Today, films based on DC comics are practically synonymous with the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The DCEU was first established in 2013 with the release of Man of Steel. DCEU is a media franchise and shared universe, similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but is centered on characters and stories based off of DC comics. Since the DCEU has been established, they’ve given us such films as The Flash, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Justice League. However, live-action films based on DC comics go as far back as the 1950s.
Over the decades in which DC films have been produced, there certainly have been some misses. In fact, even the DCEU has faltered on a few of their major productions, despite only having released a total of 10 films so far (plus Zack Snyder’s cut of Justice League). Reasons for failure often come down to miscasting, poorly written scripts, poor planning, or studio interference.
While the MCU might make it look easy, the truth is that superhero films are hard to get right. Between finding good live-action counterparts for characters, trying to balance the seriousness and campiness, and offering top-notch action and visuals, there’s quite a lot that could go wrong. Here are 12 DC films that went wrong, ranked from least worst to…worst.
12. Batman Forever
Batman Forever premiered in 1995 and is the third film in Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher’s Batman series. This film was the first to be directed by Schumacher and saw Val Kilmer replace Michael Keaton as Batman. Batman Forever finds Batman contending with two villains—Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) and the Riddler (Jim Carrey). In addition to this, he adopts an orphaned acrobat, Dick Grayson (Chris O’Donnell), and begins to develop a romantic relationship with psychologist Chase Meridian (Nicole Kidman).
Batman Forever marked the film that first derailed the Batman series. Though the two films beforehand received good reviews and had good box office performances, the studio was concerned that they didn’t make enough money. Hence, they tried a new approach by bringing Schumacher on as director and giving Bruce Wayne a bigger part in the story. Batman Forever wasn’t a terrible movie, but it threw out everything Burton had established in the first two films, which certainly was a point of contention. Meanwhile, the script is too busy, yet doesn’t add up to much. With strong performances, music, and cinematography, it does prove watchable, but it is definitely not on par with the earlier films.
11. Suicide Squad (2016)
Suicide Squad premiered in 2016 and would later receive a sequel/reboot with The Suicide Squad in 2021. The film served as an origin story of the Suicide Squad and follows Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) recruitment of imprisoned supervillains to make up a black ops team. The team includes Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnnaman), and many other dangerous villains. Together, they set out to stop Enchantress (Cara Delevingne). Elsewhere, the Joker (Jared Leto) cooks up a scheme to get Harley Quinn back.
Suicide Squad was a box office success, but received largely negative reviews. The screenplay, plot, and characters were slammed for being thin, predictable, and underdeveloped. While the film did have some humor and eccentricity, it still remained too dull and standardized. Leto’s Joker was also very ill-received. However, the film did boast some phenomenal performances, especially Robbie’s Harley Quinn, which left viewers wanting to see more of her. Still, the cast alone can’t make up for the film’s poor script and plot. Director David Ayer has claimed that Warner Bros. vastly changed the film, which has led many to call for the release of the Ayer Cut, but it has yet to be released.
10. Justice League
Justice League premiered in 2017 and brought one of DC’s biggest superhero teams to the big screen. The film is a follow-up to Batman Vs. Superman and sees Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) and Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) recruiting a team of meta humans to protect the world in Superman’s (Henry Cavill) absence. Wayne and Diana recruit The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Cyborg (Ray Fischer) to fight against Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons.
Unfortunately, Justice League was one of the DCEU’s biggest box office flops and also received poor critical reception. The film boasted the lowest box office opening of any DCEU film and received a meager 39% on Rotten Tomatoes. Even though Justice League had a $300 million budget, the film is astonishingly cheap looking with terrible CGI. The plot is very messy and the tone is inconsistent, making the film drag on. Few of the characters are adequately developed and they don’t often work well together. At times, the action is exciting and Miller and Gadot offered strong performances. However, the film has little else going for it.
9. Green Lantern
Green Lantern premiered in 2011 and was initially meant to kick off a film franchise of DC superheroes. The film follows the Green Lantern Corps, an intergalactic police force that recruits its very first human member, Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds). Hal is a cocky jet fighter pilot who the Green Lantern Corps doesn’t hold with much regard. However, he proves to be their only hope when Parallax threatens the universe.
