Hollywood has been churning out a steady stream of superhero movies over the last decade. The reason is clear: These films perform extraordinarily well at the box office, grossing millions of dollars domestically and billions abroad.

Not every movie featuring spandex-clad heroes and comic book villains results in box office gold, however. 24/7 Wall St. has determined the 30 worst superhero movies by creating an index based on user ratings from the Internet Movie Database and Rotten Tomatoes. Even if they were crafted in pursuit of critical success, these films have become the equivalent of studio kryptonite.

Click here to see the worst superhero movies of all time.
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The superhero movies created in the last decade have generally been commercially successful. For example, seven of the 25 highest-earning films of all time – ranked by worldwide gross – are superhero movies, and every one of them was produced in the last seven years. These films generally have extraordinary budgets, access to technology that was not available in the past, and appeal to markets across the world. By contrast, of the 30 worst superhero films, just four debuted then, while 12 of them hail from the 1990s and five from the 1980s.

While some films on our list of this genre’s worst revolved around stalwarts – witness “Superman III,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III” and “Batman & Robin” – many more trot out lesser-known characters, who have failed to capture audiences’ imaginations. Such titles include “The Shadow,” “The Phantom” and “Steel,” which stars none other than NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal.

In addition to drawing dismal reviews from critics and the public at large, many of the films on our list performed exceptionally poorly at the box office. “Steel” grossed less than $2 million in the U.S. “Blankman,” the film on our list with the second-lowest gross, collected only $7.9 million domestically. Some of the higher-earners have been virtual flops in domestic box office: Director M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender” grossed just a tad more than $131 million in the U.S., a meager haul considering its $150 million budget, per IMDb figures. It did earn the rest of its production budget back on the global market, however.

To be considered for this ranking, a film had to have picked up at least 10,000 user ratings combined from IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes and 10 Tomatometer critic reviews along with an action classification from IMDb. Our index tallied an average for each film using its average audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes and average user rating on the Internet Movie Database, all weighted by the number of votes. We then averaged the combined user score with the film’s Rotten Tomatoes’ average critic rating. The box office data, taken from IMDb, has not been adjusted for inflation.

30. “Punisher: War Zone” (2008)
> Director: Lexi Alexander
> Starring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Julie Benz
> Domestic box office: $7.95 million
> Superpower: High tolerance for pain

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29. “Ghost Rider” (2007)
> Director: Mark Steven Johnson
> Starring: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Sam Elliott
> Domestic box office: $115.80 million
> Superpower: Super strength

28. “The Shadow” (1994)
> Director: Russell Mulcahy
> Starring: Alec Baldwin, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller
> Domestic box office: $32.06 million
> Superpower: Telekinetic ability

27. “RoboCop 2” (1990)
> Director: Irvin Kershner
> Starring: Peter Weller, John Glover, Mario Machado
> Domestic box office: $45.68 million
> Superpower: Cyborg strength

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26. “The Phantom” (1996)
> Director: Simon Wincer
> Starring: Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, Treat Williams
> Domestic box office: $17.30 million
> Superpower: Extreme athleticism

 

25. “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie” (1995)
> Director: Bryan Spicer
> Starring: Karan Ashley, Johnny Yong Bosch, Steve Cardenas
> Domestic box office: $37.80 million
> Superpowers: Great strength, agility

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24. “Superman III” (1983)
> Director: Richard Lester
> Starring: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Margot Kidder
> Domestic box office: $59.95 million
> Superpowers: Flying capability, super strength, enhanced senses

23. “The Meteor Man” (1993)
> Director: Robert Townsend
> Starring: Robert Townsend, Marla Gibbs, Eddie Griffin
> Domestic box office: $8.02 million
> Superpowers: Flying ability, laser vision, super strength

22. “Spawn” (1997)
> Director: Mark A.Z. Dippé
> Starring: Michael Jai White, John Leguizamo, Martin Sheen
> Domestic box office: $54.97 million
> Superpowers: Super strength, other unusual physical abilities

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21. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III” (1993)
> Director: Stuart Gillard
> Starring: Elias Koteas, Paige Turco, Stuart Wilson
> Domestic box office: $42.66 million
> Superpower: Extreme athleticism

