This Was The Worst Year For Comic Book Movies Since 2001

Pretty much ever since 2008, when Iron Man debuted, comic book-based movies have taken over the culture. From movies to TV shows to (of course) comics and more, superheroes and their ilk have been all the rage. And while a lot has been written about the turning point in our monoculture, with the final comic book movie release of the year in the books — that would be Kraven the Hunter, which bombed this weekend — it’s safe to say that 2024 was the worst year for comic book movies since 2001.

To be clear, I’m not necessarily talking about box office here… Though of the movies released in 2024, only one — Deadpool & Wolverine — made any significant amount of money. We’re talking about both critical reaction, and fan reaction. Sure they’ve been at odds for years despite critics also being fans. Yet taking a look at the slate of comic book based movies over the past several decades, there’s always been at least one movie that both have been aligned over. The last time every movie was reviled on both “sides” was 2001, when From Hell and Monkeybone were the sole comic book releases theatrically. And going back even further you have to look at 1996 — i.e., before Blade, the dawn of the modern superhero movie — to find a year as bad. That’s when Barb Wire and The Crow: City of Angels were ripped apart by fans and critics alike.

Look, I’m not going to argue year by year here, or movie by movie. Every movie — even Barb Wire, or Monkeybone — is going to be someone’s favorite. And that’s fine. But there’s been a turning point both in reaction and quality that I would say hit critical mass in 2024.

Perhaps the downturn started after 2019, when Avengers: Endgame hit, effectively bringing the story of the MCU to a close. That’s the same year the X-Men saga limped to an end with Dark Phoenix. And Joker, a deconstructed take on comic book movies, made over a billion dollars. Certainly COVID didn’t help, as production plans changed and release dates shifted for the next few years. But the reverberations of this weren’t really felt until Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania debuted at the beginning of 2023. That’s the year it felt like the mask fell off (to use a little bit of superhero parlance), and comic book based movies didn’t feel quite as much of a must-see in theaters.

Again, a lot has been written about this, and it cannot be emphasized enough that there is no one factor that led to the turn in cultural attention. But while the bottom fell out of DC’s output, with not one movie connecting with audiences, there were still highlights in 2023. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 brought the trilogy to a satisfying close, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse became a sensation.

What do we have from 2024? Sony is certainly a large part to blame for shifting three entries in their Spider-Man adjacent universe into the year, taking the space in theaters that Marvel Studios vacated while reassessing its movie and TV slate. Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter were box office duds, and critical failures. Venom: The Last Dance made its money back, but was the least well-liked entry in the trilogy, and spent time setting up movies that will likely never come to fruition (sorry, Knull).

DC also mostly fled from 2024, with only one theatrical release, Joker: Folie à Deux, which seemed to suffer the same fate as The Marvels the previous year… A sequel to a movie that grossed a billion dollars, only to do a fraction of that in theaters. It’s likely that both Captain Marvel and Joker were buoyed exponentially by the superhero boom; while the sequels fizzled when the bubble burst. But also, a mix of musical numbers and a plot that contradicted the previous movie seemed to confuse even diehard fans of the original, leading to what seemed like an awards contender at the beginning of the year, not being even part of the conversation by the end.

And perhaps the less said the better about reboots of The Crow and Hellboy, which were savaged by critics and fans alike (with the latter not even hitting theaters in the US).

Even Deadpool & Wolverine (and I can feel the angry comments bubbling already), despite its billion dollar plus box office, wasn’t quite up to snuff. Theater audiences enjoyed the mix of surprise returns and raunchy jokes, but I’d venture even hardcore fans would be hard-pressed to defend the nonsensical plot and empty echo of better movies (Logan, the previous two Deadpool movies). Again, I’m not here to argue movie by movie, but an “okay” Deadpool 3 is not enough to turn around what is otherwise a no good, very bad year for comic book movies.

Oh, also, Here was based on a comic book. Did you know that? Did you know Here was a movie released this year? It was, but nobody cared. Go read the comic instead, it’s great.

Will 2025 turn things around? We’ve got four movies on the schedule right now: Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Fantastic Four: First Steps from Marvel; and Superman from DC. There’s certainly a ton of hype behind them, and a lot riding on all of these movies. For Superman, it’s all about officially launching James Gunn’s DCU after the soft-launch of Creature Commandos on Max. For Marvel, the goal is to prove the MCU is still a major draw, and Deadpool & Wolverine wasn’t a box office fluke.

Will any of them pan out and get that critical and fan consensus we were missing this year? Or will 2025 be the worst year for comic book movies since, well… 2024?

Comic Book Movies, In Reverse Chronological Order:

Here’s a list of comic book based movies released in theaters from this year, 2024, all the way back to 1996, aka right before the dawn of the modern superhero movie era.

2024: The Crow, Deadpool & Wolverine, Hellboy: The Crooked Man, Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, Venom: The Last Dance, Joker: Folie à Deux, Here

2023: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Flash, Blue Beetle, The Marvels, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Killer

2022: The Batman, Morbius, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, DC League of Super-Pets, Black Adam, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

2021: Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Suicide Squad, Eternals, Black Widow, Venom: Let There Be Carnage

2020: Bloodshot, The New Mutants, The Old Guard, Wonder Woman 1984, Birds of Prey

2019: Captain Marvel, Shazam!, Hellboy, Avengers: Endgame, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Joker

2018: Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Deadpool 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Teen Titans GO! To The Movies, Venom, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Aquaman

2017: Logan, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Justice League, Wonder Woman, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, Wilson

2016: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, X-Men: Apocalypse, Suicide Squad, Deadpool

2015: Fantastic Four, Ant-Man, Avengers: Age of Ultron

2014: Kingsman: The Secret Service, 300: Rise of an Empire, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Snowpiercer

2013: Thor: The Dark World, Iron Man 3, The Wolverine, Man of Steel, Kick-Ass 2, 2 Guns, Oldboy

2012: Men in Black 3, The Avengers

2011: Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Cowboys & Aliens, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class, Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor

2010: Kick-Ass, Jonah Hex, Iron Man 2

2009: X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Watchmen

2008: The Spirit, Punisher: War Zone, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Wanted

2007: TMNT, 30 Days of Night, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Spider-Man 3, Ghost Rider

2006: 300, X-Men: The Last Stand, Superman Returns

2005: Batman Begins, V for Vendetta, Sin City, Constantine, A History of Violence, Elektra, Fantastic Four

2004: Blade: Trinity, The Punisher, Hellboy, Spider-Man 2

2003: Bulletproof Monk, American Splendor, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hulk, Daredevil, X2: X-Men United

2002: Men in Black II, Road to Perdition, Blade II, Spider-Man

2001: Monkeybone, From Hell

2000: X-Men, Heavy Metal 2000

1999: Mystery Men

1998: Blade

1997: Men in Black, Spawn, Steel, Batman & Robin

1996: Barb Wire, The Crow: City of Angels

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