10 Most Forgettable Marvel Movies Of All Time

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In the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and beyond, there are many Marvel movies that have actually proven to be remarkably forgettable. Long before the beginning of the MCU’s movie timeline, there were movies based on the characters and stories of Marvel Comics. As Marvel has long been one of the most formative and defining voices in the superhero genre, many cinematic adaptations of its stories have been made over the years.
Despite the general success of the movies of the MCU, not all Marvel movies have been as spectacular as the most notable. Some, predating and existing in or alongside the MCU, have been remarkably forgettable. Forgettable movies aren’t inherently bad, but rather inconsequential in a way that renders specific details – or, sometimes, the entire movie – incredibly difficult to recall. With that in mind, here are the 10 most forgettable Marvel movies ever.
10 Dr. Strange (1978) Release Date: September 6, 1978 Close The 1970s proved to be a deceptively formative decade for Marvel adaptations, with both Spider-Man and the Hulk getting their own live-action TV shows. Other Marvel heroes were also brought to life on the screen, with Doctor Strange counted among them. He appeared in the 1978 TV movie, Dr. Strange, which was made as a pilot for a potential TV series.
The movie, which saw the titular hero become the Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme in order to battle Morgan le Fay, was not picked up as a pilot, and swiftly faded into obscurity. In fact, the movie was so forgettable that it did nothing to boost Strange’s profile as a viable Marvel hero, and he was absent from Marvel movie adaptations for almost four decades. Considering the current popularity of the hero, it’s fair to say that his first live-action outing was incredibly unmemorable.
9 Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018) Release Date: August 2, 2018 Close Ant-Man and the Wasp is far from one of the MCU’s worst movies, but it’s not particularly memorable, either. Scott Lang’s second solo outing as Ant-Man saw him joined by Hope Van Dyne’s Wasp, with the pair battling the Quantum-powered villain Ghost. Additionally, the movie solved the mystery of Janet Van Dyne’s disappearance, serving as a narrative bridge between the first Ant-Man movie and Quantumania.
The broad strokes of Ant-Man and the Wasp might have some bearing on the wider MCU, but the film itself is largely forgettable. This was only exacerbated by its release - coming between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame - which saw many somewhat disconnected from its narrative as they awaited the Infinity Saga’s epic payoff. Though there’s nothing that marks Ant-Man and the Wasp as a bad MCU movie, it’s simply a forgettable film in many senses.
8 Punisher: War Zone (2008) Release Date: December 5, 2008 Close The Punisher might be something of an outlier among the ranks of Marvel’s many superheroes, but he’s one of the most consistently popular characters in terms of wider pop culture. There have been several live-action adaptations of the anti-hero vigilante, but the most forgettable of them all was 2008’s Punisher: War Zone. As the third live-action Punisher movie and the second cinematic reboot, the film was not hugely successful despite having amassed something of a cult following in the years since its release.
Punisher: War Zone is, by many standards, a fairly average movie. This alone is enough to make it forgettable, but its 2008 release saw it competing with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk for the attention of Marvel fans, with the MCU’s earliest movies winning out. Considering the Punisher’s then-abundant representation on the big screen, Punisher: War Zone never really proved itself a memorable movie.
7 Fantastic Four (2015) Release Date: August 4, 2015 Close 2015 saw the Fantastic Four rebooted on the big screen, following on from the 2005 and 2007 movies following the heroes. Competing with major MCU releases such as Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, the standalone Marvel movie wasn’t likely to make a major splash. Unfortunately, it proved to only be memorable for how poorly it was received by fans and critics alike.
Despite having earned a reputation as one of the worst Marvel movies ever made, it’s still a hugely forgettable film. Fantastic Four’s disappointing ending, poor script, and washed-out gray tones made its story a thoroughly underwhelming rehash of the heroes’ origins, leaving much to be desired in almost every sense. Remembering the finer details of the 2015 film isn’t an easy task, as it was an unimaginative and generally uninteresting Marvel adaption that has since proved to be hugely forgettable.
6 Thor: The Dark World (2013) Release Date: October 22, 2013 Close Although Thor’s MCU story has seen him undergo one of the franchise’s most significant character arcs, there is one chapter in the hero’s tale that isn’t well-remembered. The hero’s second solo outing, Thor: The Dark World, was long considered one of the MCU’s worst movies. Though it has been thought of a little more favorably since, it remains one of the franchise’s most forgettable titles.
