10 Superhero Movies & Film Series That Are Nothing Like Every Other Movie Their Director Has Made

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There are superhero movies in the MCU, the DCU, and beyond that are actually nothing at all like the rest of their respective directors" movies. Long before the movies of the MCU established the superhero genre as the biggest and most successful in all of cinema, superhero movies existed. Bringing the characters from the pages of comic books to life on the big screen predates major shared universes by a considerable number of years, with many directors turning their hands to creating superhero movies.
Interestingly, some superhero movies actually force their directors to take very different approaches to their filmmaking. Though the early movies of the DCEU might have been characteristic of Zack Snyder’s style, there have been many occasions where a comic book movie is actually nothing like anything its director has otherwise created. With that in mind, here are 10 superhero movies that are nothing like every other movie their director has made.
10 The Dark Knight Trilogy Director: Christopher Nolan Close Starting with the aptly named Batman Begins in 2005, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy has since become known as one of the best in the superhero genre. The quality of its movies, especially 2008’s The Dark Knight, is well-known, but the style of the three-film arc was actually something of a departure for Nolan himself. The director’s grounded approach to adapting the source material was widely celebrated, even if it didn’t fit in with Nolan’s usual approach to storytelling.
One of Christopher Nolan’s most used directorial tricks is the creative use of non-linear storytelling. He has made many notable movies telling non-chronological stories or employing mind-bending narrative techniques, such as Memento, Interstellar, and Tenet. However, the Dark Knight trilogy was entirely different, instead simply exploring a more realistic imagining of Gotham City and a number of complex narrative themes rather than Nolan’s traditional mind-bending approach.
9 Dredd (2012) Director: Alex Garland (Uncredited) Close 2012’s Dredd is an interesting entry into the comic book movie genre, not least because of the circumstances surrounding its direction. Though Pete Travis was officially credited as the movie’s director, many – including the movie’s star, Karl Urban – consider Dredd Alex Garland’s unofficial directorial debut, especially after Urban stated in a 2018 interview with JoBlogs that, "A huge part of the success of ‘Dredd’ is in fact due to Alex Garland and what a lot of people don’t realize is that Alex Garland actually directed that movie."
Garland’s most famous movies include serving as a writer and producer on multiple Danny Boyle movies, including 28 Days Later and Sunshine. He has also directed several sci-fi and horror movies, such as Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men, and Civil War. Dredd remains the only comic book or action-focused movie in Garland’s entire career, making it different from every other movie he has worked on.
8 The Spider-Man Trilogy Director: Sam Raimi Close Few directors can boast having influenced the modern superhero genre as strongly as Sam Raimi, whose three Spider-Man movies helped cement the box office potential of comic book movies in the 21st century. Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy is considered groundbreaking, and is still well-loved even more than two decades after it began. However, the three-film arc is nothing like any of Raimi’s other movies.
Other than his Spider-Man movies, Sam Raimi is often considered a horror director, though his work also contains a fair share of other genres, including comedy and thriller releases. Having risen to prominence with the Evil Dead movies, many of Raimi’s most significant titles have been horror-focused.
Even his MCU debut, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, had more of a horror aspect to it, whereas Raimi’s Spider-Man movies were more straight-up superhero fare. This alone makes them stand out among the director’s many career credits, and even among his superhero releases, as both the Doctor Strange sequel and the 1990"s Darkman movie have more obliquely horror-esque tones to the Spider-Man trilogy.
7 The Wolverine (2013) Director: James Mangold Close Of all the directors working in Hollywood, very few possess the versatility of James Mangold. Mangold’s career has seen him tackle almost every genre imaginable, although there are specific aspects that typically characterize his movies. However, 2013’s The Wolverine is a notable exception to this, standing out even among the incredibly varied titles from throughout his career.
Mangold has made a number of biopics and westerns, and his movies often tackle dramatic themes. Even Mangold’s follow-up to The Wolverine, 2017’s Logan, borrowed some of those typical western aspects. However, Mangold’s first foray into Fox’s X-Men franchise remains an outlier in his filmography, as it is the only traditional comic book movie he has made. Considering he was able to put his own stamp on Logan – to much critical fanfare – it seems clear that The Wolverine is unlike anything else the director has made.
