Since the early 2000s, super-hero films have become box-office sensations that have generated billions, spawned innumerable sequels and related projects, and delighted millions more fans than the comic-book source material ever reached. But even before the days of cinematic universes, super heroes made it to the big screen, sometimes with still-legendary results. So now, the Great Pop Culture Debate wants to look back at films both past and present to determine the Best Super-Hero Film of all time.
For our purposes, our films considered super-heroes that had some kind of enhanced abilities, or who were masked vigilantes working outside the law. While many of these are adaptations of comic-book properties, some were original to the theater. And we stuck almost entirely to American films for this debate, with a focus on films that had a theatrical release window in the United States.
Join Host Eric Rezsnyak and Panelists Brendan Hay, Jake Lewis, and Kevin Dillon as they don their spandex and clash in spectacular fashion to determine the bets Super Hero Film ever! (Or at least until mid-2023.)
To listen to Round 1, showing how we got to the Sweet 16 down from the Top 32, become a Patreon supporter of the podcast today to access the exclusive Part 1 episode.
The Round 2 match-ups are:
Match-Up 1: The Dark Knight vs. X-Men (2000)
Match-Up 2: X-Men: Days of Future Past vs. Blade (1998)
Match-Up 3: The Incredibles vs. Captain America: Civil War
Match-Up 4: Spider-Man: Across the Universe vs. Guardians of the Galaxy
Match-Up 5: Avengers: Endgame vs. Iron Man
Match-Up 6: Superman (1978) vs. Batman Returns
Match-Up 7: Black Panther vs. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Match-Up 8: Batman (1989) vs. Avengers: Infinity War
Want to play along at home?
Download the listener bracket here and see if your picks match up with ours!
Looking for more related content?
Check out these other episodes from Great Pop Culture Debate:
And if you want more content, check out Eric Rezsnyak’s Top 10 List of Live Action Super-Hero Thirst Traps!
Have a say in future episodes!
Finally, if you want to have a say in what episodes we tackle next, vote in our Topic Polls! And we would love to have you pick your faves in the polls currently open for your votes!
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EPISODE CREDITS
Host: Eric Rezsnyak
Panel: Brendan Hay, Jake Lewis, Kevin Dillon
Producer: Curtis Creekmore
Editor: Jack Kwait-Blank