Fictional super-heroes with extraordinary powers, derived from 1930s-1960s comic books and other sources, have been the subjects of numerous fantasy and sci-fi films (both live-action and animated, and serialized and feature-length) with action-oriented heroes and heroines, almost too many to mention fully. Flash Gordon, Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, the Hulk, X-Men, and Iron Man have been some of the major examples. These superheroes are repeatedly chosen to be the subjects of big-budget blockbuster films, with glossy production values, expensive CGI special effects and sets, make-up and costuming. Usually, a simplistic plot line involves the superhero's struggle against an arch-nemesis or super-villain (usually interested in world domination, the acquisition of riches, or the wreaking of vengeance). They usually end with pyrotechnic showdowns.

The difficulty with listing films related to comic-book heroes is that there are so many varieties: live-action, animated and other original or adapted combinations:

The first iterations of the character were the adventurous, sci-fiction/fantasy Flash Gordon serials of the late 1930s (with Buster Crabbe as Flash and Jean Rogers as blonde Dale Arden). The action-oriented episodes were filled with fantastic spaceships, futuristic scenes and cities, monsters, and other imaginative creations:

• Flash Gordon (1936), 13 installment serial from Universal, the first Flash Gordon screen adventure, and the first pure science-fiction serial; the original and the best of its type; later condensed into a 97-minute feature film titled Flash Gordon: Rocketship; later retitled for TV viewing in the 1950s as Space Soldiers
• Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938), 15 episode serial from Universal, the sequel to the 1936 serial, with Jean Rogers as a brunette; later retitled for TV viewing in the 1950s as Space Soldiers' Trip to Mars
• Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940), 12 part serial from Universal, the third of three serials in the late 1930s; with Carol Hughes as Dale Arden; later retitled for TV viewing in the 1950s as Space Soldiers Conquer the Universe

Director Mike Hodges' campy and cartoonish Flash Gordon (1980, UK/US) starred Sam Jones as the heroic space warrior (with Melody Anderson as his attractive female companion Dale Arden), fighting Emperor Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow) on the planet Mongo and his plans for world domination - with cliff-hanger action; accompanied by a rock musical score from the band Queen; now a major cult film

Superman's first film appearance was in an animated series from Fleischer Studios from 1941-1943. Dave and Max Fleischer, in an agreement with Paramount and DC Comics, produced a series of seventeen Superman cartoons in the early 1940s. The first Superman short, Superman (1941), which premiered in 1941, introduced the terms "faster than a speeding bullet" and "Look, up in the sky!" The most famous of the series was the second entry, The Mechanical Monsters (1941) with the super-hero battling giant flying robots - and marking a redesigned Lois Lane and the first time Superman would change into his costume in a phonebooth. Also notable was The Bulleteers (1942). The Fleischers were responsible for the first ten Superman cartoons (up through Japoteurs (1942)), with the remaining shorts produced by Paramount's Famous Studios during 1942-43.

The 15 chapter action serial Superman (1948) from Columbia Pictures (directed by Thomas Carr and Spencer Gordon Bennet) appeared in the late 1940s with Kirk Alyn as the Kryptonite hero. Its sequel was another 15-episode Columbia Pictures serial, also directed by Bennet titled Atom Man vs. Superman (1950), was about Superman/Clark Kent (Kirk Alyn again) fighting against bald Lex Luthor/Atom Man (Lyle Talbot), who threatened Metropolis with a sonic vibrator and crippled the "Man of Steel" with kryptonite.

The first Superman theatrical feature film was the hour-long Superman and the Mole Men (1951), based on the TV series (from 1952-1958), The Adventures of Superman, starring George Reeves (as Superman) and Phyllis Coates (as Lois Lane). Over a year after its release, the film was split up and aired as a "two-parter" to close the first season of the early 50s TV show.

