2018 Superhero Movies Ranked
2018 has proven to be quite an incredible year for superhero movies. The likes of Disney-Marvel, Warner-DC and even Sony Pictures have managed to release offerings of a high standard, with each picture being successful in its own right. The quality on the screen and the returns at the box office have been at an all-time high with Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther even receiving Oscar buzz as one of a number of critically acclaimed releases in the genre this year.
In 2017, Justice League proved to be the standout dud of a pretty stellar year, but without a single film hitting such lows in 2018, we were treated to 9 films of the popular adaptation genre that were entertaining, exciting and at least somewhat unique.
In this edition of ranked,we’re ranking each 2018 superhero movie from worst to best.
Let everyone know what you thought the best superhero movie of 2018 was in the comments!
9. Ant-Man & the Wasp
Marvel Studios
Director: Peyton Reed
Starring: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Peña, Michael Douglas, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, T.I., Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Pfeiffer
It’s not that Ant-Man and the Wasp was at all a bad movie, more that it seemed to retread a lot of old ground, the film seemingly the last of the dying breed of 1st and 2nd phase MCU films, tropes and all.
The film managed to sew together somewhat of a reasonable villain story and the casting additions of Laurence Fishburne and Michelle Pfeiffer were welcomed, but the film’s purposeful distancing from the rest of the Avengers story was divisive and there seemed to be very little so-called “real” stakes. Being a sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp didn’t have the surprise factor its predecessor had and thus failed to capture the imagination when it offered much of the same in a way seemingly even more in line with the traditional Marvel sequel. This 3rd Marvel offering of the year was fun and still worth a watch (especially for fans of the Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly characters) but in a time of transition for superhero films as a whole towards more genre-specific fare, dialling down the comedy from one of the studios’ first forays into the genre just seemed a little too “by-the-numbers”.
8. Venom
Sony Pictures
Director: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze, Reid Scott, Jenny Slate
If this was a list for most divisive superhero film of the year, then Venom would top it. The Sony Pictures release felt like a throwback to the 2000s decade of superhero films like Daredevil, The Fantastic Four and Elektra, only with more insults and bloody violence, Tom Hardy’s performance being one so clearly enjoyed by the actor himself that you couldn’t help but to appreciate it, whether you loved it or hated it.
What this film did hold over Ant-Man and the Wasp however, was that it felt fresh. We hadn’t seen anything like this in nearly a decade, and while so much of it was absurd and ridiculous, that only added to the feeling of it being different to the rest, a quality that Ant-Man 2 didn’t have.
Must-see in its own right, this standalone debut for the famous character of Venom sits at number 8 for the year.
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