It has been a disheartening year for superhero films: out of the six comic book adaptations that made their way to theaters in 2024, only a single title managed to achieve a Rotten Tomatoes score exceeding 60%.
Looking back, 2023 appears to have foreshadowed this downturn: aside from the critically acclaimed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Marvel and DC experienced a rather grim year.
The troubles began with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which marked a new low in Marvel’s history, setting the stage for The Marvels later that year (and we won’t even begin to discuss the disappointment that was Secret Invasion). Meanwhile, DC had its own share of letdowns, including Shazam: Fury of the Gods, The Flash, Blue Beetle (an innocent bystander), and Aquaman 2.
The situation in 2024 has been even grimmer, with most superhero cinema falling somewhere between appalling and mediocre (save for one notable exception).
Deadpool & Wolverine Stands Out as the Only “Fresh”Superhero Film of 2024
Deadpool & Wolverine currently enjoys a 78% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, supported by a staggering 94% Verified Fresh audience score. This clearly positions it as the top-rated superhero movie of 2024 by a significant margin. Here’s how other recent releases are faring:
- Madame Web – 11%
- The Crow – 23%
- Hellboy: The Crooked Man – 41%
- Joker: Madness for Two – 32%
- Venom: The Last Dance – 37%
Even now that we’ve reached the end, it’s challenging to determine if all of this was worthwhile.
There’s still one more film slated for release this year: Kraven the Hunter, which is the latest addition to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (sans Spider-Man). Initial reactions from New York Comic Con have been favorable, with attendees calling the opening 10 minutes “grounded” and “violent.”
Nonetheless, the series has historically not fared well, as evidenced by the dismal Rotten scores of its five previous entries:
- Venom – 30%
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage – 57%
- Morbius – 15%
- Madame Web – 11%
- Venom: The Last Dance – 37%
This track record does not inspire confidence for Kraven, who will be portrayed by Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the eponymous big-game hunter and antihero. With its release on December 13, we won’t have to wait long to see if it can defy the odds.
On a brighter note, 2025 looks promising with several anticipated blockbusters on the horizon: Captain America: Brand New World, Thunderbolts, Superman, and an MCU reboot of the Fantastic Four.
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