There were four Superman films (Warner Bros.) with Christopher Reeve in the lead role, from 1978-1987:

• the first major superhero feature film was director Richard Donner's blockbuster Superman: The Movie (1978), with Christopher Reeve as the superhero Man of Steel (and alter-ego Clark Kent), in love with fellow reporter Lois Lane (Margo Kidder), who could be weakened by greenish Kryptonite, and was opposed to the villainy of Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman)
• director Richard Lester's great sequel, Superman II (1980), again with Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, and Margo Kidder, featuring Superman's struggle against three evil Kryptonians (one of whom was Terence Stamp as the diabolical Zod)
• director Richard Lester's inferior second sequel, Superman III (1983), with Christopher Reeve
  
• director Sidney J. Furie's Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) featuring Christopher Reeve's fourth and final appearance
  

Director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006), the fifth film in the series since 1978, starred newcomer Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel, and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, Frank Langella as Perry White and Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent.

The film would be an unusual sequel in that it took place after the events of Superman II (1980), and pretended the events of the dismal next two sequels never took place. It stressed its place in the series by the following: it made numerous references to the first two films. It used the exact same opening credits style (zooming CGI titles of the same font type). The film also utilized John Williams' famous fanfare and score. It featured the same ending (Superman flying above the Earth at dawn and smiling at the camera before flying offscreen), and it even used Marlon Brando to play Jor-El posthumously, splicing clips from the first film into the film using CGI. In the plot, Superman - after returning to Earth after five years in space - found that Lois Lane was a single mother and Lex Luthor was still causing trouble. It was the world's first live-action Hollywood feature with selected sequences (about 20 minutes) converted from 2D to IMAX 3D.

The next planned feature film - Man of Steel (2013), was a reboot of the series, directed by Zach Snyder, and was due to star Henry Cavill as The Man of Steel.

In addition:

• the disastrous flop Supergirl (1984), with Helen Slater as the super-heroine cousin of Superman, a spin-off of the 1978 film.

Batman was the first DC Comics character to have his own serial. The earliest Batman on film was in a 15-episode serial from Columbia Pictures, titled Batman (1943). It starred Lewis Wilson as smug playboy Bruce Wayne (alias superhero Batman), "America's No. 1 crime fighter," and Douglas Croft as his "young two-fisted assistant" Robin/Richard "Dick" Grayson - the crime fighting duo against Japanese agent Dr. Tito Daka/Prince Daka (J. Carrol Naish) of Emperor Hirohito.

A second version of the Batman/Robin superhero saga, a 15-part weekly serial from Columbia Pictures, titled Batman and Robin (1949), starred Robert Lowery as Batman/Bruce Wayne ("a wealthy playboy"), who lived in the Wayne residence (with the Batcave below) located in the suburbs of Gotham City, and John Duncan as his sidekick Robin/Dick Grayson - the duo were "famed crusaders for law and order." The villain in this second series was the hooded Wizard (Leonard Penn).

The first Batman theatrical feature film was 20th Century Fox's campy Batman (1966) (aka Batman: The Movie). It was based on the mid-1960s Batman TV series, and starred members of the TV cast, including Adam West as Gotham City's caped crusader Bruce Wayne and Burt Ward as the Boy Wonder Robin. It was noted as being a parody, with camp features and tongue-in-cheek dialogue.

There were six Batman films (Warner Bros.) with four different actors in the title role, from 1989-2008, with a seventh film planned for 2012:

