Beloved Superhero Movies That Never Got A Sequel
Once upon a time, superhero aficionados had to get their fix in the pages of comic books. On rare occasions, the adventures of those heroes were taken to the screen, with characters like Captain America and Batman starring in serialized adventures as early as the 1940s. The colorful camp of the "Batman" TV series in the '60s brought comic books to new mainstream popularity, setting the stage for the rise of blockbuster comic book movies in the late 20th century. Now, multiplexes are bursting with superhero movies, a genre that has grown to become one of Hollywood's most lucrative; in fact, four of the top 10 highest-grossing movies of all time have their roots in the pages of comics.
Of course, hit films inevitably breed sequels, and films featuring Iron Man, Spider-Man, Ant-Man, Superman, Batman and various other super-powered types with "man" in their names have habitually returned for various big-screen adventures. Yet that hasn't always been the case. Over the years, there have been plenty of movies featuring comic book-derived heroes that, for whatever reason, were one and done, with no sequels ever produced. Here are the often surprising reasons some superhero movies stand alone.
Black Adam
For years, pro wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne Johnson spoke about launching his own superhero franchise, and in 2014 confirmed that hero (or antihero) would DC Comics' Black Adam. The film was a long time coming, finally arriving in 2022. Any doubts that "Black Adam" was intended to launch in a multi-film franchise were laid to rest in a last-minute post-credits scene that featured Johnson's character encountering Superman himself, with Henry Cavill briefly reprising his role as the Man of Steel. Fans could certainly be excused for assuming the scene was setting up a sure-to-be epic confrontation between the two in a sequel. And although critics were unenthused, the film's solid take at the box office of nearly $400 million worldwide seemed to guarantee a second film.
But an unexpected twist occurred. In October 2022, Peter Safran and "Guardians of the Galaxy" director James Gunn were tapped to head DC Studios. As it turned out, Gunn's vision for the future of the DC cinematic universe didn't include Cavill's return as Superman — or Black Adam.
In a 2023 sitdown with frequent co-star Kevin Hart on his "Hart to Heart" talk show, Johnson explained what had gone down. "I think that 'Black Adam' got caught in a vortex of new leadership," he said, blaming the changes at the top of the company for scuttling his dream of a Black Adam franchise. "And that will always be one of the biggest mysteries, I think, not only for me and us on our end, but also throughout our business."
Daredevil
The hopes of Marvel fans were high when Ben Affleck was cast as Daredevil, the blind lawyer whose loss of sight gifts him with near superhuman abilities by significantly heightening all his other senses. Ultimately, the film was a bust with critics, earning reviews that were largely negative, even if the box office was solid, bringing in a worldwide total exceeding $179 million. While that was enough to greenlight a spin-off movie featuring Jennifer Garner's Elektra, the studio decided not to move ahead with a sequel. Of course, fans know Daredevil returned more than a decade later with a TV series version that was far more warmly received.
Reflecting on his film on the occasion of its 20th anniversary, writer-director Mark Steven Johnson shouldered the blame for the film's artistic failure. "Looking back on it, one of the mistakes I made with the film was wanting to put everything in!" Johnson told Yahoo! Entertainment, noting that he wanted to tell Daredevil's origin story, introduce a whole cast of supporting characters, and also unravel an engaging story — confessing he fell short on that last one.
In addition, Johnson revealed that a sequel had been on the table, but hinged on the success of "Elektra." When that flopped, plans for a second "Daredevil" evaporated. "I didn't work on the Elektra movie at all, but that one didn't work out and then everything kind of went away, unfortunately," he said.
The Punisher
When it comes to comic book antiheroes, they don't come nastier than Marvel's Punisher. The character was first brought to the screen in 1989's "The Punisher" — a movie thought to be direct-to-VHS but actually got a limited theatrical release — with Dolph Lundren starring as Frank Castle, who becomes a deadly vigilante after the murder of his family. Thomas Jane assumed the role in 2004's "The Punisher," which brought in a respectable worldwide box office gross of $54.7 million on a budget of $33 million. While fans expected a sequel, what came next was essentially a reboot, with Ray Stevenson playing the role in 2008's "The Punisher: War Zone." (Jon Bernthal played the character in a subsequent Netflix series.)
