14 Old Movies That Even The Biggest Hero Fans Prefer To Forget Ever Existed

We live in a time when superhero movies and series pop up in front of us all year round, with eye-popping special effects. But it wasn’t always like that. There was a time when heroes rarely appeared in movies or on TV. And, when they appeared, they needed a lot of creativity to get around the low budget and lack of technology for special effects.

Therefore, we incredible.club we take you on a journey through time to present the first attempts at adapting superheroes and not let them fall into oblivion.

You might think that the first superhero movie made was Superman, but it actually took a long time for it to come out. On the other hand, Captain Marvel, which we now know as Shazam, won its adaptation in 1941. It was a serial film in black and white, with Tom Tyler living the hero and Frank Coghlan Jr. as Billy Batson, his younger alter ego.

In the plot, a disastrous archaeological expedition destroys a cave when a legendary device that releases lightning is discovered. Luckily, Billy heeded the warning and didn’t enter the cave, so the ancient wizard Shazam gifts him Captain Marvel’s powers every time he says the magic word “Shazam”. The Adventures of Captain Marvel was, in fact, very well received by critics, being considered at the time second only to the famous Flash Gordon.

When talking about old Batman adaptations, many people immediately think of the 1960s TV series, starring Adam West. But the very first flesh-and-blood version of Morcegão took place in 1943, in a serial film with Lewis Wilson in the lead role and Douglas Croft as Robin. Unlike Shazam, this adaptation had the acting and effects criticized, in addition to that costume clearly larger than the actor. On the other hand, he takes credit for introducing the Batcave, which didn’t even exist in the comics.

In 1944 another superhero film series was released, this time from Marvel: Captain America. Also in black and white, this one starred Dick Purcell. The story brings many different things from the comics, starting with the hero’s identity. Exit soldier Steve Rogers, enter promoter Grant Gardner, secretly Captain America. The masked hero has faced crime years before and now returns to stop the villainous Scarab from poisoning the entire city.

Let’s go ahead a little in chronology just to mention, without further details, two other productions starring Captain America. The first was a two-part TV movie from 1979, in which the hero has powers generated by a serum and a supersonic motorcycle! Later, another film was released in 1990, with many differences from the comic book hero. Here, the Captain needs to defend the US president, threatened by his environmentalist policies. It’s just out of curiosity.

And finally it’s Superman’s turn! In 1948, the hero also won a serial movie starring Kirk Alyn in 15 episodes, also in black and white. This one managed to please more than Batman, including an introduction showing the tragic end of Krypton, the hero’s home planet. However, Kirk was considered too smiling when dressed as the hero. Interestingly, due to the low budget, Superman was replaced by a cartoon in the flying scenes!

Any one of the three versions of Spider-Man from the 2000s onwards is eye candy compared to early attempts to adapt the arachnid into live-action. Nicholas Hammond was the very first Peter Parker in a 1977 movie that served as a pilot for the TV series. The villain was a coach (that’s right) who manipulated the city’s rich people to commit crimes. The climbing effects on buildings are pretty poor and the web is just a rope. But it turns out to be a fun movie.

Interestingly, the world got another version of Friend from the Neighborhood soon after, with Supaidaman, a Japanese version of our hero. In 1978, Toei acquired the rights to Spider-Man to produce a 41-episode TV series, much like other Japanese heroes such as Jaspion. They made several changes: the powers came from Planet Spider and he has a bracelet that controls the suit, the ship and his giant robot, which is called Leopardon.

The 70’s were really busy and, in this case, we finally had a deal. The 1977 TV series The Incredible Hulk is still acclaimed today, even with a dearth of special effects. We had two lead actors, Bill Bixby as Dr. Banner and weightlifter Lou Ferrigno painted green to bring the Hulk to life. The plot was simple: Bruce Banner traveled from city to city in search of a “cure” for his transformations, trying to avoid confusion, but failing. Of course, that way we could see the Hulk in action.