• director Tim Burton's Batman (1989), a noirish, dark blockbuster epic film featuring Michael Keaton as Batman, Jack Nicholson as the Joker and Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale
• director Burton's own sequel, the visually-stunning Batman Returns (1992) again with Michael Keaton - a more action-packed, gothic looking film, also with Danny DeVito as the Penguin and Michelle Pfeiffer as the Catwoman
• director Joel Schumacher's lighter Batman Forever (1995) with Val Kilmer as the hero and Chris O'Donnell as his sidekick, and a number of memorable villains, including Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Tommy Lee Jones as Harvey "Two-Face" Dent, and Nicole Kidman as the love interest Dr. Chase Meridian
• director Joel Schumacher's stylized sequel Batman and Robin (1997) with George Clooney as the hero and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy; the tongue-in-cheek tone nearly spelled the disaster of this type of super-hero film
• director Christopher Nolan's dark Batman Begins (2005), concentrating on the origins of the Batman saga/legend, with the hero (Christian Bale), Wayne's training mentor Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), trusted family butler Alfred (Michael Caine), Gotham City detective Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman), the leader of the quasi-terrorist League of Shadows group Ra’s Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) and secondary villain Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), cohort and Wayne Enterprises' chief inventor and head of R&D Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), and childhood friend and young assistant DA (Katie Holmes)
• Nolan's sequel The Dark Knight (2008), starred Christian Bale reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and deceased co-star Heath Ledger (who tragically died shortly after the film's shoot) as the villainous bank robber named the Joker; currently, the top-grossing (domestic) box-office superhero film at $533 million
• director Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises (2012), reprising Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, and also starring Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle, and Tom Hardy as villainous Bane

In addition:

• the adult-oriented, animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), based upon the popular 1990s animated TV series, with voices provided by Kevin Conroy (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Dana Delany (Andrea Beaumont), and the Joker (Mark Hamill)
• the critically-assailed film Catwoman (2004), with little relation to the previous DC Comic character portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns (1992), with Halle Berry as the whip-cracking, evil-fighting feline character adept in the Brazilian martial art of capoeira

• director Sam Raimi's record-breaking blockbuster Spider-Man (2002) was derived from the original source material (and from 52 episodes in the 1967-1970 Saturday morning cartoon series on ABC). It told of the adventures of college student Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), alias super-human Spider-Man, fighting his nemesis the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe). It was the highest-grossing superhero film of all time until surpassed by The Dark Knight (2008) six years later, knocking it into second place
• Raimi's sequel Spider-Man 2 (2004) - it was set two years into the future featuring a new villain: Dr. Otto Octavius/Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) with four mechanical tentacles. It became the third highest grossing superhero film
• Spider-Man 3 (2007), the third film in the series since 2002, was again from director Sam Raimi, with Thomas Haden Church as the villainous morphing Flint Marko (aka Sandman), and Topher Grace as Venom. Although not as popular with the critics, it became the fourth highest-grossing superhero film
  

The rebooted The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) was planned with a new director (Marc Webb) and new cast members, including a new main actor (Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man); also with Emma Stone as classmate/love interest Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard - a villainous humanoid reptile

The Incredible Hulk (1977), the popular TV series (from 1977-1982), introduced the Hulk character, first personified by Bill Bixby (and Lou Ferrigno). The first season of The Hulk included ten episodes (and two TV movies).

Later, there were the following variations (or sequels) as feature-length films:

• director Ang Lee's visually-striking and creative live-action remake The Hulk (2003) with a beastly CGI-creature (originally Dr. Bruce Banner (Eric Bana)); the Universal picture was an origins film
• director Louis Letterier's The Incredible Hulk (2008), a reboot (with a new backstory) by Marvel Studios, starred Edward Norton as mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner, pursued by The Abomination (Tim Roth) - radiation-exposed ex-KGB agent Emil Blonsky

In addition:

• director Sam Liu's animated Planet Hulk (2010), set on the distant planet of Sakaar

• director Bryan Singer's surprise hit, X-Men (2000) that starred Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan, Halle Berry as Storm, and other colorful characters, in Charles Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) school of mutant X-Men: Rogue, Magneto, Sabretooth, Toad, Cyclops, and Mystique
• director Bryan Singer's X2: X-Men United (2003) - an inevitable (and superior) sequel, with the X-Men battling against the mysterious anti-mutant militant Col. William Stryker
• director Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) (originally titled X3), the third film in the series, about the uncovering of the Dark Phoenix force

Other variations followed involving one of the X-Men characters, Wolverine/aka James Howlett or Logan (Hugh Jackman), with accelerated healing, enhanced senses, bone claws, and an adamantium skeleton:

• director Gavin Hood's X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), a derivative origin-story prequel with both Wolverine and Sabretooth
• director Darren Aronofsky's stand-alone The Wolverine (2012) - about the clawed X-Men's (Hugh Jackman) adventures with samurai while residing in Japan

Director Matthew Vaughn's mutant origin story X-Men: First Class (2011), a prequel to the first three films, was set in 1962, the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It showcased the early friendship of Professor Charles Xavier or "X" (James McAvoy) and his future rival-nemesis Magneto (Michael Fassbender) of the Brotherhood of Mutants, and how Professor X became a peaceful revolutionary leading the mutants. 20th Century Fox envisioned this film as the first film in a new trilogy.

