10 Controversial Comic Book Movie Moments Marvel And DC Want You To Forget Ever Happened

Regardless of whether they're good or bad, there are a lot of CBMs which feature particularly controversial or downright f***ed up moments. These are the best examples of the worst offenders.

By JoshWilding - Jun 23, 2016 10:06 AM EST

Filed Under: Avengers

Inevitably, comic book movies are almost always "controversial" for some reason or another. Even bona fide hits like The Avengers and The Dark Knight featured moments or creative decisions which have upset fans, but those pale in comparison to some of the worst offenders over the years. Whether it's because studios have taken it upon themselves to make baffling choices they for some reason believe will work better than what the comic books have been doing so well for decades or just really stupid plot points that make no sense, some adaptations have ended up dropping the ball in a big way.

It's those you'll find here. These aren't the worst moments in comic book movies though; they're the most divisive and controversial, many of which fans are still arguing and grumbling about (understandably so too) years after they hit the big screen. From bizarre twists no one could have predicted to making iconic superheroes killers and bringing others to life in these movies in the worst way possible, these are all things which the studios responsible for them would no doubt wish we'd all forget. Well, we can't, and reliving some of these f***ed up moments is sure to get your blood boiling.

10. Superman Kisses Away Lois Lane's Memories

Superman: The Movie may be dated now, but it still makes for a pretty damn great watch. Unfortunately, Superman II (which suffered from all sorts of behind the scenes problems) failed to live up to its predecessor. That was mostly due to Richard Donner's decision to leave the project, and the whole thing ended up being a horrible mess as a result. Among the most controversial moments were the Man of Steel giving up his powers to be human only to pretty much instantly go back to being super and the decision to have Lois Lane learn the hero's secret.

That normally wouldn't be a big deal, but it was handled appallingly and led to one of the daftest displays of power to ever be shown in a comic book movie. It turns out that to make Lois forget that he's Superman, all Clark needed to do was kiss her and wipe her memory. This made absolutely no sense and was one of the stupidest parts of a very stupid movie.

With Zak Penn on writing duties, it's hardly a surprise that The Incredible Hulk had a lot of problems. Chief among them though was a general lack of understanding about how Bruce Banner's abilities work. He's supposed to transform into The Hulk under great moments of stress or anger, but this movie focused too much on his heart rate. In a very unfunny running gag, everything from a bumpy taxi ride to getting a little too intimate with Betty Ross could set off a transformation into the Jade Giant.

The latter point in particular was moronic; were we really supposed to think that having sex would suddenly cause The Hulk to appear, and what, finish the job? In a movie plagued by issues, this was one of the biggest, and it's easy to understand why its become the black sheep of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's also worth noting that subsequent Marvel movies have dropped the whole heart rate thing.

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8. Batman Goes On A Murderous Rampage

As many of you probably know, I really liked Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, I'd be lying if I said that sitting there watching the Dark Knight take out crooks with lethal force didn't make me feel extremely uncomfortable. While Zack Snyder has since done a fairly good job of justifying his actions, seeing the hero use his Batmobile to brutally murder those gangsters working for Lex wasn't fun, especially as they posed very little threat to him as he raced past them in his armoured vehicle.

This was something which also somewhat soured an otherwise excellent fight scene later in the movie. There, Batman threw grenades at people and stabbed them, and while we may have been watching a Caped Crusader pushed to the brink, seeing him cross this line definitely left a bad taste in the mouth. Thankfully, it sounds like this won't be something we'll see happen when Batman returns in Justice League.

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7. Cyclops Dies...Off Screen

Bryan Singer never did a very good job with Cyclops, so why James Marsden decided to follow him to Superman Returns for a thankless role as Lois Lane's new love interest is hard to say. Follow him he did though, and that meant Scott Summers' screentime in X-Men: The Last Stand was limited. However, of all the ways his departure could have been handled, Fox for some reason decided to just kill him off in the most underwhelming way possible.

After tracking down the now insanely powerful (and batsh*t crazy) Jean Grey, Cyclops shared a kiss with her before realising something was terribly wrong. Next thing we know, his glasses were left floating there, and we were forced to assume she had killed him for pretty much no reason. The fact that happened off screen sucked, but the appalling way the hero's demise was handled was even worse. This movie sucked, but this stands out as possibly the worst moment.

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6. Meet Trevor Slattery

To me, Iron Man 3's big Mandarin reveal was a stroke of genius. That villain isn't someone I've ever had any sort of attachment to, and if you were lucky enough to go into this one unspoiled, him being revealed as English actor and drunk Trevor Slattery probably left your jaw on the floor (for better or worse). However, none of that means I can't appreciate why some fans felt hurt by this twist, especially as they had been waiting since Iron Man in 2008 to see the leader of the Ten Rings make his presence felt in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Alas, director Shane Black and writer Drew Pearce did away with the magic elements of the Mandarin and decided to present him as what some view as little more than a punchline. A later One-Shot would of course reveal that the real Mandarin is actually still out there somewhere, but with no Iron Man 4 on the horizon, who knows if that will ever be addressed.

