Nearly 20% Agree This Superhero Movie Is The Absolute Worst

Depending on who you talk to, we're either living in a veritable golden age of superhero cinema, or a perilous era for film, as the multiplex market becomes saturated with uninspired tentpole tales of super-powered silliness. 

The reality of the matter is probably somewhere in the middle: There have, unquestionably, been a number of fantastic superhero movies released, some quite recently, which are as artistically ambitious as they are unabashedly entertaining. And yes, at the same time, there have been movies of questionable quality. For most fans of the superhero genre, it's all too easy to focus on the hits like "Logan," "Avengers: Endgame," "Wonder Woman," or "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." As for the misses, well, there have indeed been several that superhero naysayers are fond of bringing up.

Looper recently reached out to fans of superhero cinema to find out which of those misses best represents the worst of the genre. A total of 633 votes were cast in our poll, and almost 20% of participants agreed that a catty box office bomb from 2004 is the bottom of the superhero cinema barrel.

Given the film's unfortunate legacy, it's not surprising that Halle Berry's "Catwoman" was voted the worst superhero movie in existence. If you've seen "Catwoman," you know it's worthy of such a dubious honor. And if you haven't, know that the film's 9% fresh critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes is quite indicative of its quality — ditto for its 18% audience score. It's also not hard to see what went wrong with the film, as its mononymous helmer, Pitof, regularly fronts visual flair over elements like plot, character, and narrative coherence.     

Critics and fans alike clearly agree even the film's style falters mightily throughout. The real tragedy of "Catwoman," however, is that it essentially sunk Halle Berry's career just as she was ascending to the Hollywood A-list. The actor had, after all, recently netted a Best Actress Academy Award for her bravura turn in 2002's "Monster's Ball." But after the critical failure of her followup film "Gothika," the titanic commercial failure of "Catwoman" (which earned just $80 million against a reported budget of $100 million, via Box Office Mojo) proved to be a setback Berry's career has only recently recovered from.

Joining "Catwoman" on our "Worst Superhero Movies" list are a slew of films with legacies every bit as infamous. Chiming in second, with just over 19% of the votes is Jennifer Garner's misguided "Daredevil" spin-off "Elektra," followed closely Ryan Reynold's legendary flop "Green Lantern," with 2004's "The Punisher," and 2015's "Fantastic Four" (aka "Fant4stic") rounding out the top five.