So why was there a reboot and not a sequel? According to Jane, there actually were plans for him to star in a second "Punisher" movie. As he revealed during an appearance at Fanboy Expo Knoxville (as reported by MovieWeb), a sequel was in development, with rocker and horror filmmaker Rob Zombie attached as director. The team at Marvel, Jane said, weren't onboard with Zombie's vision, and went in search of another director. They finally settled on Walter Hill, an industry veteran who'd helmed such hits as "48 Hrs." and "The Warriors."
A big fan of Hill's work, Jane was thrilled — until Marvel bafflingly went in another direction. "They ended up saying no to Walter Hill for reasons that are beyond my ability to comprehend," said Jane. When Marvel suggested a replacement director whom Jane felt wasn't up to snuff, he walked away.
Spawn
Based on the comic book creation of Todd McFarlane, the 1997 movie "Spawn" followed assassin Al Simmons (Michael Jai White), who's double-crossed by his boss (Martin Sheen) and murdered. That's when he makes a deal with the demon Malebolgia (Frank Welker) to return to the world he knew as in exchange for becoming a soldier in Hell's Army. A modest success, the film earned back more than double its $40 million budget and went on to become a cult hit. Still, that wasn't enough for the studio, New Line Cinema, to develop a sequel.
In the meantime, McFarlane brought the character to the screen in a fan-favorite animated series for HBO, which won an Emmy in 1999. Since then, McFarlane has been working to get another "Spawn" movie made, one which he envisions as more of a reboot than sequel. In a 2005 interview with IGN, McFarlane explained a new vision for an R-rated feature in which Spawn's role would be similar to that of the shark in "Jaws," a malevolent and mostly unseen entity whose presence looms large in the storyline.
In 2013, McFarlane revealed he was still working on a "Spawn" reboot, divulging he was supposed to have a script ready by the end of that year, with the film to go into production soon after. Another update came in 2022, when Jamie Foxx — who'd become attached to star — told ComicBook.com that the long-gestating project would be comparable to the way director Todd Philipps reimagined Batman's iconic nemesis in "Joker." So ... stay tuned.
Hancock
2008's "Hancock" wasn't exactly a typical superhero movie. Will Smith plays the titular hero, a drunken, loutish creep whose superpowers prove to be more of a curse than a blessing — for both him and the citizens of the city he continually destroys in his botched attempts at heroism. A big-budget production that reportedly cost $150 million to make, "Hancock" proved to be a worldwide smash, with international box-office receipts exceeding $629 million.
With numbers like that, "Hancock 2" would seem to be a no-brainer — so why didn't it happen? Well, it was supposed to. In September 2009, director Peter Berg told MTV News that a sequel was in the works, with Smith and co-stars Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman all onboard. According to Berg, the story had been broken and writers hired. "Hopefully we'll have a script soon. It's something everybody's anxious to get involved with," he said at the time.
Just a few months later, however, Berg was singing a very different tune. "To get us all in the same room where we can talk and then agree on anything? You'll never meet a group of people who will have a harder time agreeing on anything. It's like the Israeli peace process times a thousand in how tough it is for us all," he said, as reported by Digital Spy. He did, however, insist he was confident that "Hancock 2" would eventually get made; as of yet, it has not.
Mystery Men
Arguably among the weirdest superhero movies ever made, 1999's "Mystery Men" — based on characters who debuted in bonkers "Flaming Carrot" comics — featured as bizarre a collection of superheroes ever assembled. There's the Shoveler (played by William H. Macy, whose superpower is proficient digging), Bowler (Janeane Garafolo, who fights crime with a bowling ball), and Ben Stiller's Mr. Furious, who becomes really, really angry. They and the rest of their oddball team take on the forces of evil, led by criminal mastermind Casanova Frankenstein (Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush).
The film was a box office bomb, recouping less than half of its $68 million budget. That pretty much quashed any hopes for a sequel — or did it? In the years since, "Mystery Men" has evolved into something of a cult favorite, with the ever-expanding fanbase clamoring for a sequel.
One of the film's stars, in fact, has been pushing for a sequel: Kel Mitchell, who played Invisible Boy. "I want it," Mitchell told ComicBook.com in 2023, revealing he'd spoken to co-star Hank Azaria — who played Blue Raja — about a potential sequel. "I've got a fun idea for that one, too. We're gonna be talking to Ben [Stiller] about that," he added. Asked to share some hints about his pitch, Mitchell responded, "Let's just say 'origin story.' You know, we were the first superhero team-up before 'The Avengers' and all those [superhero movies] started doing that."
