While sequels often show diminishing returns, the fans with comics (and their big budget adaptations) will always crave more. But as the Marvel Studios CEO boldly said he wanted to Marvel movies go on for 80 years, their 15-year conquest of cinema has entailed both a new restructuring of how sequels arrive and a homogenization of them. The term hardly means anything in an age of cinematic universes; is every movie in the MCU a sequel except Iron Man?
While a seemingly unrelated Thor movie could also function as a quasi Hulk sequel, does it add to the overall buffet that this universe is or detract from a really good sequel? How much do these films benefit from simply associating with older films, and how much derives from their own artistry? Notice how even unrelated Marvel pieces follow as well. M. Night Shyamalan’s proper return to storytelling with Divide in 2016 revealed in the final scene the character of Bruce Willis from the superhero movie unbreakable (released all the way back in 2000), and that all the film’s hard work now piggybacks on 15 years of nostalgia.
Whatever a sequel means, it turns out they’re not all bad and not all rely on previous installments for their success. Below we rank some of our favorite superhero sequels.
9 Knife II (2002)
Bring in director Guillermo Del Toro Knife II was a masterstroke for the franchise, creating the little vampire movie that could. A new threat has emerged in the Reapers, a larger, more animalistic version of a vampire, meaning Blade must team up with his enemies to find the strength in numbers. With a scope that feels bigger and better than the original and a kind of fantasy unique to Del Toro, the movie feels like dynamite to watch.
Del Toro regular Ron Perlman is obligatory, and Wesley Snipes is, of course, super cool. The film is a feast for the eyes and fills the screen with all kinds of horrible looking things.
8 Hellboy II: The Golden Army
His second contribution to this list, that of Guillermo Del Toro Hellboy II: The Golden Army continue the franchise with pure confidence after the first appearance. No need to establish the characters, powers and quirks are on full display amid a world of ballistic fantasy creatures that make this feel like one long Cantina scene.
Check out the imaginative attention to detail, (thankfully) practical effects and costumes, as Big Red battles an elf vying for control of humanity. After the shockingly weak Hellboy reboot from 2019, another version has just been announced Cranefrom Doug Taylor.
7 Avengers: Infinite War (2018)
disney
Marvel’s grand plan, building stories across multiple movies and planets, and with literally hundreds of characters involved, was marketed as the event of the decade in terms of cinema. And, boy oh boy, was Avengers: Infinite War worth the wait. Superfans could watch with their mouths open as their almost homework-like diligence in following all the previously connected movies finally paid off when the Big Bad, Thanos (Josh Brolin in mocap), asked big genocidal questions and threatened all of humanity.
After the watery at best Avengers: Age of Ultron, this got the heroes back in shape, but they certainly wouldn’t all make it to the end, as “the snap” went on to become one of the biggest pop culture moments in recent movie history. the sequel, Avengers: endgame would arguably undo all of this film’s good work, but it is what it is.
6 Logan (2017)
Reserved and thoughtful (for a superhero movie, anyway), an elderly Wolverine cares for an increasingly senile and now dangerous Professor X (an excellent Patrick Stewart). It’s really inside Logan‘There are quieter moments where the film shines, and you really wish more time had been spent on it.
How respectful of himself X-Men comic book roots and origins, Logan is surprisingly measured and moving as a standalone film. Logan is a meditation on all things that eventually grow old and die, and a send-off to a character we’ve had on our screens for the past 20 years. As the old saying goes, no one really dies in comic books forever, and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine will return in the near future Deadpool3.
5 Superman II (1980)
From one of the most diverse and brilliant directors of all time, Richard Donner (The omen, deadly weapon), comes super man 2. Has Superman met his match when confronted by three new Kryptonians, formerly banished from home, and now out to conquer?
The out-there goofy comedy has always felt a little out of place (see exactly why in Nerd Writer‘s video below), but when the movie shines – like in Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor and the General Zod clashes – it’s really fun to watch. You will believe that a man can fly (again).
4 Batman Returns (1992)
Do you like dark Christmas movies? Say no more. Too often overlooked, Batman returns is a comedic antics in every sense of the word. With a cast that rustles and seems to electrically charge their counterparts when they go head-to-head, the film is a true Tim Burton goth outing with a capital G.
Building on what was established with Michael Keaton’s Bruce Wayne in the previous film, this outing tries to up the ante with another classic villain in The Penguin (Danny DeVito, who was made for the part) and even throws in a heartbreaking love story. conflict. between Batman and Catwoman. Oh, and Danny Elfman’s score is also one of his best.
3 Spider Man 2 (2004)
The fact that Tobey Maquire recently reappeared in the latest Spider-Man iteration is a testament to how deep the love for this particular superhero movie is. Building on the already very confident first film, spiderman 2 introduces Doc Ock with typical Sam Raimi flair.
With the origin story out of the way, the human element shines for literally all of the characters here, with Peter, Mary-Jane, and Harry having moved on in their lives at this point. Maguire definitely nails the dorky insecurity in his own identity (in between clashes with a crazy man with metal tentacles).
2 X2: X-Men United (2003)
We just miss our top spot, X2: X-Men United showed exactly how a movie should bring in new characters without swelling the part. From that sizzling opener with Nightcrawler in the White House and beyond, this movie doesn’t stop.
Before Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine became the everything and the end of every single X–Gentlemen movie, X2 pushed his character’s backstory just enough to remain intriguing without going over the deep end. And the results are impeccable, with a film featuring some of the best scenes in the entire (long-running and confusingly spaced) series. The cast is perfect and the man v mutant drama feels perfect.
1 The Dark Knight (2008)
With a more realistic and gritty take on the superhero movie and Batman mythology long before it was fashionable, Christopher Nolan gave us this iconic take on the caped crusader. After proving that Batman was back and the fans were here with him in the previous one Batman begins, The dark knight raised the bar in every way as it gave Batman his biggest rival with an alien performance of Heath Ledger for the ages.
The dark knight was truly an event that very few movies (superhero or otherwise) have surpassed. Heath Ledger’s Joker performance would go on to win the Oscar posthumously, and to some, Nolan hasn’t bettered himself since.