Comic book heroes and superheroes are everywhere on the screen. Our favorite childhood superheroes have crossed over from the comic book universe into the big, adult world. Earlier dominated by Super, Spider and Bat man, we now have the technology and science propelled wonders like Iron Man and Flash entertaining us all through the year.
Isn’t it amazing seeing all these characters come alive and perform what until now was only limited to the kids’ imagination. Here are some of the superheroes that have made it to the big screen and you will love watching them come alive.
1 Batman
Batman, the first movie in the Batman franchise was released in 1989. Although its screen debut can be traced back to 1943 series by Lambert Hilyer (add link for videos), the Batman movie marks its big screen debut. Micheal Keaton plays the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in this movie. Jack Nicholson is Batman’s nemesis, also known as the Joker.
There are in total six batman movies now. The latest is the Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice movie, released in March, 2016.
2 Superman
When it comes to comic book adaptations, Superman is slightly ahead of Batman. The first Superman animation can be credited to Dave Fleischer who came out with a short animation in 1941. Superman also made an early big screen debut in 1978 with Richard Donner behind the camera. As we all know, Chirstopher Reeve plays Clark Kent or Superman in this debut movie and a couple others.
After the initial succesive movies in the 80s, Superman took a long break until 2006, when Bryan Singer came out with Superman Returns. Digital tech and animation capabilities were much better and refined now than in the 80s.Watching Superman Returns was a treat for comic book characters’ fans.
3 Spiderman
I think Spiderman was the biggest competitor for Superman in the early days with the popular Spider man TV series of the 80s. A late entrant to the screen, Spiderman’s debut didn’t come until 60s. Although you can say the Peter Parker got more TV exposure in the last century than batman or Superman.
However, the 21st Century was kinder to this webbed guy. We now have 5 Spiderman movies, all released in the last fifteen years and a sixth one coming out sometime in 2017. With all this exposure, Spiderman is now at par with his other superhero brothers.
4 X-Men
I don’t remember reading X-Men comics. Either it didn’t get to our shores or I was past reading comic books by then. X-Men made TV debut in the early 90s but didn’t enjoy the popularity that Spiderman or Superman did. The first X-Men movie was out in the summer of 2000 and became an instant hit.
X-Men has since then come out with a couple of more movies and the trend now seems to explore each of the characters as we saw in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men Origins: Deadpool in 2016.
5 Gaurdians of the Galaxy
Badoon attempts to invade the Earth and the solar system. The guardians – a team of different characters from planets in the alpha centauri system – decides to join forces and fight the Badoon. Compared to other comic characters the movies and TV series of Guardians is very new. There first full TV series came out in 2015 after the first movie in 2014. The movie was received well by viewers and grossed around $700 million worldwide. The sequel to the movie is slated to come out in 2017.
6 Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four has screen presence as back as 1967 when it made a TV debut. The four – Reed, Ben, Sue and Johnny – are bombarded by cosmic rays when they are trapped in a solar storm aboard a rocket in space. The exposure to the rays affects biological changes and gives them unique gifts.
Apart from the TV series, there is a Fantastic Four movie directed by Oley Sassone, which came out in 1994. Then another version of the movie was released in 2005. There were also other version of Tv series along the years.
7 Captain America
Captain America is a product of biological modifications experiments conducted by US Armed Forces. Captain America surfaced right about the time when the world and the US were trying hard to stop Hitler and his allies around the world. With the end of war Capatain America – a super soldier – lost popularity and was resurrected by Marvel Comics in 1964.
One of the oldest, if not the oldest, Superhero characters, Captain America has a number of TV series and a TV Movie to his credit. In its latest avatar, Chris Evans played Captain America in the 2011 movie and the 2014 Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The 2016 Captain America: Civil War is slated to be one of the biggest attractions for the years Summer releases.
8 Hellboy
Summoned by the Nazi Occultists, Hellboy is a benevolent demon. Benevolent because he was discovered by the Allied Forces as a young demon and brought up a professor Trevor Bruttenholm of Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense as a normal boy.
A full length feature film by the same name was first released in 2004, followed by a sequel in 2011 and a third underway now.
9 KickAss
Sure, Superheroes influence the ordinary, mortals like us. Dave is no different. Dave, a teenage boy, sets out to become a real-life superhero and help anyone in trouble. Only his troubles begin when he get involved in a bigger fight and bumps into Hit-girl who is on a mission to bring down a gangster.
The first Kick-Ass movie came out in 2010 and were followed by a second and third part, the latest in 2013.
10 Green Lantern
1940s was the decade of Superheroes. Green lantern along with many, was born during this time. Although somewhat popular the character didn’t make it to the small screen until the 90s.
There are multiple Green Lanterns, the first among them was Alan Scott who finds the magixc lantern after a railroad crash. The second character, Hal Jordan, made a debut in 60 and had more power and a new look. The movie Grenn Lantern released in 2011 is based on this character, who is a part of the Green Lanter Corps, looked over by the Guardians of the Galaxy.
11 The Crow
The Crow is perhaps one of the few comic book heroes who first came to the big screen and then were adapter for TV series. The Crow story is similar somewhat to Bruce Wayne’s. Eric and his Fiancee are attacked by street thugs when their car breaks down.
Left for the dead, Eric is resurrected by a crow and decides to avenge his attackers. The Crow continues to help Eric in finding the perpetrators and also advises him from time to time. The first movie came out in 1994 and was followed by another in 1996.
12 Thor
Thor, in Norse mythology is the god of thunder. His weapon is the enchanted hammer Mjolnir, which allows you to manipulate the weather. Thor debuted in 1960s and has been with Marel Comics since then.
Thor made its big screen debut in 2011. There was also a TV movie by the Almighty Thor released in the same year. This was followed by another movie in 2013 and there is a new one in the making by the name Thor: Ragnarok, which is slated to come out in 2017.
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