Sky High
Prior to Disney's acquisition of Marvel, the studio dipped its toe into the superhero genre with 2005's "Sky High." Set in a world crawling with super-powered folks, the film follows the journey of superhero-in-training Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano), who attends a floating high school for super-powered teens, urged on by his superhero parents, Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston).
Disney's brightly colorful family flick was something of an anomaly when compared to other superhero movies of the era that presented a far darker take on the genre, particularly Christopher Nolan's first entry into the "Dark Knight" trilogy, "Batman Begins." Still, the film performed well at the box office, bringing in close to $90 million internationally, nearly three times its modest budget of $35 million.
According to director Mike Mitchell, Disney initially intended to spin off "Sky High" as a TV series, with all the actors (except for Russell and Preston) having signed on for the show. "That was going to be Disney's plan," Mitchell told Gizmodo. When "Sky High" wasn't the blockbuster Disney had hoped, those plans were shelved. Still, there was enough faith in the potential for a sequel that Mitchell and some writers conceived of a second film, "Save U," in which the characters would graduate high school and take the next step in their training at Save University. "I am hugely proud of it and they should make it a franchise," Mitchell said of his film.
The Green Hornet
Based on a history in radio and comic books dating back to the 1930s, the Green Hornet was adapted for television in the 1960s, with Van Johnson playing the titular masked vigilante and martial arts legend Bruce Lee as his "manservant" Kato. After "Iron Man" and "The Dark Knight" kickstarted a superhero boom at the box office, the character was revived in 2011. This time, comedy star Seth Rogen took on the title role, joined by Jay Chou as Kato. With a budget of $120 million, a script from Rogen and longtime collaborator Evan Goldberg, and Michel Gondry ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind") tapped to direct, "The Green Hornet" earned mixed reviews and $227 million at the box office.
Given all that, a sequel shouldn't have been out of the question; however, "Green Hornet" producer Neal Moritz told The Hollywood Reporter why it never happened. "The movie did almost $250 million and was actually very well liked, but we made the movie for too much money," he said, citing the high cost of filming in Los Angeles and additional millions to release it in 3D. "If I had done it in a tax-rebate state and not done 3D, it would have been considered a huge financial success for the studio. So we're not making a sequel right now."
While a sequel may be DOA, plans for a reboot have been bandied about for some time. In 2020, the rights to the property were obtained by Amasia Entertainment, with plans to develop a new movie.
The Phantom
"The Phantom" is another comic property with long history, first appearing in newspaper comic strips in the 1930s. Paramount brought the masked crimefighter — known as "the ghost who walks" — to the screen in 1996, with future "Titanic" star Billy Zane in the leading role. While Zane had signed up for two sequels, the low-budget film's old-timey vibe and so-so script did little to win over either critics or filmgoers, resulting in meh reviews and an anemic box-office take of just $17 million that cratered plans for a franchise.
More than a decade later, the Phantom re-emerged — on the small screen, this time, when the SyFy network greenlit a TV miniseries that debuted the following year. "Desperate Housewives" alum Ryan Carnes took over the role, with plans that the miniseries — promoted by the network as a "four-hour movie event" — would serve as a backdoor pilot for a full-fledged series. Soft ratings and poor reviews ensured that didn't happen.
Over the years, rumors have occasionally emerged of a reboot, "The Phantom Legacy," but those plans never quite came to fruition. Still, Zane has expressed interest in returning to the role. "To be honest, a Phantom return would be quite interesting. 20 years later, it's a father-to-son business and a bit of a hand-off," Zane told ComicBook.com. "So, right out of the comic universe, I'd say that character would be a hoot."
The Rocketeer
Boasting a retro art deco-inspired look, Disney's "The Rocketeer" zoomed into theaters in 1991 — and promptly took a big ol' nosedive. Starring Billy Campbell as the titular Rocketeer, the story of a cocky pilot who uses a prototype jetpack to take on Nazis flopped at the box office, earning an anemic $46.7 million. Although plans were in place for a sequel, the box office pretty much kyboshed Disney's ambitious plans for a franchise.
Fast forward 25 years, with "The Rocketeer" now viewed as an ahead-of-its-time cult favorite, and plans are being forged for a reboot. In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter reported a rebooted "Rocketeer" was in development. In 2021, Deadline reported that David Oyelowo and wife Jessica were producing a sequel, a Disney+ movie to be titled "The Return of the Rocketeer," which would potentially star the "Selma" actor as a former Tuskegee airman who takes over the jetpack as the new titular hero.
