka about his dealings.
It turns out, N'Jobu worked with arms dealer Ulysses Klaue so that Klaue could get his hands on vibranium, a crime that T'Chaka can not tolerate. What makes the scene so shocking isn't necessarily the scene itself, more the reveal of what happened to N'Jobu immediately afterward.
Deadpool (2006)
Deadpool also has shocking opening titles, only the events playing out are far more comical. In one of the movie's iconic scenes, Juice Newton's "Angel of The Morning" plays as Deadpool slaughters a car full of goons.
All the while, mocking titles take the place of actual credits, dubbing Ryan Reynolds "God's Perfect Idiot" and director Tim Miller as "An Overpaid Tool." The joke was carried over to Deadpool 2, only with more moody, James Bond-esque imagery and a haunting song by Celine Dion.
Watchmen (2009)
The opening of Watchmen manages to say so much without saying anything at all. With Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changing" playing in the background, the opening credits show the history of superheroes in the Watchmen universe, their sordid activities, their best outfits and costumes, and their ultimate downfall.
Given the mature themes and the dark nature of the comics, the opening kept in line with their tone and gave audiences a warning as to what was to come.
Guardians Of The Galaxy (2014)
For a movie famous for funny scenes, Guardians of The Galaxy's opening scene is a fairly somber affair. The movie opens with the last goodbye between a young Peter Quill and his mother, Meredith, who is in the hospital due to her terminal illness (which sets up his journey throughout the movie as well as its sequel).
For anyone who has never seen it before, it would be a struggle to hold back tears as the scene feels surprisingly genuine for such a cartoony film. The punch to the gut is then maximized when, after running out of the hospital, Peter is then taken by Yondu and The Ravagers.
Blade (1998)
The '90s superhero movies crawled so that movies like Blade could walk, as while it was a bit more violent and sweary than the common superhero flick, it proved to be a step in the right direction. Blade lets fans know what kind of movie they're in for in the first few minutes.
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A sultry vampire takes an unwitting human to a vampire rave when gallons of blood come spewing out of the sprinkler system. Just as the vampires begin to close in on him, Blade arrives and slaughters tons of vampires in the most boss fashion possible.
The Dark Knight (2008)
After the more comic-accurate Batman Begins, The Dark Knight thrust Batman into the real world, a fact made all the more apparent by the movie's opening scene. Opening with a group of thugs in clown masks pull off a bank heist, with each of the clowns killing each other off until there's only one left, who of course is The Joker.
The whole scene has a pervasive realism, like a movie directed by Michael Mann, but it also helps audiences understand just who this version of The Joker is. Unlike the more comedic Jokers of the past, Heath Ledger plays Joker as not just as an evil mastermind, but an evil mastermind with a plan (which makes him far more dangerous).
X2 (2003)
If X-Men's opening was a slow, quiet, haunting affair, X2's opening is the exact opposite. Almost as soon as the opening credits end, the audience into a roller coaster of action, something that was sorely lacking in the first movie.
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Barely skipping a beat, the movie thrusts audiences into a scene where a mind-controlled Nightcrawler attacks the guards of The White House on his way to assassinate The President. While he is stopped just before he can strike the final blow, the message is sent to both The President and the viewer.
Logan (2017)
In many ways, Logan, the swan song to fan-favorite Wolverine, has an opening that accomplishes the same goal as X2, but it does so in a much more violent and sobering fashion. In the opening of Logan, an older, much more world-weary Wolverine wakes up in the back of his car to find a pair of hoods trashing it.
He attempts to stop them, only to get a proper beating for his trouble, but when all seems lost, Wolverine pops his claws and brutally butchers them, making it clear that the movie's R-rating isn't just for show. The world of The X-Men is dead, something the opening of Logan makes abundantly clear.