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5. Peter Parker Goes Emo

Look, I have nothing against Emos, but whoever the hell thought it would be a good idea to take Peter Parker in that direction deserves very bad things to happen to them. The biggest issue here though wasn't his haircut or eye shadow; it was that his appearance and actions were altered by wearing the Venom symbiote, a suit which in the comic books darkened his personality, but had a very real effect on him.

In Spider-Man 3, it just made him act like a buffoon, dancing down the street and taking part in an elaborate dance number with Gwen Stacy in a bid to make Mary Jane jealous (who he then, you know, punched in the face). Seeing the Venom symbiote mishandled like this was heartbreaking, and it's clear that Sam Raimi - who was reportedly forced to include Venom - had very little interest in doing much with him. That explains why none of this worked and it all felt so shoehorned in.

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4. Is Batman Dead, Alive, Or Just A Dream?

Christopher Nolan did something no one expected in The Dark Knight Rises by giving Batman's story an ending. Having him make the ultimate sacrifice to save Gotham City was a powerful moment, but the reveal that he was still alive divided fans. While there were those who believed Bruce Wayne deserved to move on and have a happy life (he had after all left the city in the hands of John Blake), many hated seeing the Caped Crusader give up his mission by abandoning his city so he could go and have a good time exploring Europe with Selina Kyle.

Throw in those who think this was all just a hallucination by Alfred - him seeing Bruce there was more than a little coincidental after all - and it's fair to say that Nolan delivered a conclusion to his trilogy which has often been talked about for all the wrong reasons. Still, it was what is was and ultimately something we're unlikely to ever see repeated in a future Batman movie.

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3. Superman Breaks General Zod's Neck

Neither this nor the mass destruction in Metropolis during Man of Steel's final act upset me all that much, but I can still appreciate why many comic book fans weren't too keen on seeing Superman act this way. While I would argue that the deaths of a few hundred thousand people in Metropolis were worth it to save the entire world, this movie didn't really show the hero going out of his way to save lives, and just a few brief moments featuring him doing things like holding up a building to help people escape probably would have made a huge difference here.

Then there's what happened with General Zod. I thoughts it was a smart move to show Superman forced to kill his last remaining link to Krypton to save humanity, but the hero isn't a killer in the comic books, so this being controversial was inevitable. In fact, it was so divisive that Batman v Superman made Man of Steel's final act a major plot point!

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2. Galactus Is Revealed As A Cloud

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer certainly wasn't a good movie, but it was definitely an improvement on the first instalment from director Tim Story. What Doug Jones and Laurence Fishburne did with the Silver Surfer (the former performed his movements, while the latter voiced him) actually brought the beloved character life on the big screen in a very satisfying way, and with the coming of Galactus teased throughout, it was hard not to get excited about finally seeing that villain right alongside him.

Unfortunately, things didn't exactly play out that way. While a shadow would tease his appearance from the comic books, Galactus ended up being a sentient cloud of space dust with no personality or body. The Fantastic Four never even got to fight him (it?) as they were too busy taking on Doctor Doom in what was essentially a rehash of the first movie's final battle. This was an unbelievable disappointment.

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1. Wait...THAT's Deadpool?!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a terrible movie, but it had its moments. Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson was among the highlights even if his big action scene (where he sliced bullets in two with his sword) seemed to completely miss the point of the character's abilities. Still, the actor got the Merc with the Mouth's personality right, even if things later took a turn for the worst when he was resurrected as Weapon XI.

While Fox had attempted to make this abomination look a little like the Deadpool from the comics , he had giant blades sticking out of his hands, powers never associated with his comic book counterpart, and generally looked like sh*t (oh, and his mouth was sewn up to boot). To add insult to injury, he was killed off by Wolverine, but then returned to life in an baffling after-credits scene which ~~promised~~ threatened he would return. Thankfully, that version never ended up coming back.

Which of these controversial comic book movie moments do you think was the worst? Have we missed any others? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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245 Comments

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

McGee - 6/23/2016, 10:14 AM

Dear Trolls...I have a question...

NightBoyWonder - 6/23/2016, 10:36 AM

Was the whole Hulk not having sex thing that big of a deal?

EZBeast - 6/23/2016, 11:02 AM

@OnePunchBaldy - That is exactly what Nemesis was thinking. Who cares!? Also "He's supposed to transform into the Hulk under great moments of stress or anger" well wouldn't be being terrified about transforming into a giant green monster while hes sticking it to her be pretty stressful?

LSHF - 6/26/2016, 2:35 PM

@OnePunchBaldy - I thought the bigger deal was that Betty was so willing to cheat on her current man. There were more important things going on at that time, but she had to think about her "needs" and to hell with her current flame.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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10 Controversial Comic Book Movie Moments Marvel And DC Want You To Forget Ever Happened

Regardless of whether they're good or bad, there are a lot of CBMs which feature particularly controversial or downright f***ed up moments. These are the best examples of the worst offenders.

10. Superman Kisses Away Lois Lane's Memories

9. The Hulk Can't Have Sex

8. Batman Goes On A Murderous Rampage

7. Cyclops Dies...Off Screen

6. Meet Trevor Slattery

5. Peter Parker Goes Emo

4. Is Batman Dead, Alive, Or Just A Dream?

3. Superman Breaks General Zod's Neck

2. Galactus Is Revealed As A Cloud

1. Wait...THAT's Deadpool?!

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