Oyelowo offered an update in a 2022 interview with TheWrap, revealing that the script was still being written and there was still no director attached. "I was a big fan of the first one. Actually had the poster up in my bedroom as a teenager. It's a beloved property over [at Disney], so to be trusted with it is a real privilege," he said. "We're going to take care of the fans of the original and hopefully bring in a whole new fanbase."
Chronicle
Released amidst the glut of theatrical superhero flicks in 2012 — including "The Avengers," "The Amazing Spider-Man," "The Dark Knight Rises," and several more — "Chronicle" put a very different spin on the genre. The found footage film follows a group of teenage boys who discover a mysterious substance that gives them telekinetic powers, ultimately setting them on a dark path. Made for just $12 million, the film became a surprise hit by grossing more than $126 million. Director Josh Trank was quickly tapped to reinvigorate another superhero franchise; unfortunately, the less said about his critically lambasted and downright disastrous 2015 "Fantastic Four" reboot, the better.
Meanwhile, the studio then known as Fox (with the Disney acquisition looming in its near future) was proceeding with a "Chronicle" sequel — without Trank's involvement. With surprising honesty, he admitted he intentionally tried to derail the project. "I made it difficult for them to set up meetings. I was dodgy about stuff. I did a lot of s****y things. Because I really didn't ever want to see 'Chronicle 2' happen," Trank told Polygon in 2020. "That was my worst nightmare. First of all, I'm not doing it. Second, if somebody else does it, then you know it's gonna be a piece of s***."
The following year, however, producer John Davis confirmed a female-led "Chronicle" sequel was moving forward. "We're working on 'Chronicle 2' right now, and I think it's going to be great," he told Forbes of the film, set 10 years after the original. "We're going to tell it from the female point of view," he said.
The Specials
These days, James Gunn is known for his trilogy of "Guardians of the Galaxy" movies and his role as head of Warner Bros.' DC Studios. Back in 2000, he was still a few years away from making his directorial debut when he wrote the screenplay for "The Specials," a quirky, comedic take on the superhero genre. Starring Rob Lowe and Thomas Haden Church as, respectively, the Weevil and the Strobe, the low-budget indie centered on a team of third-rate superheroes.
While the film kind of came and went at the time, it remains a cult favorite among fans — and, given Gunn's track record in the years that followed, could be ripe for a sequel. While Gunn has never discussed any plans for "The Specials 2," he did open up about its origins during an appearance promoting the film at the 2000 edition of San Diego Comic-Con, revealing he found himself more interested in superheroes' interpersonal dynamics than in whatever battle they were facing at the time.
"I've also always been interested in people's jobs, and the fact that any job we have, whether it be a rock star or an actor or a film director or what, it ends up being a job, the same as working at a furniture store," he told the now-defunct Daily Radar (as reported by Fanboy Planet). "In a lot of ways, 'The Specials' is about that; they're superheroes but they've gotten used to it. It's the same as working at The Gap."
Justice League
If ever a superhero movie seemed destined for success it was "Justice League," the 2017 film that teamed up Henry Cavill's Superman, Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, and Ben Affleck's Batman. In the midst of production, director Zack Snyder and his wife, producer Deborah Snyder, were forced to exit the film to deal with a family tragedy. Joss Whedon, who'd directed "The Avengers" and its first sequel, was brought in to finish the film and reshoot much of what Snyder had already gotten in the can. The resulting movie proved to be a critical disaster and a box office flop, losing the studio approximately $60 million amid largely lousy reviews.
After years of fans' begging, Snyder unveiled his long-awaited "Snyder Cut" of the movie, which debuted in 2021 on HBO Max. Gone were most of Whedon's comedic touches, as Snyder imbued the film with a darker tone — including a new scene featuring Affleck and Jared Leto as the Joker, reprising the role he originated in "Suicide Squad."
During a 2021 appearance at IGN Fan Fest, Snyder revealed that "Justice League" was originally intended to be a trilogy. While "Snyder Cut" fans may harbor hope that his planned sequels could be made, Snyder himself does not. "Warner Bros. has been aggressively anti-Snyder, if you will," Snyder told Jake's Takes of DC Studios' new direction since James Gunn and Peter Safran took charge. "What can I say? Clearly they're not interested in my takes."