The 7 Most Important Comic Book Movies Ever Made

The most important comic book movies of all time

We might have been lucky to see just a handful of comic book movies in previous decades gone by, but currently, with up to five comic book movies being released every year, this really is an amazing era for the superhero movie genre.

With that said, we take a look back at where this crazy comic book movie craze all started, and we ask what the most important movies of this genre were.  Here, Green Beans lists the comic book movies that had the most influence and importance throughout the years.  These aren't necessarily the best movies of this genre, but certainly the most critical... 

07 Wonder Woman   (2017)

With all the great comic book movies that have been released in the past 30 or 40 years, discounting Supergirl, Woman Woman is surprisingly the first major female superhero to get her own stand-alone movie. This is of huge importance to this genre of movie, as it showed it is possible to have a successful movie based on a female lead character.  This movie will pave the way for future female superhero movies, starting with Marvel's Captain Marvel.

06 The Avengers  (2012)

The Avengers was a huge hit in 2012, and it's no surprise to see why. This movie was the first that properly combined a mix of characters from multiple movies into one cinematic universe.  The Avengers showed the world that a cinematic universe could indeed be done, and now we're seeing the DC cinematic universe playing catch up.

05 Iron Man   (2008)

The 2008 hit, Iron Man, did a couple of really important things for the comic book movie genre. Firstly, you could say it was the start of the Marvel cinematic universe, and secondly, it put the lesser known character of Iron Man firmly into the limelight.  Iron Man showed us that a comic book movie could indeed be entertaining, gripping and fun,with a great blend of special effects and excellent story-telling.

04 Spider-Man  (2002)

Spider-Man took comic book movies to a new level with its much anticipated release in 2002. The genre was still recovering from the disastrous end to the Batman franchise in the late 90s, and so Sam Remi's edition of Spider-Man was a very welcoming treat for movie fans. This movie was well ahead of its time, and even though it was created under the Sony name, it probably kick-started the amazing Marvel movies that followed later that decade.

03 Batman Begins  (2005)

The Batman franchise was well and truly killed after the Batman & Robin movie in 1997, so understandably many people were sceptical about a new Batman movie hitting the big screen.  But Christopher Nolan's darker toned Batman Begins was one of the most loved comic book movies of all time, paving the way for perhaps the greatest superhero movie of them all, The Dark Knight.

02 Blade  (1998)

Many of us forget that Blade was released way back in 1998, and its significance in the comic book movie genre was huge.  Blade made people sit up and take notice of how a comic book movie could be made. Out went the camp and in came the grittier, serious toned theme, which actually gave a host of movie directors like Nolan, the confidence to break away from tradition and create a badass comic book movie.

01 Superman  (1978)

Superman made us all believe a man could fly, and to this day, this comic book movie is still regarded by many as the best ever.  Well ahead of its years, Superman, released in 1978, took this genre to a whole new level and made us believe that a good comic book movie could indeed be made.  Who knows, without this movie, we may never have had all the amazing comic book superhero films ever since.