The superhero genre has grown exponentially since its earliest days thanks to the MCU and DCU, but I’m convinced that the best year for the genre was over a decade ago. There have been many pivotal moments throughout the history of the superhero genre. The MCU is largely to thank, with the success of Iron Man launching the most successful cinematic franchise of all time and spurring DC to follow suit with the DCEU. Then there are early examples of superhero movies that all fans of the genre should watch, comprising timeless pioneers of the genre that still hold up.
I’m glad to see that the genre has generally flourished with time, however. Learning from a backlog of past mistakes and modeling newer movies on the successes of yesteryear seems to generally be a winning formula, though I’m totally on board with superhero movie studios pushing boundaries and experimenting with newer tropes. In fact, bold ventures are exactly what helped one year, in particular, become the best year for superhero movies, though I also think that this is thanks to how influential the superhero movies within it became.
The Superhero Genre Has Had A Wide Selection Of Very Strong Years
Some Years Stand Out More Than Others
I realize that picking one year out of the last two decades is bound to be a contentious issue thanks to the sheer wealth of incredible movies that have been produced. After all, the year that launched the MCU with Iron Man, namely 2008, was also home to one of the greatest superhero movies ever made: The Dark Knight. 2014 was also a stacked year as some of the biggest creative risks taken with Marvel movies paid off in spades with the releases of Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.
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More recently, box office records were smashed in 2019 as Avengers: Endgame became the highest-grossing movie of all time and Joker was the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time with both being huge cultural phenomenons. Subsequent years may have seen the genre struggle under its own weight, but 2021 helped turn the tide as movies like The Suicide Squad, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, and Spider-Man: No Way Home proved a new propensity for listening to fan demand. Still, there’s one year almost a decade prior that helped shape the modern genre as we know it.
2012 Might Just Be The Best Year For Superhero Movies In The Genre’s Entire History For 2 Strong Reasons
2012 Was A Turning Point For The Superhero Movie Genre
2012 was right in the middle of the superhero movie golden age. The MCU was in full swing, there was still widespread positive sentiment surrounding Sony’s Spider-Man movies, and DC’s offerings were in the hands of a true auteur, Christopher Nolan. In fact, The Dark Knight Rises was one reason that I believe 2012 takes the crown, while the MCU’s The Avengers is the other. Both represented superhero cinema at its zenith, standing out as both the best of what the genre could offer while changing the landscape for its future.
2012 also saw the release of The Amazing Spider-Man and Dredd, which both earned a lot of praise.
The Dark Knight Rises helped to prove that a superhero trilogy could end successfully whereas Spider-Man 3 and X-Men: The Last Stand shook confidence in the formula. The Avengers, meanwhile, was a bold culmination of the MCU’s throughline and stands as a paragon of what a cinematic universe can accomplish. Both movies also broke $1 billion, proving just how popular the genre had become and paving the way for the deluge of superhero movies that followed. Without these incredible superhero movie wins, I wonder whether Marvel and DC would have felt as emboldened to take even bigger risks today.
The MCU & DCU’s Future Could Make A New Best Year For Superhero Movies
The DCU Could Turn The Tide For DC While The MCU’s Future Looks Bright
While I’m well aware that Marvel and DC have suffered some substantial slip-ups between 2012 and now, I am optimistic that the ship is being steadied. The unfortunate fate of Sony’s Spider-Man universe notwithstanding, I think 2024 was a great year for quality over quantity with the MCU, with Deadpool & Wolverine helping to stay the course of the MCU following a disappointing 2023. I’m also incredibly excited about the MCU’s 2025 offerings, while future MCU installments like Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4 paint a promising picture for the years to come.
With all of these top-quality MCU and DCU properties waiting in the wings, I think that the next best year for superhero movies may be closer than we think.
Yet DC’s cinematic prospects make me confident that a new best year is forthcoming. James Gunn’s new vision for the DCU fills me with enthusiasm, and I believe it has every opportunity to measure up to the quality of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight franchise. Matt Reeves’ The Batman trilogy will also continue for the next few years, and we also have Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse to look forward to. With all of these top-quality MCU and DCU properties waiting in the wings, I think that the next best year for superhero movies may be closer than we think.
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Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
- Cast
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Robert Downey Jr.
, Chris Evans
, Scarlett Johansson
, Samuel L. Jackson
, Jeremy Renner
, Chris Hemsworth
, Mark Ruffalo
, Edward Norton
, Paul Rudd
, Tom Holland
, Tom Hiddleston
, Anthony Mackie
, Cobie Smulders
, Brie Larson
, Chadwick Boseman
, Sebastian Stan
, Chris Pratt
, Dave Bautista
, Zoe Saldana
, Bradley Cooper
, Vin Diesel
, Pom Klementieff
, Josh Brolin
, Karen Gillan
, Clark Gregg
, Paul Bettany
, Don Cheadle
, Benedict Cumberbatch
, Evangeline Lilly
, Simu Liu
, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
, Angelina Jolie
, Kit Harington
, Salma Hayek
, Richard Madden
, Barry Keoghan
, Gemma Chan
, Ma Dong-seok
, Brian Tyree Henry
, Kumail Nanjiani
, Lauren Ridloff
, Lia McHugh
, Jonathan Majors
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DC Universe
The DC Universe is one of the biggest comic book franchises and often competes with Marvel. DC Comics started as National Allied Publications, founded by Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson in 1935. Since then, the franchise has exploded with thousands of comic books, movies, TV shows, and video games. 2013 marked the beginning of the most recent iteration of the superheroes, with Zack Snyder introducing Henry Cavill as Superman. After several movies with mixed reviews, DC underwent a soft reboot under the helm of James Gunn and Peter Safran.
- Created by
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Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson
- Cast
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Henry Cavill
, Ben Affleck
, Gal Gadot
, Ezra Miller
, Ray Fisher
, Jason Momoa
, Amy Adams
, Jesse Eisenberg
, Laurence Fishburne
, Jeremy Irons
, Will Smith
, Jared Leto
, Margot Robbie
, Joel Kinnaman
, Viola Davis
, Jai Courtney
, Jay Hernandez
, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
, Cara Delevingne
, Chris Pine
, Robin Wright
, Zachary Levi
, Dwayne Johnson
, Amber Heard
, Patrick Wilson
, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
, Mark Strong
, Asher Angel
, Jack Dylan Grazer
, Djimon Hounsou
, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
, Jurnee Smollett
, Rosie Perez
, Ella Jay Basco
, Ali Wong
, Ewan McGregor
, Idris Elba
, John Cena
, Michael Keaton
, George Clooney
, Xolo Mariduena