• director Jon Favreau's and Paramount's Iron Man (2008) starred Robert Downey, Jr. in a comeback role as billionaire playboy, philanthropist, and weapons mogul Tony Stark, suited up as a flying, rocket-firing superhero. It co-starred Gwyneth Paltrow as Stark's secretary Virginia "Pepper" Potts, Terrence Howard as Lt. Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes, and Jeff Bridges as bad guy Obadiah Stane
• director Favreau's sequel Iron Man 2 (2010) - the superhero film featured a Russian-Slavic arch-nemesis - the greasy-haired Ivan Vanko/Whiplash (Mickey Rourke); also corporate weapons manufacturer rival Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), Don Cheadle as "Rhodey," and Scarlett Johansson as sexy Natalie Rushman/Russian spy Black Widow
• Iron Man 3 (2013) - TBD, with director Shane Black

• director Stephen Norrington's violent and superb hit film Blade (1998) starred Wesley Snipes as the black leather-clad, super-human vampire hunter with kung fu skills. He was opposed by the half-breed, arch-nemesis vampire Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff). This was partially an origins story.
• Mexican director Guillermo del Toro's bloody sequel, Blade II (2002) with expensive special effects. It featured Wesley Snipes reprising his popular role.
• director David S. Goyer's Blade III (2004) (aka Blade: Trinity), a second sequel

