Whether the movies were poorly received, flew under the radar, or just came out too dang long ago, there are stacks of superhero films you’ve probably never heard of, starring actors you’vedefinitelyheard of. How many of these famous actors did you realize played superheroes before?
Liam Neeson
Dr Peyton Westlake,Liam Neeson’s character inDarkman(1990), is working on a synthetic skin for burn victims. This makes his disfigurement in an accident caused by a supervillain bitterly ironic. The rest of the plot is kind of that ofDeadpool-Dr. Westlake must rescue his girlfriend and reveal to her that his appearance has been drastically altered.
We found it odd that someone who has starred in so many action films had never played a superhero until we rediscovered this long forgotten 1990Sam Raimifilm. Perhaps the fact that it was not affiliated with DC or Marvel led to this film being forgotten within the pantheon of American superhero films.
Will Smith
Another non comic book superhero, John Hancock (Will Smith) has recently been shunned by society for causing numerous accidents due to his alcoholism. Antisocial and cynical, he turns to a PR expert to revamp his image.
Smith is another frequent action star, and given the fact that he’s also starred in numerous comedies we would have expected him to appear in at least one Marvel movie, but unless you countMen In Blackas a superhero film, the only other super-credit to his name is when he dipped his toe intoSuicide Squad. Yikes.
Billy Zane
This 1996 cult classic has some serious Indiana Jones vibes. The Phantom (Billy Zane) is a superhero with a skull ring that has been passed down through 21 generations. The ring grants its wearer some superpowers, and the inherited nature of the mantle of the Phantom has led evil-doers around the world to think that the Phantom is a single immortal being whose sole purpose is to fight some major bad dudes.
If you like adventure movies, Billy Zane in a non-chasing-people-through-the-Titanic role,Catherine-Zeta Joneshamming it up as a villain, and punching stuff so hard that your cool ring leaves an indentation, this movie is for you, baby.
Richard Pryor
Remember back when people thought that computer programmers were wizards who could do actual magic with a few keystrokes?Richard Pryorplays one of those wizards, Gus Gorman, in the campy third installment of theSupermanmovies.
This guy is a pretty tragic character who is taken advantage of by a megalomaniacal CEO (aka every Reagan-era CEO), and tasked with doing some pretty normal hacker stuff like hacking a weather satellite to create storms that would decimate Columbia (also a very Reagan-era move).
Gus Gorman uses his coding powers to create a flawed kryptonite which causes Superman (ChristopherReeve) to become a moody, unstable, alcoholic hooligan. Seriously, he’s a real danger to the world like this, he straightens out the leaning tower of Piza! Someone stop him!
Shaquille O’Neal
Steel(1997) was not marketed as a Superman film, but the character Steel comes from the Superman comics (he was one of the four men who tried to take Superman’s place after the Man of Steel was killed by Doomsday.
In the film, John Henry Irons (Shaquille O’Neal) becomes Steel when he finds criminal gangs using weapons he helped manufacture for the military. He forges a suit of armor and weaponry in order to fight these gangs and the man who sold them these weapons. Fun fact: there were no stunt men tall enough to double forShaq, so he did all his own stunts for this film.
Dolph Lundgren
The firstPunisherfilm came out in 1989 withDolph Lundgrenas ex-cop Frank Castle (AKA The Punisher). After his family was murdered, Castle becomes the titular psychopathic vigilante. Only his ex-partner Jake (Louis Gossett Jr.) knows his true identity as he tries to kill all the criminals in the city.
Despite the comic book license,The Punisheris a standard 80s B-movie action film. It doesn’t even have any supervillains in it. The Punisher has received much better film and TV adaptations since then, but this film still has fans for some reason! And they are lucky the Punisher doesn’t punish for taste.
Robert Townsend
Triple threat director, writer and starRobert Townsendcreated this forgotten action comedy wherein a D.C. high school teacher gets hit by a meteor chunk and gains superpowers. Instead of, you know, space cancer.
Meteor Man takes on a gang that has been terrorizing his neighborhood. This film plays with the trope of ‘spectacularly regular people becoming superheroes’ in kind of a charming way. Warning: This movie is from 1993 – and by that we mean “Warning:Bill Cosbyis in this movie.”
Drake Bell
ThisScary Movie-esque spoof on superhero movies starsDrake Bellas Rick Rider. Rick Rider is a high school student who accidentally covers himself with animal-attraction serum. This serum causes a whole slew of animals to dry hump him, including a radioactive dragonfly which imbues him with superpowers. He’s kind of like a sexier Peter Parker.
Rider becomes the appropriately-named Dragonfly, fights crime and eventually faces Hourglass, a villain with life-sucking powers.Superhero Movie(2008) spoofs a laundry list of some of your favorite Marvel characters, including but not limited to the Fantastic Four and X-Men. Seriously, they’ve gotTracy Morganplaying Professor Xavier.
Will Ferrell
This cute children’s film is packed with comedy superstars.Will Ferrellplays the titular supervillain who has just (presumably) killed his heroic arch nemesis. After battling increasing boredom and existential dread (which is always fun in a kids movie,) he creates a new rival who ends up becoming evil, forcing him to reverse his role as a villain and save the city.
We’re surprisedWill Ferrellisn’t being cast as a comical supervillain more often. He’s played plenty of villains without powers in extremely funny, iconic ways. Remember Mugatu fromZoolander(2001)? We just realized that Mugatu’s poodle is probably dead now. Excuse us for a moment. We need to grieve.
Yes, there was a live actionUnderdogfilm that was released in 2007. You’re forgiven for completely forgetting that fact, because making a live-action movie about an ancient cartoon superdog was a strange choice. Pro skater turned actorJason Lee(ofMallratsandMy Name is Earlfame) voices the titular hero.
Even more surprising is the fact thatPeter Dinklageis also in this film, playing the villainous Simon Barsinister. Evenmoresurprising? The voice ofAmy Adamsis in the movie as well.
Both of these A-list actors are required to interact with an actual dog (not a CGI character) who looks incredibly bored every time he does something super, as if he is merely a normal dog standing in front of a green screen. This movie is real. We did not make it up. It happened.
