7. Batman Returns (1992)
One could argue that 1989’sBatmanis the film that started the superhero era, with Tim Burton’s vision of Batman and Gotham City becoming iconic for its gothic tone and dark nature.
However, it wasn’t untilBatman Returnsthat Burton got full license from Warner Brothers to truly unleash his inner freak.
The sequel film is darker and more grotesque than the first, with Michael Keaton coming back as bold as ever in using the duality of his character to explore Bruce Wayne’s psyche like nobody has.
Batman Returnsdropped the notion of an all-out action superhero film and instead pushed in a new direction: more depth to its villains and more complexity to Batman, who thinks more than he fights.
6. The Incredibles (2004)
Less a superhero movie and more a film about the importance of family,The Incrediblescenters on family dynamics and character relationships. The costumes, capes, and superpowers are just bells, whistles, and icing on the cake.
Despite being superheroes, the Incredibles have the same worries and anxieties that all families have.
Helen and Bob argue about needing to keep their family out of the public eye, while Violet and Dash deal with having powers in a world where they would be rejected for having them at all.
Even though the plot sees Syndrome trying to murder countless superheroes and become a hero himself, the family at the core of this film is what drives it foward.
5. The Iron Giant (1999)
The Iron Giant, based on a classic sci-fi novel, shows an expanded narrative that focuses on a giant metal robot that comes to Earth from unknown parts and befriends a boy named Hogarth.
As the robot is hunted by the US military despite Hogarth’s attempts to hide him, he starts to show his original programming once Hogarth is hurt during an escape. This causes the robot to rampage against the military and destroy everything in his path—that is, until Hogarth stops him.
The film’s parallels with Superman are evident, but more than that, the movie has an emotional core that’s far deeper than any other movie of its kind up until this point. It succeeds on a human level and shows that superhero movies come in all shapes and (giant) sizes.
It’s every bit a superhero tale—one that failed at the box office when it first released, but eventually gained the recognition it deserves with time to become of the best animated movies of all time.
Related:The Best Movies About Robots and Artificial Intelligence
4. Logan (2017)
In Hugh Jackman’s final portrayal of Wolverine, Fox told him he could do as he pleased, knowing that his name and his last film would bring bums into theater seats no matter what.
So, along with Jim Mangold, the pair went off and decided to upend the genre by creatingLogan, a neo-Western masterpiece of intense cinema that thrilled and horrified in equal measure.
The unrestrained script pushed boundaries to give fans the kind of bloody, sweaty, and teary story they never knew they could have with an on-screen Wolverine. It was Jackman’s finest hour as the character, with a performance that’s now gold-standard in superhero movies.
Loganproved that superhero storytelling had reached a new age with its R-rated violence and emotional journey, and it even broke ground by becoming the first superhero film to garner an Academy Award nomination for Adapted Screenplay.
3. Split (2016)
Up until the final moments ofSplit, nobody knew that it was meant as a direct sequel toUnbreakable.
Splitappeared to be a standalone film about the kidnapping of three young women and the 24 different personalities hidden within the body and mind of their kidnapper, Kevin Wendel Crumb.
Throughout the film, the various personalities take turns in making sure that “The Beast” is happy with the “sacrifice” they’ve given to him in the girls. Of course, it all leads up to the eventual outbreak of The Beast himself, and the overall journey is a thrilling one.
The rumors throughout the film about the abilities of The Beast feel like folktales made to scare children at night. However, when The Beast arrives, it’s all too real—he’s able to survive shotgun blasts to the chest and even bends steel bars with his bare hands.
Splitwent to places that few other superhero films dare to go, showing hero and villain inside the same body while highlighting abuse (both mental and physical) as part of its narrative structure.
Related:The Best Movies Where Actors Play Multiple Characters and Roles
2. Super (2010)
Though it might not feature any “super” heroes,Superdoes show the story of an ordinary man who grows fed up with the injustice in his neighborhood and chooses to dole out his own style of justice—while dressed as his hero alias, The Crimson Bolt.
James Gunn’s film is presented as a comedy, but it’s also violent and brutal in its depiction of what an actual vigilante might be like in the real world. We experience that with our own eyes when his sidekick dies after being shot in the face.
Gunn might be best known for his work onGuardians of the Galaxy, which came out a few years afterSuper, but his work onSupershows how successful he can be when going against type.
Superunderperformed at the box office, but it’s now seen as a cult film and a beloved look at the bohemian life of an ordinary citizen who’s simply pushed too far.
1. Unbreakable (2000)
Unbreakableis a film with a clear hero and a clear villain. It’s a story about one man with extraordinary durability and another whose mind is trapped in a body that’s slowly crumbling from the inside.
David Dunn and Elijah Price are two people brought together by a train crash. David is the sole survivor of said train crash, and Elijah has a theory—that people with supernatural abilities really do exist in the real world, not just in the pages of comic books.
But when David discovers the nature of Elijah’s obsession, the traditional hero-and-villain dynamic pulls the audience inside, showing the stories of those who belong in comics but are living lives in the real world.
Unbreakablebecame a most unconventional superhero movie, uniquely painting a story that’s unlike any of the blockbusters that would come in the decades after it. To this day,Unbreakableis a refuge for viewers who crave a different style of superhero story altogether.
