10 Smallest Superhero Movie Budgets That Still Made Great Films

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Superhero movies don"t necessarily have to be such high-budget affairs, with plenty of smaller-scale films in the genre working just as well as the most prolific blockbusters. Between the special effects, licensing costs, and procurement of high-profile stars to drive sales, superhero movies are often very expensive, breaking multiple records for the most expensive films ever made. The genre isn"t typically thought of one in which low-budget projects can excel, but many films have disproved this in the last 20 or so years.
Granted, budgets considered "small" for superhero movies can still easily be in the 50 million plus range, quite lean for a blockbuster but still staggeringly expensive compared to the average indie film. But budgets with even tinier budgets that than still come up in the superhero genre, particularly early on when the films were still getting their footing. Original superhero movie characters and clever ingenuity can go a long way in making a lower or even micro-budget superhero movie work.
10 Brightburn 6 million dollars

Few names are as venerated in superhero cinema as James Gunn. James Gunn"s movies like the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy and The Suicide Squad were strong enough hits to grant him a whole cinematic universe under his creative control with the DCU. But in addition to adapting popular DC and Marvel characters, Gunn worked as a producer on lesser-known original superhero flicks like 2019"s Brightburn.
These days, the concept of an evil superman is quite a tired trope, but Brightburn tried something new by imagining a version of Clark Kent that became psychotic as soon as he got his powers. Enter Brandon Breyer, a human-looking alien child who crash-lands on Earth just like Superman only to go berserk when his latent powers activate, becoming the villainous Brightburn. Even if Brightburn doesn"t fully deliver on the premise of its concept, it makes a relatively lean budget of 6 million dollars go quite far with thrills and chills.
9 Deadpool 58 million dollars

Image Made By Zoe Miskelly Considering the success of Deadpool & Wolverine becoming the single most profitable R-rated movie of all time, it"s hard to believe that the first film in the series had such a scrappy production. But it must be remembered that Ryan Reynolds had to fight tooth and nail to get the concept to manifest, only doing so thanks to a CGI-animated test footage leak that took the internet by storm. Deadpool still had a nearly 60 million dollar budget, but for an X-Men movie with a big star attached, that"s practically peanuts.
Indeed, Deadpool is quite smart with the money it does have, not going overboard with its CGI and using one big action setpiece in a relatively cheap location as a framing device. These constraints are made into benefits as the strong, kinetic fight scenes and unique fourth-wall-breaking sense of humor are allowed to take over, giving Deadpool a unique edge that no amount of money can buy. It"s important to praise just how tight and effective the first Deadpool is with such a limited budget considering its high-profile lead.
8 Joker 55 million dollars

Even more thrifty than Deadpool, Joker took a chance on forking over a popular Batman villain for an auteur like Todd Phillips in order to coalesce into a singular villain. Far from a traditional superhero movie, Joker instead plays out more like something from the filmography of visionary director Martin Scorsese. The plot follows Arthur Fleck, a mentally unwell aspiring stand-up comedian barely making ends meet as a clown in a city that disregards him.
Joker is a character study that remains quite daring considering the broad, mainstream appeal of its intellectual property. The more poignant and grounded tale allows the budget to avoid the tolls of big action setpieces, CGI characters, or expensive Batmobiles. In fact, if anything, Joker"s budget feels far too big for the scope of what it tries to accomplish. Nevertheless, the movie works as a fascinating character study that provides an insight to a man on the brink of sanity.
7 Super 2.5 million dollars

Brightburn was far from James Gunn"s first tango with smaller-budget superhero movies using original characters. That honor instead has to go to 2010"s Super, a black comedy that satirized superhero movies just as they were truly beginning to take off in popularity. Starring Rainn Wilson of The Office fame, the movie follows a frycook named Frank who becomes a vigilante after a prophetic vision inspires him to save his wife, who has fallen in with a dangerous drug dealer.
In order to save her and clean up crimes big and small in his city, from child endangerment to cutting in line, Frank becomes The Crimson Bolt, beating his foes into submission with his trusty monkey wrench. Frank"s hilariously realistic brawls and cheesy catchphrase of "Shut up, crime!" sugarcoat an otherwise bleak narrative featuring murder, sexual assault, drug addiction, and failed romance. On an incredibly miniscule budget of 2.5 million dollars, Super takes a realistic look at hero work that other films wouldn"t dare to touch.
6 Mystery Men 68 million dollars

Super may have gotten in on the superhero movie parody while the getting was good, but 1999"s Mystery Men made fun of comic book movies long before it was cool. Loosely based on the Flaming Carrot comic universe, which reveled in the absurd, Mystery Men follows a superhero team of unimpressive members with only mildly useful superpowers. Examples include a man who can turn invisible only when no one is looking at him, a man with powerful flatulence, and a woman psychically connected to a bowling ball bearing her father"s skull.
Mystery Men"s eccentric cast of oddball superhero misfits is a joy to watch under the leadership of Ben Stiller"s Mr. Furious. The thinner budget makes the film all the more charming, with standout performances and the first appearance of Smash Mouth"s All Star before Shrek ever got to it making for welcome surprises. A scrappy, endearing production, Mystery Men deserves more respect as a lower-budget superhero spoof that was truly ahead of its time.
5 The Toxic Avenger 500,000 dollars