• Roger Vadim's futuristic Barbarella (1968) starred Jane Fonda as the Queen of the Galaxy comic-strip heroine
• director Mario Bava's Danger Diabolik (1968) was based upon the Italian comic Diabolik, created by Angela and Luciana Giussani; with John Phillip Law (as a super-criminal) and Marisa Mell
• TV's Wonder Woman (1974) with tennis star Cathy Lee Crosby, and TV's The New, Original Wonder Woman (1975-77) with Lynda Carter, in satin tights. It was derived from the original DC Comics strip by Charles Moulton from the late 1940s
• director Robert Altman's box-office failing musical Popeye (1980) was based on E. C. Segar's comic strip of the same name; with Robin Williams as the squinty-eyed, pipe-smoking sailor title character with muscular arms, and Shelley Duvall as stick-thin Olive Oyl
• Disney's poorly-received Condorman (1981), about a comic-book illustrator named Woody Wilkins (Michael Crawford) recruited by a CIA friend to rescue a beautiful Soviet defector Natalia (Barbara Carrera), while assuming the persona of his comic-book character: the flying "Condorman"
• director Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira (1988) was based upon the director's anime comic Akira, first published by Kodansha
• Jim Henson's and director Steven Barron's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (1990), with sewer-dwelling, crime-fighting Turtle characters Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), directed by Michael Pressman
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), directed by Stuart Gillard, set in 17th century Japan
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2007), a CGI-animated film that was a sequel to the live-action film series - it took place after the second film in 1991 and pretended the events of the third film never occurred
• co-writer/director/star and producer Warren Beatty's stylish Dick Tracy (1990) featured cartoonist Chester Gould's Gotham City detective Dick Tracy (portrayed by yellow-garbed Warren Beatty)
  • Dick Tracy was originally a 1930s serial, beginning with Dick Tracy (1937) and Dick Tracy Returns (1938), starring Ralph Byrd
• director Sam Raimi's comic-book style action-horror film Darkman (1990) starred Liam Neeson as vengeful burn victim scientist Dr. Peyton Westlake/Darkman, a tormented hero with synthetic skin
  • Darkman 2: The Return of Durant (1994), directed by Bradford May; Arnold Vosloo replaced Liam Neeson; direct-to-video
  • Darkman III: Die Darkman Die (1996), also directed by Bradford May; also direct-to-video
• director Albert Pyun's Captain America (1990) starred Matt Salinger as Steve Rogers/Captain America - a superhuman warrior wearing red/white/blue. This film about the Marvel Comics character was never given a widespread US theatrical release, but went straight to DVD/cable TV in 1992 after some delays. The character of Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby as a comic-book character in 1941, debuting in Captain America Comics.
• director Joe Johnston's and Disney's The Rocketeer (1991) was based upon the comic-book character created by writer/artist Dave Stevens in 1982. It told about a top-secret jetpack (sought by Nazi spies) that propelled a young 1930s stunt flyer (unknown actor Billy Campbell as Cliff Secord) into being a super-hero, opposite Jennifer Connelly as Jenny Blake. The action film was well-received by critics, but bombed at the box-office
• writer/director/star Robert Townsend's and MGM's Meteor Man (1993) about a Washington DC school teacher named Jefferson Reed (Townsend) who became a superhero after being struck by a glowing green meteorite with super-powers, who came to the aid of his beleaguered and gang-terrorized neighborhood
• producer Roger Corman's low-budget The Fantastic Four (1994) was based upon the Marvel Comics comic book. The film explained the origins of the 'fantastic four' who were given superpowers when exposed to cosmic rays from a passing comet, while in an experimental spacecraft. The four individuals were: Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Alex Hyde-White), Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman (Rebecca Staab), Johnny Storm/The Human Torch (Jay Underwood), and Ben Grimm (Michael Bailey Smith), who battled against Doctor Doom (Joseph Culp). The film was never theatrically released nor available on home video
• the comic-book styled fantasy comedy The Mask (1994) starred Jim Carrey as geeky banker Stanley Ipkiss who was transformed into a frenetic and zany Tex Avery-like superhuman by a magical mask
  • Son of the Mask (2005), released over a decade later, an awful sequel (and flop) with Jamie Kennedy substituting for Carrey
• director Russell Mulcahy's and Universal's The Shadow (1994) was based upon the Walter B. Gibson character created in 1931, played by Alec Baldwin (aka Lamont Cranston). It was one of the least successful of the super-hero films, thereby failing to become a franchise
• 20th Century Fox's commercially-oriented movie Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers: The Movie (1995) was derived from the popular kids TV series about a group of six teenaged Power Rangers with super-hero powers. It was heavily-marketed with Power Ranger toys
  • Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997), a sequel
• the adapted, cultish midnight film Tank Girl (1995), based upon the underground British comic-book punk heroine
• director Simon Wincer's The Phantom (1996) was based upon the comic strip The Phantom created by Lee Falk (and the Columbia Pictures' low-budget 15-chapter cliffhanger serials of 1943 starring Tom Tyler). It starred Billy Zane as the crimefighter. The Paramount film was a box-office failure, curtailing plans for further sequels
• the fantasy adventure/horror film Spawn (1997) was derived from the Image Comics' leading character. It featured the debut of the dark character created by comic book artist (and executive producer) Todd McFarlane - the vengeful, super-powered anti-hero from Hell named Spawn (Michael Jai White)
  • followed by the animated sequels Spawn 2 (1998) and Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle (1999)
