The Best Films based On Comic books to Date
by shaggyhairedteen | created - 13 Feb 2011 | updated - 10 Dec 2017 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Dark Knight (2008)
PG-13 | 152 min | Action, Crime, Drama
When the menace known as the Joker wreaks havoc and chaos on the people of Gotham, Batman must accept one of the greatest psychological and physical tests of his ability to fight injustice.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine
Votes: 2,873,405 | Gross: $534.86M
A+
2. Batman Begins (2005)
PG-13 | 140 min | Action, Crime, Drama
After witnessing his parents' death, Bruce learns the art of fighting to confront injustice. When he returns to Gotham as Batman, he must stop a secret society that intends to destroy the city.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe, Liam Neeson
Votes: 1,579,796 | Gross: $206.85M
A+
3. Watchmen (2009)
R | 162 min | Action, Drama, Mystery
In a version of 1985 where superheroes exist, the murder of a colleague sends active vigilante Rorschach on the trail of a conspiracy that will change the course of history.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Carla Gugino, Malin Akerman
Votes: 582,929 | Gross: $107.51M
A+
4. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Peter Parker is beset with troubles in his failing personal life as he battles a former brilliant scientist named Otto Octavius.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco
Votes: 709,501 | Gross: $373.59M
A+
5. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy
Votes: 745,652 | Gross: $233.92M
A+
6. Superman (1978)
PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando
Votes: 187,635 | Gross: $134.22M
A
7. Superman II (1980)
PG | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Ned Beatty
Votes: 114,688 | Gross: $108.19M
A
8. Wonder Woman (2017)
PG-13 | 141 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
When a pilot crashes and tells of conflict in the outside world, Diana, an Amazonian warrior in training, leaves home to fight a war, discovering her full powers and true destiny.
Director: Patty Jenkins | Stars: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Lucy Davis
Votes: 700,054 | Gross: $412.56M
A
9. Man of Steel (2013)
PG-13 | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien child is evacuated from his dying world and sent to Earth to live among humans. His peace is threatened when other survivors of his home planet invade Earth.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane
Votes: 812,282 | Gross: $291.05M
A
10. X2 (2003)
PG-13 | 134 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
When anti-mutant Colonel William Stryker kidnaps Professor X and attacks his school, the X-Men must ally with their archenemy Magneto to stop him.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen
Votes: 576,596 | Gross: $214.95M
A
11. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
PG-13 | 164 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Eight years after the Joker's reign of chaos, Batman is coerced out of exile with the assistance of the mysterious Selina Kyle in order to defend Gotham City from the vicious guerrilla terrorist Bane.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman
Votes: 1,829,207 | Gross: $448.14M
A
12. Iron Man (2008)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges
Votes: 1,125,800 | Gross: $318.41M
A
13. The Wolverine (2013)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Wolverine comes to Japan to meet an old friend whose life he saved years ago, and gets embroiled in a conspiracy involving yakuza and mutants.
Director: James Mangold | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima
Votes: 492,459 | Gross: $132.56M
A
14. Batman (1989)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Adventure
The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being Jack Napier, a criminal who becomes the clownishly homicidal Joker.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl
Votes: 404,530 | Gross: $251.19M
A
15. Deadpool (2016)
R | 108 min | Action, Comedy
A wisecracking mercenary gets experimented on and becomes immortal yet hideously scarred, and sets out to track down the man who ruined his looks.
Director: Tim Miller | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller, Ed Skrein
Votes: 1,126,898 | Gross: $363.07M
A
16. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
As Steve Rogers struggles to embrace his role in the modern world, he teams up with a fellow Avenger and S.H.I.E.L.D agent, Black Widow, to battle a new threat from history: an assassin known as the Winter Soldier.
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo | Stars: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Redford
Votes: 899,743 | Gross: $259.77M
B+
17. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
PG-13 | 144 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
In the 1980s the X-Men must defeat an ancient all-powerful mutant, En Sabah Nur, who intends to thrive through bringing destruction to the world.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult
Votes: 461,452 | Gross: $155.44M
A
18. Sin City (2005)
R | 124 min | Crime, Thriller
An exploration of the dark and miserable Basin City and three of its residents, all of whom are caught up in violent corruption.
Directors: Frank Miller, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba
Votes: 794,069 | Gross: $74.10M
A
19. Kick-Ass (2010)
R | 117 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz, Garrett M. Brown
Votes: 593,815 | Gross: $48.07M
A
20. Dick Tracy (1990)
PG | 105 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
The comic strip detective finds his life vastly complicated when Breathless Mahoney makes advances towards him while he is trying to battle Big Boy Caprice's united mob.