20. “The Crow: City of Angels” (1996)
> Director: Tim Pope
> Starring: Vincent Perez, Mia Kirshner, Richard Brooks
> Domestic box office: $17.88 million
> Superpowers: Super strength, ability to resist death

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19. “The Punisher” (1989)
> Director: Mark Goldblatt
> Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Louis Gossett Jr., Jeroen Krabbé
> Domestic box office: N/A
> Superpower: High tolerance for pain

18. “Transformers: The Last Knight” (2017)
> Director: Michael Bay
> Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Hopkins, Josh Duhamel
> Domestic box office: $130.17 million
> Superpower: Extraterrestrial robotic strength

17. “Superhero Movie” (2008)
> Director: Craig Mazin
> Starring: Drake Bell, Leslie Nielsen, Sara Paxton
> Domestic box office: $26.64 million
> Superpowers: Various powers

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16. “Judge Dredd” (1995)
> Director: Danny Cannon
> Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Armand Assante, Rob Schneider
> Domestic box office: $34.69 million
> Superpower: Extreme athleticism

15. “Elektra” (2005)
> Director: Rob Bowman
> Starring: Jennifer Garner, Goran Visnjic, Will Yun Lee
> Domestic box office: $24.41 million
> Superpower: Masterful martial art skills

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14. “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D” (2005)
> Director: Robert Rodriguez
> Starring: Cayden Boyd, George Lopez, Kristin Davis
> Domestic box office: $39.18 million
> Superpowers: Sharkboy’s sharklike speed and skills, Lavagirl’s fire-inducing power

13. “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance” (2011)
> Director: Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
> Starring: Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Idris Elba
> Domestic box office: $51.77 million
> Superpower: Super strength

12. “Masters of the Universe” (1987)
> Director: Gary Goddard
> Starring: Dolph Lundgren, Frank Langella, Meg Foster
> Domestic box office: $17.34 million
> Superpowers: Various powers

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11. “The Spirit” (2008)
> Director: Frank Miller
> Starring: Gabriel Macht, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson
> Domestic box office: $19.78 million
> Superpower: Ability to start life again

10. “Batman & Robin” (1997)
> Director: Joel Schumacher
> Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O’Donnell
> Domestic box office: $107.33 million
> Superpower: Superior intellect

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9. “Blankman” (1994)
> Director: Mike Binder
> Starring: Damon Wayans, David Alan Grier, Robin Givens
> Domestic box office: $7.89 million
> Superpower: Inventive intellect

8. “Fantastic Four” (2015)
> Director: Josh Trank
> Starring: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan
> Domestic box office: $56.12 million
> Superpowers: Assorted powers

7. “The Last Airbender” (2010)
> Director: M. Night Shyamalan
> Starring: Noah Ringer, Nicola Peltz, Jackson Rathbone
> Domestic box office: $131.56 million
> Superpower: Ability to bend or control key Earth elements

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6. “Supergirl” (1984)
> Director: Jeannot Szwarc
> Starring: Helen Slater, Faye Dunaway, Peter O’Toole
> Domestic box office: $13.60 million
> Superpowers: Ability to fly, super strength, enhanced sensory ability

 

5. “RoboCop 3” (1993)
> Director: Fred Dekker
> Starring: Robert John Burke, Nancy Allen, Mario Machado
> Domestic box office: $10.70 million
> Superpower: Cyborg bodily strength

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4. “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” (1987)
> Director: Sidney J. Furie
> Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Margot Kidder
> Domestic box office: $15.68 million
> Superpowers: Flying ability, super strength, enhanced sensory ability

3. “The Legend of Hercules” (2014)
> Director: Renny Harlin
> Starring: Kellan Lutz, Gaia Weiss, Scott Adkins
> Domestic box office: $18.85 million
> Superpower: Super strength

 

2. “Catwoman” (2004)
> Director: Pitof
> Starring: Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Benjamin Bratt
> Domestic box office: $40.20 million
> Superpowers: Advanced, catlike agility, martial art skills

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1. “Steel” (1997)
> Director: Kenneth Johnson
> Starring: Shaquille O’Neal, Annabeth Gish, Judd Nelson
> Domestic box office: $1.71 million
> Superpower: Enhanced resilience aided by armor

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