The film underperformed at the box office and received very negative reviews. This led to plans of a sequel and franchise being scrapped and resulted in Man of Steel kicking off the DCEU instead. Green Lantern is a pretty bad film all around—bad CGI, bad acting, bad script, and bad jokes. While Reynolds makes a decent Hal, he has little character development to work with and comes across as much less brave and charismatic as the Hal of the comic books. It’s really Blake Lively and Peter Sarsgaard that lead the acting performances. Despite some good performances and bits of entertainment and humor, Green Lantern mostly shows us what it looks like to topple a potential film franchise.
8. Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice was released in 2016 and marked the second DCEU film. The film takes place 2-years after the events of Man of Steel, where Superman (Henry Cavill) caused colossal damage to the city of Metropolis during a battle. Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) believes that Superman is doing more harm than good and sets off on a personal vendetta to end his reign. Behind the scenes, criminal mastermind Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenburg) is manipulating Superman and Batman, pitting them against each other in hopes of their deaths.
DC moved too fast to crossover Batman and Superman, and the poor planning is evident in the nonsensical plot. Luthor’s actions make the least sense and his schemes are needlessly complex. First, he wants Batman to take down Superman, then tries to force Superman to kill Batman, and also creates a genetically-modified monster to attack Superman. His approaches to taking down Superman seem pretty illogical for a “criminal mastermind.” The reason for the fighting between Batman and Superman also makes little sense and isn’t realistic. The acting performances across the board, with the exception of Gal Gadot, were also very bad. Despite this, though, the film did boast some very beautiful visuals.
Still, DC will likely never live down the fact Batman and Superman stopped their huge, intense feud all because their moms are both named Martha.
7. Superman III
Superman III premiered in 1983 and was the sequel to Superman II (1980). The film follows computer programmer Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor) and financial tycoon Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn). Webster is disgruntled that Columbia refuses to work for him and demands Gorman command a weather satellite to create a tornado that will wipe out Columbia’s crop. When Superman (Christopher Reeve) foils their plan, the plot shifts into using the satellite to locate kryptonite. Instead of killing Superman, though, the kryptonite has a negative impact on his personality.
Superman III wasn’t a total failure, but it did perform noticeably worse than the prior Superman films, both commercially and critically. The film had some good action and Reeve, once more, performed incredibly well as Superman. However, the film suffered from campiness, revisited some of the same plot points as the previous films, and boasted a very poor script. Superman III tries way too hard to be a comedy film, as seen with the casting of comedian Pryor. However, it fails massively at being funny, proving only to be campy and cheesy, with a busy plot, and an anti-climatic ending. Reeve’s performance alone, while great, wasn’t enough to make up for the bizarre direction the series took with this film.
6. Batman & Robin (1997)
While Batman Forever derailed the Burton and Schumacher Batman series, Batman & Robin is where it totally came crashing down. The film saw Batman/Bruce Wayne recast once more, this time as George Clooney. Batman & Robin sees the titular characters contending with villains, Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) and Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger), while working on making their partnership work. The two also receive help from Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) along the way.
Batman & Robin was a commercial and critical failure. To date, it is the lowest-grossing live-action Batman film ever made. It was so bad that all plans at continuing the series were scrapped. Thurman’s performance as Ivy was the one thing in the film that worked. Otherwise, it’s cheap, rushed, has corny slapstick humor, and an overstuffed plot that becomes a nonsensical mass of too many heroes, villains, and comic book action. The acting and script are so terrible, exaggerated, and over-the-top that Batman & Robin almost seems like a spoof rather than a superhero film meant to be taken seriously.
5. Steel
Steel premiered in 1997 and is very loosely based on the comic book series of the same name. The film follows John Henry Irons (Shaquille O’Neal) and his wheelchair-bound partner, Susan Sparks (Annabeth Gish), who work as weapon designers for the U.S. military. However, rival Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson) modifies Irons’ weapons and circulates them around the streets. As a result, Irons is forced to take on the identity of Steel and launches a crusade against crime.
Steel was both a box office flop and received very negative critical reception. The premise in itself isn’t awful and Gish offered a compelling performance as a superhero in a wheelchair. However, the execution of the film was simply terrible. O’Neal’s performance, sadly, is very underwhelming and the film suffers from extreme cheesiness and a plot that is dull and never quite finds its stride. If it weren’t for Gish, this film would be a lot closer to the worst film on this list.
4. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace premiered in 1987 and marked the last film in the Superman series. The film follows Superman (Christopher Reeve) who is attempting to save the world from nuclear warfare, as the USA and USSR engage in an arms race. To do so, he gathers all the nuclear warheads and tosses them into space. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) has escaped from prison and creates a Superman clone, Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow), to take down Superman.
Superman IV: The Quest For Peace was by far the worst Superman film in the series. It must be noted that the production company did face a financial crisis right before this film that caused severe budget cuts and the deletion of 40 mins of footage. These budget cuts are definitely noticeable. The film had the worst special effects in the franchise and everything—acting, plot, character development—is just very rushed and very cheap. You can tell that the actors are miserable and as uninterested in the plot as we are. Superman IV was a disaster from the get-go and resulted in sequels being scrapped and even deterred Pillow from ever acting in a film again.
3. Jonah Hex
Jonah Hex premiered in 2010 and is a Western superhero film based on the comics of the same name. The film follows Jonah Hex (Josh Brolin), a former confederate soldier who refuses his orders and kills his commanding officer, Quintin Turnbull’s (John Malkovich), son in the process. In an act of revenge, Turnbull kills Hex’s family and disfigures Hex. However, Hex’s brush with death gives him the ability to track down anyone, resulting in a lucrative offer from the army. The warrant over Hex will be erased if he can only take down his enemy, Turnbull.
Jonah Hex was a huge box office flop, garnering a feeble $11 million against a $47 million budget. Additionally, the film received poor critical reception. Brolin was actually pretty compelling as Hex, but his performance alone couldn’t make up for the shortcomings of the film. In its extraordinary short run of 81 minutes, it proves to be a lazy and predictable film. The tongue-in-cheek humor doesn’t work, the casting is off, and the film lacks depth and purpose. Plus, Brolin and Megan Fox got voted Worst Couple at the Raspberry Awards. Overall, it’s not surprising it flopped at the box office when it really doesn’t give audiences a reason to watch it.
2. Supergirl
Supergirl premiered in 1984 and served as a spin-off of the Superman film series. The film follows Kara Zor-El (Helen Slater), the cousin of Superman, and her life in Argo City, a Kryptonian community. When an immensely powerful item known as the Omegahedron lands on Earth, Kara must transform into Supergirl and head to Earth to retrieve it. Argo City depends on the Omegahedron and Supergirl must return it to save the city. However, on Earth, the Omegahedron has already been grasped by a witch, Selena (Faye Dunaway), who uses it to become the princess over Earth.
Supergirl was a massive box office flop and received a painful 9% on Rotten Tomatoes. Slater offered a relatively strong performance as Supergirl, but that was the lone positive of the film. Supergirl really suffered from lacking a compelling point, making its only purpose a failed attempt at making money. The film is painfully campy, has a poor script and graphics, and boasts appalling performances, especially from Dunaway. Meanwhile, Supergirl does some flying and puts on a show of being hero—without ever actually doing anything remotely heroic. The film just feels like a bad joke and it’s no wonder Christopher Reeve refused to appear in it in any capacity.
1. Catwoman
Catwoman was released in 2004 and is loosely based on the comic book character of the same name. The film follows Patience Phillips (Halle Berry), a shy and timid graphic designer working for a large cosmetics company that is set to debut a revolutionary anti-aging cosmetic. However, Phillips’ life is changed when she stumbles upon a dark secret her employer is hiding. Her knowledge gets her killed, but she is revived by an Egyptian Mau cat and assumes the identity of Catwoman.
Catwoman was another box office flop that sent millions down the drain. The script of Catwoman is nothing short of embarrassing—Phillips dies a humiliating death and then gets cat-powers from a cat. The acting is terrible, the tone inconsistent, and it deviates far from the comics, particular with its lack of any connection to Batman whatsoever. The worst component of the film, though, is the hyper-sexualization of Catwoman. Phillips starts off as being a door mat, whose “character development” basically just consists of her being sexualized to a mortifying degree as Catwoman. Catwoman is both a cinematic failure and a disgrace to feminism. Yeah, I said it.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