Thor: The Dark World’s narrative feels generic and generally unimportant to the wider MCU, despite having a direct bearing on the Infinity Saga. The movie is not presented with any significant flair or panache, and therefore fails to secure a foothold in the memory as a worthwhile entry into the MCU. Sad though it may seem, the film isn’t particularly memorable for any specific reason, and has faded into the background as one of the MCU’s most generic and underwhelming movies.
5 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) Release Date: June 13, 2007 Close Though it’s remembered as a classic example of a terrible pre-MCU Marvel movie, 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is not a memorable movie in many senses. For a film that served as a sequel to a relatively successful superhero blockbuster, and gave Galactus and the Silver Surfer their live-action debuts, Rise of the Silver Surfer was incredibly forgettable. In any real sense, the finer points of the movie simply do not stick in the memory.
The problem is that the most memorable aspects of the movie are its instances of comic inaccuracy. Galactus being characterized as a colossal space cloud, for example, is one of the few details that stands out, whereas the specifics of the film’s plot are vague and uninteresting. Though the movie as a whole is memorable for all the wrong reasons, most aspects of it are entirely forgettable.
4 The Wolverine (2013) Release Date: July 26, 2013 Close The second film in Wolverine’s solo movie trilogy, 2013’s The Wolverine, was its middle point in more ways than one. Following on from the maligned X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the 2013 sequel was an improvement on its predecessor. However, it was thoroughly overshadowed by the strength of the third film, Logan, making it seem incredibly average in hindsight, offering some indication as to why it’s such a forgettable movie.
The Wolverine isn’t short of impressive set pieces or interesting characters. Its story is simply not entirely engaging, with many aspects falling into clichés or simply being generally dull. The film’s place in the X-Men franchise, in Logan’s story, and in the wider context of superhero movies, makes it an incredibly middling piece of cinema, and while it isn’t a bad movie, it just isn’t memorable in any tangible sense of the word.
3 Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Release Date: May 26, 1998 Close Another Marvel TV movie intended as a backdoor pilot, Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is undeniably one of the most forgettable Marvel movies ever made. The film stars David Hasselhoff as the titular spy, and sees him called into action to thwart a plan to attack New York by the evil agency Hydra. Made at a time when Hasselhoff was perhaps the most comic-accurate casting possible for Nick Fury, the movie certainly had potential on paper.
Not only was it met with a hugely negative reception, but it was not picked up as a pilot and swiftly passed into obscurity. There’s essentially no element of the movie that makes it noteworthy other than as an interesting anecdote for Marvel movie fans. Nick Fury was far from a prominent Marvel character at the time, and the poor quality of the movie only served to make it even more forgettable.
2 Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance (2011) Release Date: December 11, 2011 Close While 2007’s Ghost Rider was hardly a groundbreaking or beloved movie, it at least earned a place in pop culture memory as Nicolas Cage’s first attempt at becoming a Marvel superhero. The same cannot be said for its sequel, however, as 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance was unable to replicate even the modest success of its predecessor. As well as being generally poor, Spirit of Vengeance is astoundingly forgettable.
The sequel’s plot is flimsy and uninteresting, and it lurches from one CGI-laden set piece to another. Cage’s performance is excessive, while the movie’s other actors largely fail to turn up at all. There’s not much about the film worth remembering, as odd choices in both a narrative and directorial sense make it one of the least interesting – and, therefore, most forgettable – Marvel movies of all time.
1 The New Mutants (2020) Release Date: September 4, 2020 Close The final movie of Fox’s X-Men franchise, 2020’s The New Mutants, earned the unfortunate status of the most forgettable movie in the continuity. Introducing an all-new cast of young mutant characters using their abilities to survive a shadowy facility, The New Mutants made use of some of the best young actors in the world at the time of its release. Maisie Williams, Charlie Heaton, and Anya Taylor-Joy all featured prominently, each one having then recently achieved new career heights.
The movie turned out to be hugely forgettable, as introducing new characters at the death of a franchise proved to be off-putting for audiences. Though some did see the movie, it was critically panned and swiftly forgotten, particularly as excitement about the X-Men"s arrival in the MCU took over after its release. The New Mutants marked both an end to the franchise, and one of the most forgettable movies in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and beyond.
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