Director: Warren Beatty | Stars: Warren Beatty, Madonna, Al Pacino, Charlie Korsmo
Votes: 65,783 | Gross: $103.74M
A
21. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
PG-13 | 151 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Batman is manipulated by Lex Luthor to fear Superman. Superman´s existence is meanwhile dividing the world and he is framed for murder during an international crisis. The heroes clash and force the neutral Wonder Woman to reemerge.
Director: Zack Snyder | Stars: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg
Votes: 752,760 | Gross: $330.36M
B+
22. The Avengers (2012)
PG-13 | 143 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Earth's mightiest heroes must come together and learn to fight as a team if they are going to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.
Director: Joss Whedon | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner
Votes: 1,460,243 | Gross: $623.28M
B+
23. Suicide Squad (2016)
PG-13 | 123 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A secret government agency recruits some of the most dangerous incarcerated super-villains to form a defensive task force. Their first mission: save the world from the apocalypse.
Director: David Ayer | Stars: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis
Votes: 722,665 | Gross: $325.10M
B+
24. Iron Man Three (2013)
PG-13 | 130 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When Tony Stark's world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, he starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.
Director: Shane Black | Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle
Votes: 899,826 | Gross: $409.01M
B+
25. X: First Class (2011)
PG-13 | 131 min | Action, Sci-Fi
In the 1960s, superpowered humans Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr work together to find others like them, but Erik's vengeful pursuit of an ambitious mutant who ruined his life causes a schism to divide them.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon
Votes: 724,175 | Gross: $146.41M
B+
26. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
PG-13 | 147 min | Action, Sci-Fi
Political involvement in the Avengers' affairs causes a rift between Captain America and Iron Man.
Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo | Stars: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan
Votes: 850,852 | Gross: $408.08M
B+
27. Daredevil (2003)
PG-13 | 103 min | Action, Crime
A man blinded by toxic waste which also enhanced his remaining senses fights crime as an acrobatic martial arts superhero.
Director: Mark Steven Johnson | Stars: Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell, Michael Clarke Duncan
Votes: 229,199 | Gross: $102.54M
B+
28. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The human government develops a cure for mutations, and Jean Grey becomes a darker uncontrollable persona called the Phoenix who allies with Magneto, causing escalation into an all-out battle for the X-Men.
Director: Brett Ratner | Stars: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Famke Janssen
Votes: 541,115 | Gross: $234.36M
B+
29. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
PG-13 | 136 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
After Peter Parker is bitten by a genetically altered spider, he gains newfound, spider-like powers and ventures out to save the city from the machinations of a mysterious reptilian foe.
Director: Marc Webb | Stars: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Irrfan Khan
Votes: 702,915 | Gross: $262.03M
B+
30. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
PG-13 | 112 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Bruce Banner, a scientist on the run from the U.S. Government, must find a cure for the monster he turns into whenever he loses his temper.
Director: Louis Leterrier | Stars: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt
Votes: 523,838 | Gross: $134.52M
B+
31. Batman Forever (1995)
PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Adventure
Batman must battle former district attorney Harvey Dent, who is now Two-Face and Edward Nygma, The Riddler with help from an amorous psychologist and a young circus acrobat who becomes his sidekick, Robin.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman
Votes: 266,704 | Gross: $184.03M
B+
32. RED (2010)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
When his peaceful life is threatened by a high-tech assassin, former black-ops agent Frank Moses reassembles his old team in a last-ditch effort to survive and uncover his assailants.
Director: Robert Schwentke | Stars: Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 324,058 | Gross: $90.38M
B+
33. Spider-Man (2002)
PG-13 | 121 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
After being bitten by a genetically-modified spider, a shy teenager gains spider-like abilities that he uses to fight injustice as a masked superhero and face a vengeful enemy.
Director: Sam Raimi | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco
Votes: 880,643 | Gross: $403.71M
B
34. Batman Returns (1992)
PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Crime, Fantasy
While Batman deals with a deformed man calling himself the Penguin wreaking havoc across Gotham with the help of a cruel businessman, a female employee of the latter becomes the Catwoman with her own vendetta.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken
Votes: 327,720 | Gross: $162.83M
B
35. Green Lantern (2011)
PG-13 | 114 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Reckless test pilot Hal Jordan is granted an alien ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers that inducts him into an intergalactic police force, the Green Lantern Corps.
Director: Martin Campbell | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong
Votes: 296,237 | Gross: $116.60M
B
36. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
PG-13 | 124 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Steve Rogers, a rejected military soldier, transforms into Captain America after taking a dose of a "Super-Soldier serum". But being Captain America comes at a price as he attempts to take down a warmonger and a terrorist organization.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson, Hayley Atwell
Votes: 897,467 | Gross: $176.65M
B
37. The Crow (1994)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée's murder.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis, Ernie Hudson
Votes: 203,457 | Gross: $50.69M
B
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