By Robert Yaniz Jr.

Crooked Sightings highlights the work of Robert Yaniz Jr. that has been published outside the realm of CrookedTable.com.

We talk about superhero movies quite a bit here on Crooked Table. But, then again, it’s unavoidable for anyone covering modern cinema to discuss costumed heroes, considering their current cultural relevance. In particular, the last 20 years have seen the release of a new superhero film evolve from a rare occasion into a regular occurrence. In fact, an entire subgenre has developed as a result. So, with Black Panther clawing its way to the top of the all-time box office charts, the time felt right to evaluate the superhero films that have stood the test of time.

Naturally, any ranking of superhero films will skew toward Marvel and DC, as they both own the trademark for the term “superhero” to begin with. Yet, in the interest of diversity, I aimed to include original superhero films along with those with comic book roots and to limit any particular franchise (yes, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe) from dominating the list completely. That being said, as I compiled my list for Monkeys Fighting Robots, I was unable to include some of my favorite comic book-based films. After all, few would consider Sin City, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World or Kingsman: The Secret Service to be superhero movies, no matter how fantastical their adventures may be.

Want to see if your favorite modern superhero film (from Blade to Black Panther, that is) made the list? Head on over to Monkeys Fighting Robots for my full ranking.

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