Although we all love to see the Emerald Giant in action, the one who delivered a performance that ensured the success of the series was Bill Bixby. His character was melancholy and introspective, plagued by guilt over his wife’s death. The success of the series was so much that it guaranteed a trilogy of movies for TV, The Return of the Incredible Hulk, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk and The Death of the Incredible Hulk, in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

In 1978, Universal decided to bring another Marvel hero, Dr. Strange, a movie that would test popularity for a potential series, but didn’t do very well. In the film, he is a psychiatrist rather than a neurosurgeon, and his villain is Morgana LeFay, the same one from the legends of King Arthur, who has been asleep for centuries. She is tasked with defeating Sorcerer Supreme Lindmer. Knowing he will be defeated, he recruits his successor, Dr. Strange, whose powers are still dormant.

Okay, a lot of people will be surprised to get to this part of the text. What do you mean, we already had a Thor adaptation? Yes, we did and it was in a participation in the film The Return of the Incredible Hulk. This Thor is very faithful to the origin of the hero in the comics, with the doctor Dr. Donald Blake as the alter ego — except here Thor is a warrior king, not a god. Blake finds the hammer that contains Thor’s soul and is able to free him — no, he doesn’t transform. Quite different, isn’t it?

The second movie of the summer, The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, features not just one, but two guest appearances. It’s also the first time we’ve seen Daredevil being adapted for live-action, and this was also a test run for a potential blind hero series. Interpreted by former singer Rex Smith, here we have a vigilante dressed in a black ninja outfit, and sometimes without a shirt, doing choreographed fights all over the place. Sadly, the movie didn’t do very well, let alone Daredevil.

But we said there were two cameos, right? The second was none other than that of the late Stan Lee. If you’re thinking that this is nothing special, since it’s normal in Marvel movies, know that this was the first time he appeared, out of a total of 60! Here he participates as a member of the jury that tried Bruce Banner, who was being defended by lawyer Matt Murdock, Daredevil.

Technically, this isn’t the first Fantastic Four movie released for one simple reason: it was never released. Yes, the film was recorded and finished, but it was shelved, probably because the producers realized that the results in special effects were not satisfactory. Maybe that wasn’t so good for us hero fans. After all, despite the look of the uniforms seem very simple, the whole film was very faithful to the comics and perhaps deserved to see the light of day.

The size of the budget is evident when we see the heroes’ powers in action. Mr. Fantastic only stretches his arms and legs—sometimes. The Invisible Woman was limited to talking behind the camera, while an empty set was filmed. The Human Torch only had his hands on fire, never his whole body. And the Thing looked pretty menacing in the costume, but it just “split” paper objects. The result is a fun and funny film, intentionally or not, even if it is not a masterpiece.

Did you know this version of the X-Men? Few people know about it, and for good reason: almost nobody has seen it. This was yet another film released to test a possible series, piggybacking on the success of the 1992 cartoon. However, it did not please either critics or fans. The most well-known mutants in the film are Jubilee, Emma Frost and the Banshee — who are little known to the general public. Overall, the film entertains but fails to capture the essence of the X-Men. But it was worth the try!

No, the 2017 movie wasn’t the first Justice League adaptation either, but rather a pilot TV movie from 20 years earlier. The story takes place in the city of New Metro (perhaps a reference to Metropolis, home of Superman), where a meteorologist gains ice powers and becomes the heroine Ice. She joins the Justice League of America supergroup, formed by Flash, Green Lantern, Atom, Fire and leader Martian Manhunter. They face a criminal with the power to control the weather.

Reviews for the film were very negative, especially regarding the costumes and the holes in the script. Fans said the characters were a far cry from the original. Some specialized critics classified the film as an attempt to be a kind of Friends, but with superpowers.

Comic book Steel is a guy who decides to don super-tough armor to fight crime after Superman dies. He was very well adapted in the Superman & Lois series, with a different origin, but a very good one. However, the same cannot be said of the 1997 film, starring former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal. The film spent US$ 16 million and grossed less than US$ 3 million, in addition to earning harsh criticism, mainly regarding the shallow script.

Those who are used to Samuel L. Jackson wearing the eyepatch in the role of Nick Fury will be surprised by David Hasselhoff in the same character. But it turns out that Nick from the comics is exactly like that, as well characterized by the 1998 film. This is yet another pilot film for a possible series, in which agent Nick Fury is retired, but is summoned again to face a criminal organization that wants spread a deadly pathogen across Manhattan. Unfortunately, it had little success.

They say…