• writer/director Kenneth Johnson's urban-oriented superhero film Steel (1997), with basketball star Shaquille O'Neal as the title character Steel (aka weapons inventor-designer John Henry Irons) ; the armor-clad character was a spin-off from a 1993 appearance in Reign of the Supermen! comics (a Superman derivative)
• director Kinka Usher's debut film and offbeat comic spoof Mystery Men (1999) was based upon Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot Comics, now published by Image Comics. The Universal film starred Ben Stiller (as Mr. Furious), William H. Macy (as Shoveler), Hank Azaria (as the Blue Raja), Geoffrey Rush (as the villainous Casanova Frankenstein) - and more
• the original comedy biopic American Splendor (2003) from directors/screenwriters Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, starred Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar, a real-life comic book writer. The screenplay was based on Pekar's comic book series American Splendor, which he had been writing since 1976 on Dark Horse Comics, and the 1994 book-length comic Our Cancer Year co-authored with soulmate Joyce Barber (Hope Davis)
• director Mark Steven Johnson's sci-fi action thriller Daredevil (2003) was based upon the popular Marvel Comics' character. The film starred Ben Affleck as lawyer-by-day Matthew Murdock - a blind (but sense-enhanced) crime-fighting masked super-hero at night. It also included the appearance of Jennifer Garner (TV's Alias star) as female assassin Elektra Natchios - a future spin-off character
  • director Rob Bowman's martial-arts ninja comic-book action film spinoff flop Elektra (2005) starred Jennifer Garner as the Greek title character assassin Elektra Natchios. The film was derived from the equally disastrous Daredevil (2003) a few years earlier
• director Guillermo del Toro's and Columbia Pictures' Hellboy (2004) was based on Mike Mignola's Hellboy published by Dark Horse Comics and the miniseries The Seed of Destruction. It starred Ron Perlman (as the monstrous horned creature from Hades), Selma Blair, and John Hurt
  • Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008), d. Guillermo del Toro, with Perlman reprising his title role
• director/screenwriter Brad Bird's ingenious blockbusting and Oscar-winning Best Animated Feature, The Incredibles (2004), was the sixth collaboration between Disney and Pixar. It was about paunchy Bob "Mr. Incredible" Parr (voice of Craig T. Nelson), an ex-do-good Superhero suffering a mid-life crisis and living under-cover in suburbia, with his restless wife Helen (voice of Holly Hunter) - former rubber-limbed masked vigilante Elastigirl, and their superhero children. The family was lured back into super-herodom against the evil Syndrome (voice of Jason Lee)
• director Jonathan Hensleigh's The Punisher (2004) was an action-based comic-book superhero film, based on a Marvel Comics character first introduced in 1974. It was a frontier-style vengeful vigilante in modern-day urban America. It was first filmed in Australia in 1989 in a straight-to-video release by director Mark Goldblatt
  • a reboot and sequel, Punisher: War Zone (2008)
• 20th Century Fox's and director Tim Story's Fantastic Four (2005) was about a group of four super-powered astronauts (due to cosmic radiation exposure to a passing comet) who opposed enemy Doctor Victor Von Doom (Julian McMahon). The four included: Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd) - a stretchable and rubbery Mr. Fantastic, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba) - the Invisible Woman, cocky Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) - the Human Torch, and Ben Grimm (Michael Chiklis) - the rock-hard The Thing
  • Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), a sequel also directed by Tim Story; additionally with Doug Jones as Norin Radd/The Silver Surfer
• director Robert Rodriguez' Sin City (2005) was adapted from Frank Miller's Eisner Award-winning comic series of graphic, noir-like stories, beginning in the early 90s with Sin City
• Nick Fury: Agent of Shield (2006) was a made-for-TV pilot, starring David Hasselhoff as Stan Lee's James Bond-like secret agent
• director James McTeigue's V for Vendetta (2006) was based on the comic book series by Alan Moore (illustrated by David Lloyd), and produced/screenwritten by the Wachowski brothers. The story was set in the dystopian future in the UK. The first episodes of V for Vendetta were originally published in black-and-white between 1982 and 1985, in Warrior, a British anthology comic published by Quality Comics, and then reprinted and continued after 1988 by DC Comics
• Columbia Pictures' and writer/director Mark Steven Johnson's Ghost Rider (2007) was about a stuntman motorcycler-turned supernatural superhero (anti-hero vigilante) named Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage)
  • the sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012), set several years after the first film
• writer/director Frank Miller's The Spirit (2008), a noirish super-hero film based on Will Eisner's comic-strip The Spirit, starring Gabriel Macht as Denny Colt (aka the masked crimefighter The Spirit) battling his arch-nemesis The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson); Scarlett Johansson co-starred as femme fatale Silken Floss
• director Zack Snyder's Watchmen (2009) was based upon the DC Comics comic-book by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. The Warners' film presented a multi-generational history of many super-hero ("costumed adventurer") characters, including Daniel Dreiberg/Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), Adrian Veidt/Ozymandias (Matthew Goode), Sally Jupiter/Silk Spectre (Carla Gugino), Laurie Jupiter/Silk Spectre II (Malin Akerman), and Billy Crudup as villainous Dr. Jonathan Osterman/Doctor Manhattan
• director Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass (2010), a violent dark action drama/comedy about a New York teenager Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a comic-book fan, who dreamt of being a super-hero known as Kick-Ass; controversial for its obscenities and a particularly violent profanity-spewing character known as Hit-Girl (11 year-old Chloe Moretz)

