Marvel's Scarlett Johansson And Samuel L. Jackson First Crossed Paths In This Awful DC Movie

Comic book cinema has mostly been good to actors Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson, who portray S.H.I.E.L.D. leader Nick Fury and the superhero Black Widow, respectively, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The pair have each appeared in a number of Marvel movies, with Johansson even getting a stand-alone "Black Widow" film in 2021. Back in 2008, however, they starred in a comic book movie together that has far worse reviews than even the most-hated MCU entry — Frank Miller's "The Spirit," based on the DC Comics character by Will Eisner. 

After the success of director Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of Miller's comic series "Sin City" in 2005 and Zack Snyder's adaptation of Miller's graphic novel "300" in 2006, Miller was seemingly given free rein to create his own adaptation of "The Spirit." Eisner was Miller's hero, and there are elements of the neo-noir weirdness of "The Spirit" in much of Miller's work, so it seemed like a perfect fit, but unfortunately, "The Spirit" is almost bafflingly bad, and even Johansson and Jackson couldn't rescue this wreck from itself. 

"The Spirit" stars Gabriel Macht as the titular superhero, the Spirit, who has ghost-like powers and fights against the evil supervillain Octopus, who is trying to take over the Spirit's home of Central City and achieve immortality by using the mystical Blood of Heracles. The movie is visually fascinating, taking cues from the look of "Sin City," mixing desaturated elements with pops of red, but it's also a confusing mess with a convoluted plot and some truly bizarre choices. Was it necessary to dress Jackson and Johansson in Nazi regalia while they torture the Spirit in a dentist's chair, or for Johansson's character, Silken Floss, to murder her pet kitten Muffin by melting it? "The Spirit" is weird, and it's mean, and no amount of looking kind of cool can save it, which is frankly typical of a lot of Miller's output. 

While Miller was able to contribute to "Sin City" and helped make it one of the most authentic comic book adaptations out there, his work on "The Spirit" was a massive swing and a miss, crafting one of the worst comic book movies of all time. Some of Miller's comic books have been hugely influential, and his contributions to both the "Daredevil" and "Batman" comics have been massive, but it turns out that the guy just really can't direct a movie. Thank goodness the experience didn't sour Jackson or Johansson on comic book flicks, at least, because we still got to see them tear it up in the MCU.