There are lots of things that movies and comic books have in common. They’re both visual mediums. They both juxtapose one image after another to convey a narrative and make deeper thematic connections. And sometimes they both screw up a whole franchise and have to start over again.
Yes, superhero comics have been doing reboots since the early days. The Silver Age as we know it began when DC tried to goose up interest in their Golden Age intellectual property by making some brand new guy The Flash and claiming the original scarlet speedster was just a comic book. As the decades progressed superhero comics would often decline in popularity, get kicked to the curb, and then pop up years later, just in case audiences were finally interested in the Guardians of the Galaxy or the Punisher again.
Movies work the same way. If audiences dig one movie enough, the studio often cranks out sequel after sequel, gradually (and sometimes swiftly) grinding the audience’s goodwill into the ground. Ticket sales decline, the franchise slinks away, only to come roaring back years later because the studio thinks they cracked rthe code again — or at least because they don’t want to lose the IP rights.
So it makes sense that Hollywood has rebooted their superhero movies, and rebooted them a lot. Not as often as the comics industry has (that’s a high bar), but a whole lot of times. With James Gunn’s “Superman” reboot upon us, take a look the superhero movie reboots that did the job right — whether audiences agreed or not — and the superhero movie reboots that totally whiffed it.
BEST: ‘Superman: The Movie’ (1978)
Richard Donner’s “Superman: The Movie” wasn’t the first superhero film, not by a long shot. It wasn’t even the first feature-length Superman movie (that was “Superman and the Mole Men,” from 1951). But it was the first superhero movie that, as advertised, made you believe a man could fly. Donner brought the hero to the big screen with a bigness that only the Max Fleischer cartoons had previously mustered, and it set the template for the superhero genre for decades to come. More to the point, it did exactly what a reboot has to do: It stayed true to the character’s iconic qualities but also made him feel new again.
WORST: ‘The Legend of the Lone Ranger’ (1981)
The Lone Ranger may not be popular now, but he was one of the biggest superheroes in the world for decades, spawning a hit radio series that ran for over 3,000 episodes (yes, really), a TV series that ran for eight seasons, and feature films. But “The Legend of the Lone Ranger” was so bad it tainted the brand. This slow, boring affair stars Klinton Spilsbury, whose performance had to be overdubbed by James Keach, and never made another movie again. Michael Horse from “Twin Peaks” makes a valiant effort as Tonto, but the same can’t be said for Christopher Lloyd, who gives a weirdly muted performance as the villain. Even the great Merle Haggard, who narrates the film like a country-Western ballad, can’t make a dent in this stodge-podge.
BEST: ’Batman’ (1989)
In the history of the cinematic medium, few films have had as gigantic an impact as Tim Burton’s “Batman.” Burton’s dark, expressionistic take on the Caped Crusader — who had been, at least in the mainstream, a camp figure for decades — cemented the artistic (and economic) validity to the character and renewed public interest in the whole superhero genre, inspiring waves of similar adaptations in film, television and comics, setting the stage for superheroes to become a dominant force in pop culture and the whole entertainment industry. It’s also, and this is very important, an incredible movie, with unforgettable performances, bold production design, an all-timer score from Danny Elfman, and even a high-concept soundtrack by Prince, who deconstructed the entire Batman mythos and molded it into a psychosexual sonic experience.
BEST: ‘Dick Tracy’ (1990)
Tim Burton’s “Batman” reboot spawned a lot of copycats, but it’s hard to believe how quickly Warren Beatty’s “Dick Tracy” swooped in to grab some of the limelight, not even one year later. But that’s OK, it’s a classic too. Beatty stars as the title supercop, a comic strip crimefighter who also headlined a trilogy of features in the 1940s (not to mention a slew of serials). Al Pacino gives his most over-the-top performance — I know, I know, that’s saying something — as the villainous “Big Boy” Caprice, and got an Oscar nomination in the process. The bright and brash world “Dick Tracy” creates is unbelievably gorgeous. Danny Elfman whipped out another fabulous score. Steven Sondheim wrote sexy original songs for Madonna to belt throughout the running time. It’s one of the best comic adaptations ever, and it’s all but completely overshadowed every other version of the character.
