What do you consider the riskiest Comic Book Movies?

[SuperFerret]

Certainly not any of the Batman movies, that's for sure. Probably the first two X-Men movies. They show a very close approximation of what the world would be like if there were superpowered beings in our midst without getting too outlandish with it.


Also, good job for saying superhero comic book movie, because I could have turned around and said Unbreakable.

 

[Human Torch]

I don't see Ang's Hulk as a risk.At all.The Hulk had been a traditionally popular character with a very very successful tv show and several successful cartoons.It ended up being a case of "poisoning the well",since apart from some critical acclaim in Avengers,they've been overly cautious in utilizing the character on his own.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

Doing a Hulk action movie I wouldn't consider a risk. Ang Lees Hulk was more of a drama imo which was a risky approach, one that didn't pay off sadly

 

[Spider-Aziz]

Those saying the first Iron Man movie being a risk made great points

 

[StarLord]

I'd say 'Watchmen' was quite risky too.

 

[The Batman]

Superman: The Movie
Batman 89'
X-Men
Batman Begins
Iron Man
Guardians of the Galaxy

 

[Rorschach2012]

S6, TASM3, F4 reboot

 

[TheSpectacular]

Iron Man
Guardians of the Galaxy
Sinister Six
Fantastic Four reboot

 

[Spider-Aziz]

I did not think Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the riskiest movies, there are a bunch of popular alien movies released through the decades, the original Star Wars trilogy, and Lord of the Rings series
Making a movie about that property, and following the success of movies like Avengers, and a bunch of other MCU movies was actually the logical thing to do, and they were pretty smart about it

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

I'd say 'Watchmen' was quite risky too.

Keeping it R-Rated. Showing Male Wang, not shying away from the sex scenes were all quite risky imo.

Wasn't it often thought of un-filmable?

Next to Sin City, heck probably even more so I think it's the among the most brutal in terms of subject matter.

I Can't think of any other that has had War, a pregnant woman being murdered, hate crime, sex, impotence, Peadophillia (the guy Rorschach kills), cancer, prostitution, frontal male nudity and genocide

 

[def28]

Superman The Movie-More in the sense that it was filming two movies at the same time and comic book properities were a not a guarantee to draw crowds. Him or Batman were probably the safest bets. But Film making back to back for a film like this was a risk.

Iron Man- Marvel Studios would not be anything if it wasn't for the success of this film. Unlike Spider-Man an X-Men which had huge fan basses and were the highest sellers from comics to animated series in the 90s, Iron Man was not known at all. And RDJ was not a box office king either.

Watchmen- Unlike Sin City (which Rodriguez can get away with for cheap round $40m) there was no way getting around a huge budget. The film also embraced the source and R which is not conventional material for mainstream comic flicks by any means.

Hellboy 2-The first one didn't do huge and it really embraced the fantasy aspect even more along with cutting out a lead human character. Which was allegedly a bad idea with the first studio.

Avengers-If Cap And Thor failed they would have stuck with this and no one may have cared. It was everything the studio was leading to and the first major crossover. It was untested.

Guardians-Big budget flick with some of the most obscure/weird comic book chararacters in MArvel from the guy who made Slither and worked at Troma. Just that itself makes this one of the most risky comic flicks. If it failed the expanding of the universe would be in a bad position and every other studio would be paying attention on the flop of unknown characters.

For future flicks, The Sinister 6 looks the riskiest. Focusing on villains and Spidey losing money every film has to have the studio re evaluating evrything.

 

[JEM]

Superman (79)
Superman Returns
Batman (89)
Hulk (Ang Lee)
X men
X men First Class
Iron Man
Avengers
Guardian of Galaxy
Watchmen

PS: My favorite comic book movie (Spider Man 2) isn't the riskier. You can do a masterpiece with a simple movie .

 

[Squaremaster316]

The Nolan Batman trilogy.

Taking Batman and putting him into a world where supernatural/fantastical elements were removed was a very bold move, because it would be limiting the usage of certain rogues and altering others.

To say it paid off in spades is an understatement.

 

[The Endless]

I fail to see how a film made about the most iconic and popular comic book character ever is a risk. And Batman isn't well known because of the supernatural elements. Batman is largely associated with the more grounded, realistic side of super-heroism.

 

[JEM]

I think Superman was the first blockbuster in the genre. There were few comic book movie before but the impact wasn't the same .
Today, we have a lot of comics book film and it is in pop culture.
For Batman 89, the audience knew Batman with Adam West and the campy stuff .

 

[Squaremaster316]

I fail to see how a film made about the most iconic and popular comic book character ever is a risk. And Batman isn't well known because of the supernatural elements. Batman is largely associated with the more grounded, realistic side of super-heroism.

When you tell your audience that Clayface, Croc, Freeze and Ivy are impossible to incorporate and Ghul isn't a 700 year old immortal, you run the risk of incurring the wrath of purists/fans of other incarnations.

 

[Sexy Magician]

I think Thor was a risk, trying to make him fit into modern society on film and also giving him a place in the MCU must have been a daunting task.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Iron Man - If this movie failed there would be no MCU or Marvel Studios.

Also Watchmen, Batman (89), and GotG.

 

[The Endless]

When you tell your audience that Clayface, Croc, Freeze and Ivy are impossible to incorporate and Ghul isn't a 700 year old immortal, you run the risk of incurring the wrath of purists/fans of other incarnations.

That's true. But the people who care about that stuff make up about 1% of the cinema going public so it's still not really a risk.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Batman 89 was a huge risk.

At the time it had a big budget and it had the director and actor from Beetlejuice.

Also most people only knew about the Adam West version and no one knew if the public would accept a darker Batman.

 

[Doc Ock]

I think back around the dawn of the 2000s, any comic book movie was pretty risky. X-Men and Spider-Man definitely. Although I don't view them as being risky anymore because they were already hugely popular in the 90s, maybe they would of done well even if they were terrible? Days of Future Past was a big risk as was the Wolverine as I was unsure of the general audience's reaction to these films in a post-Avengers/TDK world.

I see every Marvel Studios franchise as a big risk being that they had to introduce "B-list" heroes unknown to much of the general public without Spider-Man and X-Men there for assistance. Iron Man, Thor, Cap, Avengers, and especially Guardians (who could even be considered C-list prior to now) were each big risks with Hulk being probably the most well known hero (and yet had two "disappointing" films by studio standards?!) they had rights to. Due to these successful films I don't think they will be considered B-list anymore but I can't help be annoyed to see Iron Man front and center over Spidey now. I'm glad for Marvel's success though, it really makes me happy.

Batman was a big risk due to the Adam West show and the general public perception of Batman which would eventually led to Batman Begins being a big risk because of Batman & Robin. I knew alot of people at the time who thought Begins was a prequel to the Burton films too. I would say due to Batman's dominance a Superman film is a pretty big risk, but...yeah...WB did something about that and the character. Green Lantern was a huge risk.

 

[Spooderman]

I'd say that the future Spider-Man spinoffs would cause Marvel getting the film rights more than anything else.

 

[psylockolussus]

X-Men (2000)
Catwoman (2004)
Elektra (2005)
Iron Man (2008)
X-Men: First Class (2011)
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
The Fantastic Four (2015)
Sinister Six (2016)

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

Future Riskiness evaluations

Fantastic Four
Internet backlash is at a high. Risk determination will to depend on trailer reaction, imo

Doctor Strange
Subject Matter is rather unique in the genre. it's a question if audiences will respond however it has little financial risk.

Shazam!
WB/DC doesn't have guaranteed draw as of yet with the DCCU. The source has a Child transforming into an adult super being this doesn't mesh well with the DCCU tone thus far and could prove a problem of cohesion. If Dwayne Johnson is involved that could increase risk, although his star power is large his individual movies do not bring in a lot. His box office power mostly comes from the quantity of movies.

The Sinister Six
Never before has their been a villain-led comic book movie, this coupled with the lukewarm reaction to it will make it an uphill battle.

Sony Female-led Spidey spin-off
There has never been a commercially or critically well received comic book movie. This is a big, big risk.

Added some more to the future riskiest list