There are superhero movies with smaller budgets, and then there are astonishingly cheap microbudget films like The Toxic Avenger. Made for only half a million dollars, The Toxic Avenger is another early superhero movie parody that follows a normal janitor who is horrifically disfigured by an accident involving toxic waste, though the process also leaves him with incredible powers. Using his new abilities for good despite his fearful appearance, The Toxic Avenger is born, taking on the worst criminal in his city as well as the bullies behind his accident.
The funniest part of The Toxic Avenger is just how gruesome the titular protagonists" methods become after such a short time, cheered on by the citizens he protects as he eviscerates his foes. This provides for a scathing critique on superhero culture, but it also shows off just how impressive The Toxic Avenger"s prosthetics are on such a trim budget. A silly and rabid cult classic, few films have managed to leave as big a cultural impact for as little production money as The Toxic Avenger.
4 Turbo Kid 60,000 dollars

In the contest of low budgets, The Toxic Avenger still can"t hold a candle to Turbo Kid, whose budget doesn"t even crack the 100,000 dollar mark. An underrated post-apocalyptic movie as well as a superhero flick, Turbo Kid combines the two genres in a unique vision of the civilization that ended in the 90s, steeped in nostalgia for the decade. In this barren wasteland, a young boy inspired by the superheroes of old stands up to a vicious warlord who exploits people for water.
Turbo Kid cleverly balances both genres by allowing its apocalyptic landscape to be just as silly as it is dire, conflating dreary and whimsical tones into an odd mix of flavors that somehow works. BMX gear and loud 90s accessories help compensate for the smaller budget with the costumes, and the derelict shooting locations certainly make the financial limitations of the film obvious. But what Turbo Kid lacks in production value it more than makes up for in creativity and heart, fondly remembered by the few who have seen it.
3 Tank Girl 25 million dollars

Speaking of comic book movies set in wacky post-apocalyptic wastelands, 1995s Tank Girl had some more weight to throw around thanks to being based on an actual comic book heroine. The film centers on a woman who is captured and tortured by a massive megacorporation for the sin of having her own supply of water, her circumstances breaking her mind into becoming the nonsensical Tank Girl. Stealing one of the company"s tanks, Tank Girl teams up with Jet Girl to deliver water back to the people of the wasteland.
Despite such a barren budget, Tank Girl does an impressive job of bringing the iconic art of Jamie Hewlett, also famous for co-creating the virtual band Gorillaz, to life. The wacky worldbuilding and in-your-face humor certainly aren"t for everyone, but the movie works as a trippy romp through a bizarre post-apocalypse with plenty of vigor to spare. Even if the budget clearly ran dry at certain points, particularly obvious with the sudden transitions to animation, Tank Girl is worth drinking in for the visuals alone.
2 Chronicle 15 million dollars

Less of a traditional superhero movie and more of a found footage horror film, Chronicle nevertheless provides a thrilling tale of powers gone wrong. Capitalizing off of the success of Cloverfield, the story of a group of teen friends who gain telekinetic powers after stumbling upon a mysterious object is told through a series of video journals. Before long, tensions within the group cause one boy, Dane DeHaan"s Andrew Detmer, to become a selfish villain known as Apex Predator.
Chronicle is a grounded and bleak tale about what might realistically happen should a teenager be given incredible powers. The slow descent of Andrew is a terrifying one to watch, and the low budget actually helps with realizing the authentic feel the film aims for with the found footage framing device. Proof that superhero stories can excel when hybridized with all kinds of different genres, Chronicle is an impressive testament as to how clever application of special effects can go a long way with a small budget.
1 Darkman 14 million dollars

Before he hit the big leagues directing the first major Spider-Man movie trilogy, horror darling Sam Raimi made a pass at presenting his own original idea for a hero. 1990"s Darkman posits Liam Neeson as a scientist developing on a synthetic skin for use on burn victims. After being horrifically burned himself by a criminal gang, Darkman is born thanks to an experimental procedure that overloads the adrenal glands, resulting in enhanced strength.
With his newfound powers, Darkman goes on a rampage of revenge using his synthetic skin to impersonate the gang of ne"er-do-wells by recreating their faces. Darkman has a lot of odd and jumbled ideas, but Sam Raimi"s trademark camp and camera savant status is as powerful as ever even on such a modest budget. Bold, gruesome, yet relatively unheard of, Darkman proves that superhero movies don"t need huge budgets to be great.

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