SuperBheroes: Comic Book Heroes That Deserve Movie Franchises (But Probably Won’t Get Them)

No matter why you are, or what made you one, if you’re a comic book fan you’ve got ample amount of reason to rejoice about how our favorite heroes are getting star treatment. Spider-Man 3 may not have made us fanboys jump for joy, but it made enough money with the general public to guarantee a sequel, and I have a knowing feeling that some of SM3’s excess cash is going to help fund even more Marvel movies. And let’s not forget The Dark Knight, which will most likely topple Titanic as the highest-grossing film of all time, its massive dollar signs was only matched by the rave reviews of critics that, for so long, shunned comic movies as another fading pop culture phenomenon. Even “indie” comic movies like Hellboy are doing well at the box office. In the rush to transport comics from the printed page to the silver screen, here are some of my favorites comic book characters that deserve their own movie franchise.

First is Invincible. I admit, my first take on this character boiled down to “TEENAGE ANGST~” and little more. But Invincible is a character that sneaks up on you. You think it’ll be just another hugely-generic, moderately-interesting “superteenager with super problems” story, but sooner rather than later you come to realize that Invincible is full of multi-tiered characters too well-written to cast off as generic, with a plot that is just unusual enough to draw attention and not too unusual enough to create a chasm between “hardcore” comic fans (which generally are the main mode of support for “indie” comics) and more mainstream fans. While it does borrow heavily from some genre staples and has its fair share of “angsty teenage drama” moments; overall, Invincible would be tailor-made as a film to bridge the widening gap between teens that just like to see action, and comic fans that go in expecting a visual, literal, and figurative masterpiece.

Next up is a comic character that will probably never get a movie but damn sure deserves one. Most people don’t know it, but Supreme is one of the greatest things to ever come out of the mind of Alan Moore, the super-genius behind super-pivotal comic titles like Watchmen. At first, Supreme was a bland and uninteresting “angry Superman” cliché. Alan Moore, however, turned him into a glowing tribute to comics past, with stylized flashback scenes that perfectly captured the mood, drama, and art style of the comic’s numerous eras. At heart, Supreme embodied a Superman-esque faith in humanity while nevertheless possessing his own rich back story and sense of self, making him one of the best Superman-archetypes to ever come out of a line of nigh-infinite imitators. A Supreme film using modern technology to duplicate vintage filming techniques of cinema’s early eras would not only guarantee a visual feast for the eyes, but also give the film a unique look and feel, something that quite a few comic book movies have struggled with.

And last up, we have a character I have come to call Batcula. If you thought The Dark Knight was moody and gothic, it very nearly pales in comparison to this bizarre version of Batman that starred in a three-part Elseworlds series. Set outside accepted continuity, this story places Batman in the roll of the monster he constantly fears he may one day become. While I don’t want to give away too much about the story, I will say that it is a haunting, eerie, disturbing, and yet gothically beautiful look at how someone like Batman could finally give in to corruption and become more of a monster than any of the villains he has ever faced. The fact that he becomes an immortal killing machine that can turn into a horrifying man/bat creature before dissolving into mist is just icing on the cake. Even though it’s a “what if” with absolutely no effect on mainstream Batman, its chilling storyline and super-gothic atmosphere would make an incredible movie.

Despite the high volume of DC, Marvel and even independent comic book movies that are currently going through different stages of development, comics as a whole have a practical treasure trove of heroes and villains tailor-made for a mass-audience. While it’s true that comic book movies are getting more expensive to produce, hopefully runaway financial successes like Spider-Man 3 and The Dark Knight give Marvel and DC enough excess cash to open up their collective pocketbooks and take a chance on some pivotal series that deserve to be given a chance. They may just make whole buckets of cash while they’re at it, too.