BEST: ‘The Mask of Zorro’ (1998)
The original, 1920 action classic “The Mark of Zorro” set the blueprint for almost every 20th century superhero, and it was remade quite handsomely in 1940. But Martin Campbell’s lavish, sexy reboot brought back all the classic swashbuckling and added a distinctly modern flare. Antonio Banderas plays the new Zorro, an outlaw trained by the original costumed do-gooder, who saves California from tyranny and seduces Catherine Zeta-Jones — in her star-making performance — in the middle of a swordfight. Incredible stunts, breathless charm. (Don’t bother with the sequel, “The Legend of Zorro.” It was so awful the fans collectively agreed not to talk about it anymore.)
BEST: ‘Batman Begins’ (2005)
Tim Burton’s “Batman” redefined the superhero movie for the 20th Century, and Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” arguably did the same for the 21st. After the franchise derailed — thanks to Warner Bros.’ increasingly toyetic approach to the Joel Schumacher movies (especially “Batman & Robin”) — it was up to another rising star filmmaker to take the character seriously again. Nolan’s approach was to reverse-engineer everything about the hero, turning what used to be fun little flourishes into practical plot points — right down to Batman’s cute, pointy ears. Although the film’s celebrated structure owes a lot to Kevin Reynold’s blockbuster reimagining “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” (seriously, watch them back-to-back, it’s uncanny), Nolan’s take was what caught on, influencing the whole genre for years, and bringing even more respectability to superhero movies as they became increasingly mainstream throughout the 2000s.
BEST: ‘Punisher: War Zone’ (2008)
There were two Punisher movies before Lexi Alexander got around to him, and honestly, they’re not that bad. Despite its dismal reputation the Dolph Lundgren “Punisher” is actually a solid low-budget actioner, and the Thomas Jane version has its moments. But Alexander’s “Punisher: War Zone” — a wild, action-packed, ludicrous slaughterfest starring a perfectly-cast Ray Winstone as the title vigilante — is the only one with a cult following. Probably because it’s the only one where the Punisher shoots a parkour bad guy mid-jump with a rocket launcher. It’s stylish and weird and, I cannot stress this enough, gloriously violent as hell.
BEST: ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ (2011)
Captain America had a theatrical serial in 1944, two dull-as-dishwater TV movies in the 1970s, and a disastrous (but sporadically enjoyable) 1990 feature film starring Matt Salinger — the son of “Catcher in the Rye” author J.D. Salinger (yes, really) — as the star-spangled avenger. It seemed like nobody could crack the code on the classic superhero until Marvel Studios and “The Rocketeer” director Joe Johnston joined forces. “Captain America: The First Avenger” is a spectacular adventure that incorporates Cap’s sprawling backstory, sets the stage for future Marvel sequels, and harkens back to the heyday of Hollywood rah-rah World War II flicks. “The First Avenger” is “Sergeant York” if Sergeant York had superpowers (although to hear “Sergeant York” tell it, he kinda already did, so Johnston’s film isn’t even that far off).
BEST: ‘Dredd’ (2012)
The first movie based on the dark and twisted comic book series “Judge Dredd” — about an authoritarian super cop who’s judge, jury and brutal executioner in a fascistic future — was a wacky sci-fi flick starring Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider. To say the first movie whiffed it would be insulting to the word “whiff.” The reboot, starring Karl Urban as a more faithful version of Judge Dredd, is a modern classic. A bleak yet exhilarating action movie, in which Dredd and his rookie partner Anderson (Olivia Thirlby) get trapped in a sky rise, battling wave after wave of killers at the bidding of the building’s criminal overlord. (If it sounds a lot like “The Raid: Redemption,” they were practically made at the same time, so don’t cry foul.) The film’s diehard fans have been clamoring for a sequel for over a decade. Sadly, we’ll probably have to keep waiting.
WORST: ‘The Lone Ranger’ (2013)
Look, at this point, “The Lone Ranger” might literally be cursed. Over 30 years after “The Legend of the Lone Ranger” killed everyone’s interest in the character, Disney employed “Pirates of the Caribbean” duo Gore Verbinski and Johnny Depp to revive the franchise, and the results were a bizarre calamity. Overblown, overwrought, edited to pieces and haphazardly jumbled back together, with a baffling framing device and countless head-scratching creative decisions, Verbinski’s “The Lone Ranger” — starring Armie Hammer as the title character (see? cursed) — has a few impressive set pieces, especially the climactic train chase. But it’s not worth wading through all the indulgent and often offensive junk to get to it. The 2013 “The Lone Ranger” makes the 1981 “Lone Ranger” look classy.
WORST: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ (2014)
The first live-action “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie was, for a time, the highest-grossing independent movie ever made. It holds up too, with a smart screenplay and impressive practical effects galore. The sequels rapidly diminished in quality, so the expectations for the Michael Bay-produced reboot were muted. If only the film were muted too. Shrill, annoying, legitimately hard to look at — the mutant turtle designs assault the senses — and a script which clearly got mangled, awkwardly incorporating their arch-nemesis The Shredder even though it seems clear the filmmakers originally had other plans for him. Jonathan Liebesman’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” made money, but it didn’t make many fans. By the time Dave Green’s sequel, “Out of the Shadows,” came out two years later, audiences had learned their lesson and stayed away (it’s kind of a shame, since the sequel was a big improvement).
WORST: ‘Fant4stic,’ aka ‘Fantastic Four’ (2015)
The fourth live-action “Fantastic Four” movie — after the charming, amateurish, but never officially-released 1994 film, and the two middling Tim Story flicks in the 2000s — was the least fantastic of all. A grim ’n’ gritty take on four of the most lovable superheroes ever created, Josh Trank’s origin story takes forever to give the team their powers, then backloads a sloppy, ugly climax with one of the genre’s many interchangeable, meaningless, annoying “sky beams.” Notoriously the victim of post-production meddling, with oddball narrative omissions and frequently-incomprehensible storytelling, “Fant4stic” also gets demerits for wasting an excellent cast, including Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell.
BEST: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem’ (2023)
The live-action “TMNT” movies may have struggled in the 21st century, but the animated movies were another story. After an adequate-but-forgettable theatrical adventure in 2007, the cartoon Turtles returned for a gorgeously animated adventure that finds them befriending a gang of rebel mutants, just like themselves, and dealing with teen peer pressure with a superhero twist. Fascinating character designs, smart and funny writing, “Mutant Mayhem” has it all, earning some of the biggest raves of the whole franchise — and with good cause. (Now where’s that sequel, dang it!)
WORST: ‘The Crow’ (2024)
The tragic on-set death of Brandon Lee made “The Crow” a nearly impossible series to build on, even after the first film was a melancholy hit with one of the best soundtracks ever made. Three mixed-bag sequels and a TV series later (“Wicked Prayer” is strange and worth seeking out), Hollywood tried to reboot the whole franchise, passing the project from one filmmaker to another. “The Crow” somehow crawled its way out of development hell in 2024 with a film that does no justice to the original comic or its first adaptation. Unfocused, clumsily mythologized, repetitive and emotionally naive, Rupert Sanders’ reboot makes you feel sad for any audience member seeing this version first, since it gives no indication that “The Crow” was any good in the first place.
BEST: ‘Superman’ (2025)
We began with “Superman” and we end with “Superman.” James Gunn’s ambitious reboot places the beloved hero in contrast with his superpowered peers, who can’t keep up with his humanity, even as the despicable Lex Luthor strips it all away with political machinations, hateful word of mouth and — worst of all — the truth. David Corenswet makes the role his own, in a complicated superhero epic that evokes the freewheeling silliness of the Silver Age while telling a thoroughly modern story about how Superman would wrestle with 21st century woes. Very different from every other live-action Superman movie, but no less worthy of his name, Gunn’s film brings the character into a new millennia, and he’s brought all his complex goodness with him. Plus, lots of nifty fight scenes. You gotta have those too!