• director Michel Gondry's and Columbia Pictures' The Green Hornet (2011) starred Seth Rogen as the Green Hornet/Britt Reid and Jay Chou as his sidekick Kato. It was based on the 1930s radio serial show (debuting in 1936) and comic book series about the adventures of the masked crime-fighting super hero and billionaire vigilante (Britt Reid, aka Green Hornet) and his martial arts sidekick Kato. [The Green Hornet was also a mid-60s TV series with Van Williams as the Green Hornet and Bruce Lee as his martial-arts sidekick, Kato.] The characters were created by Fran Striker and George Trendle, the same team who created The Lone Ranger and his faithful sidekick Tonto. (Universal's 13-episode serial The Green Hornet (1940) starred Gordon Jones as the crusading hero Britt Reid (the Green Hornet) - a modern-day 'Robin Hood.')
• director Kenneth Branagh's and Paramount's Thor (2011), another Marvel Comics production, starred Chris Hemsworth as the mythic title character, an Asgardian god (golden, hammer-wielding Norse god of Thunder), battling his villainous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston). It also starred Natalie Portman as astro-physicist Jane Foster
  • the planned sequel Thor 2 (2013) - TBD
• director Martin Campbell's and Warners' Green Lantern (2011), another DC Comics character, starred Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, a USAF top-gun test jet pilot with a supernatural, magical alien green power-ring, and a pulsating, shiny skin-tight green power suit. He was recruited to be in an intergalactic police force, patrolling Earth to keep the universe safe from a tentacled floating glob called Parallax that took over the spirit of Professor Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard), transforming him into a malevolent, vengeful telekinetic villain. Jordan was selected by the magic ring to become the first earthling member of an army of warriors known as the Green Lantern Corps. It also starred Blake Lively as Hal's love interest Carol Ferris
  • related to Green Lantern: First Flight (2009), an animated DC Comics feature film, with Christopher Meloni as the voice of Hal Jordan; direct-to-video
• director Joe Johnston's Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) was another superhero film derived from Marvel Comics, and distributed by Paramount. Set in 1942, it featured the WWII patriotic, Stars & Stripes shield-bearing bionically-enhanced US super-soldier Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans) battling against Hitler's disfigured weapons specialist Johann Schmidt/Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), who went rogue to pursue his own plans for world domination. (The 15-episode Captain America (1944) by directors John English and Elmer Clifton, the last Republic Pictures serial ever made about superheroes, starred Dick Purcell as the comic-book hero Captain America/aka DA Grant Gardner.)
• writer/director Joss Whedon's and Disney's superhero ensemble film The Avengers (2012), from Marvel Studios. It featured a slew of iconic Marvel Comics superheroes, including Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Iron Man 2's Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), hammer-pounding Thor (Chris Hemsworth), the Incredible Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and archer Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). One-eyed, eye-patch-wearing spymaster Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), the leader of a government high-tech law enforcement agency named S.H.I.E.L.D., brought together the team of good-guy Avengers to combat a galactic threat to Earth, led by Thor's villainous brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston).