Fox’s reboot of Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four has turned out to be one of the worst superhero flicks ever produced. For the fans, the absence of Stan Lee (the team’s creator) was an issue of concern, so was the colour of Johnny Storm’s skin while for the director Josh Trank, it was ‘the studio’s fault.’ Whatever the reasons, Fantastic Four joins the ranks of the worst superhero flicks ever made; the ‘best’ of the lot are discussed below…

1- The Men in Green!

In a galaxy far far away, the Green Lantern Corps decided to give an Earthling a chance to be a superhero - they chose wisely in the comics and the animated series but in films, they failed big time. They managed to get one of the better directors onboard (Martin Campbell) but the choice of leading man (Ryan Reynolds) for 2011’s Green Lantern was so pathetic that it seemed horrible. Even a screenplay from Michael Green (yes, the surname does seem fishy!) and others failed to make this superhero flick a success. The same year, The Green Hornet made his feature film comeback but when you have Seth Rogen playing a superhero, things are bound to go haywire - and they did. The flick is unwatchable. Walking out of the cinema is a better option!

2- Daredevil & Elektra

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are both wonderful actors who have had their share of success, but, being part of Marvel Comics Universe is sort of a nightmare for them. They husband-wife duo (now separated) appeared together in the mother of all flops Daredevil (2003) and if that wasn’t enough, Elektra got her own film two years later, although her character died in the earlier film. One look at the TV show Daredevil and you will realise that the film version offers nothing but disappointment. One hopes that Affleck’s bad luck runs out ahead of next year’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.

3- Masters of the Universe

Can you ever think of a He-Man flick without Battle Cat? Where there is no Orko to assist ‘The Most Powerful Man in the Universe?’ Where the main action happens on Earth instead of Eternia? Where He-Man doesn’t change into his alter-ego Prince Adam? Where an accomplished actor like Frank Langella agrees to play Skeletor without thinking of the repercussions on his career? This was Masters of The Universe (1987) which crossed all boundaries of stupidity by being hopelessly hapless. It did give us Courtney Cox (no, she wasn’t Teela in the movie!) but also proved that Dolph Lundgren is one of the worst actors in the world … or the universe.

4- He, She and the Sidekick!

Until Christopher Nolan came out with his version of Batman, it was considered a dead franchise because of two flicks – Batman & Robin and later Catwoman. In the former, the script seemed to have been penned by a kid because the jokes were targeted for that age group. The cast featured the who’s who of Hollywood - Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Uma Thurman, Chris O’ Donnell, Alicia Silverstone and Pat Hingle - but even the star cast was unable to steer the film to success. In fact, the main reason why this film flopped is because it lacked a mature script. The presence of star-actors didn’t help either.

On the other hand, casting Sharon Stone as anything but in the title role was a bad choice in 2004; even worse was the decision to cast Halle Berry as Catwoman. There was no script, no casting decisions, no plot and above all, pathetic acting from all the actors. The film, not surprisingly, tanked badly at the box office. Without Christopher Nolan’s revival of this character years later in his own film, people would’ve forgotten it completely.

5- Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

For those who watched the fourth installment in the Superman series when it came out in 1987, it marked the end of Superman. No, the Man of Steel doesn’t die but yes, it would have been better had he died. The Sidney J. Furie directed film wasn’t less than a bad dream; in fact, it contained everything one shouldn’t have in a superhero flick. The villain was named Nuclear Man (Yuck) and was played by a newcomer Mark Pillow; Lois Lane was relegated to a secondary role and Christopher Reeve looked tired of playing the superhero. The visual effects predated the first Superman movie that was nothing less than a technical marvel and came out in 1978. Watching the Nuclear Man destroy historical places like the Statue of Liberty, Mount Etna and the Great Wall of China was the worst feeling because it was done the cheap way. As for the dialogues, you can judge from the following how torturous the film really was:

"Nuclear Man: Where is the woman?

Superman: Give it up, you’ll never find her.

Nuclear Man: If you will not tell me, I will hurt people!

Superman: Stop! Don’t do it, the people"!

And the people suffered!