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As superhero movies gradually grew in popularity from the ’80s and ’90s before fully hitting mainstream success in the 21st century, so too has the collection of characters forming the basis for superhero films. It may sound surprising, but some of the most important superhero movies all of time have not been derived from the pages of either Marvel or DC Comics, and in a few cases, did not even begin in comic books at all. Here are the four most influential superhero movies not based on Marvel or DC Comics.
1) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
The Heroes in a Half Shell were a growing pop culture craze throughout the ’80s, but it was the release of 1990’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that truly brought Turtle Power to the masses. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles brought Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, and Michelangelo to life as the Ninjutsu-trained crime fighters fans know and love, allying them with April O’Neil (Judith Hoag) and Casey Jones (Elias Koteas) in their battle against Shredder (James Saito) and the Foot Clan. The movie’s turtle suits were also genuinely impressive both as superhero outfits and as suits flexible enough for the stunt performers wearing them to execute the Turtles’ signature martial arts skills.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles not only brought the Turtles to the big screen at last, but served as the first real theatrical superhero team movie, providing a foundation for subsequent team movies with the X-Men, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the Justice League to break out in the 21st century superhero movie boom. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was also the rare non-Marvel, non-DC superhero movie of the ’90s to become a big box office hit, proving that superhero movie success was not strictly in the domain of the world’s two biggest comic book publishers.
2) The Crow (1994)
The legacy of 1994’s The Crow is one sadly steeped in the tragic on-set death of Brandon Lee right as he was on the verge of becoming a major action movie star, but the movie’s emotional revenge tale also illuminates its influence on later superhero movies. Based on James O’Barr’s eponymous comic book, The Crow centers on deceased rock musician Eric Draven, who is revived on Devil’s Night one year after his and his fiance’s murder to take revenge, Eric guided by a supernatural crow through the streets of Detroit on his mission. Lee’s electrifying performance as Eric Draven solidified his stardom posthumously, while the movie’s gripping visual style set a standard for subsequent comic book movies to aspire to.
The Crow has often been likened to a feature-length music video, and director Alex Proyas certainly enlivens the movie’s world with a distinctive visual flair that gives the city and the mayhem of Devil’s Night a personality all their own. The Crow‘s success also showed the possibility of little-known and niche comic book properties reaching a wider mainstream audience with the right combination of strong writing, direction, performances, action sequences, and dynamic visual style. Since then, movies like Hellboy, 300, Watchmen, Kick-Ass, and Kingsman have pulled off the same trick to great results, all owing a debt of gratitude to The Crow showing the possibilities for edgier, darker, R-rated superhero movies based upon comic books outside of the main Marvel and DC character stables.