6 Eternals (2021) Director: Chloé Zhao Close Chloé Zhao made her MCU debut in 2021 with Eternals, teased as a sprawling superhero epic spanning several millennia. The movie’s place in the MCU’s movie timeline afforded it a certain buzz, though this unfortunately did not end up resulting in critical or box office acclaim. Additionally, Zhao’s own status as an Oscar-winning director prompted high hopes for Eternals, ultimately making her MCU debut a disappointing movie on several levels.
Eternals is nothing like any of the other movies in Chloé Zhao’s career, perhaps indicating where it went wrong. Zhao is best known for her work on independent movies, telling incredibly touching stories of human drama. Placing her at the helm of a grandiose superhero ensemble movie did not play to her strengths, as Eternals’ place in her career credits highlights. Considering Zhao has made nothing else even remotely like Eternals, its inability to live up to its hype may not be all that surprising to some.
5 Green Lantern (2011) Director: Martin Campbell Close Commonly considered to be among the worst superhero movies ever made, 2011’s Green Lantern lives on in infamy. Its director, Martin Campbell, was reportedly unhappy with the finished film, and though he is rarely blamed for its issues, it still stands out as a clear outlier in his career. Simply put, Green Lantern is like nothing else that Campbell has made, either before or since its release.
The biggest criticism of Green Lantern was the movie’s abysmal use of CGI. Interestingly, Campbell’s career has contained very few movies that required the technology to be used so extensively, with most of his most notable movies being more traditional action fare. In that regard, Green Lantern stands out doubly in Campbell’s career, both in terms of its use of CGI and in terms of its incredibly poor reception, as he is otherwise a well-respected filmmaker.
4 Venom Director: Ruben Fleischer Close The movies of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe do not boast a particularly positive reputation, with the likes of Morbius and Madame Web in particular earning it the ire of audiences and critics alike. However, the significantly more successful Venom - and its sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, before Andy Serkis took over - shared the same director. Ruben Fleischer was responsible for both of the first two Venom movies, earning some praise for them despite the fact that they’re different from all of his other films.
Fleischer is typically a comedy director, having made Zombieland and 30 Minutes or Less. Fleischer’s other more light-hearted fare also includes Uncharted, further highlighting how different his Venom efforts are from his other movies. His work in the Sony Spider-Man Universe both took on a much darker tone than his other movies, and though they found general success, they were different from his other directorial titles.
3 The Flash (2023) Director: Andy Muschietti Close Though the film went through many directors in its long and troubled production, 2023’s The Flash was released after being made by Andy Muschietti. As Muschietti’s fourth directorial feature, it would seem that the director’s career had been too short to establish any real pattern, but this wasn’t the case. All of Muschietti’s previous movies existed firmly within the confines of the horror genre.
Muschietti’s feature debut was the horror film Mama, followed by Stephen King adaptations It and sequel It Chapter Two. The Flash was Muschietti’s first non-horror movie, and its overall tone and narrative further separated it from his previous movies. Not only was The Flash not horror, it was decidedly comedic in places, and Muschietti’s previous style of filmmaking was nowhere to be seen. Given the not inconsiderable negative reception of the film, it may seem that The Flash was simply too different from the director’s style for him to fit the DCEU title.
2 Hellboy (2019) Director: Neil Marshall Close 2019’s ill-fated Hellboy reboot has been largely forgotten in the years since its release, thanks in no small part to its terrible critical reception. However, it is notable for one particular reason: it’s nothing at all like the previous films of its director. Neil Marshall helmed the reboot, and it proved to be by far the most disastrous release of his career, despite adapting an existing and relatively well-loved character.
Hellboy’s poor CGI and awful critical reviews make it stand out in Marshall’s list of directorial credits. With a budget of $50 million, it is by far Marshall’s most expensive movie to date, as well as his least profitable. As Neil Marshall is best known for making relatively low-budget cult favorites with reasonably impressive practical effects such as Dog Soldiers and The Descent, 2019’s Hellboy being in his filmography marks it as a clear anomaly.
1 Doctor Strange (2016) Director: Scott Derrickson Close Released in 2016, Doctor Strange introduced a whole new world of magic to the MCU in emphatic fashion. One of the MCU’s many noteworthy successes, the film was directed by Scott Derrickson, who had risen to prominence with the success of Sinister in 2012. Bizarrely, Doctor Strange is the only movie in Derrickson’s entire career that simply cannot be placed in the horror genre.
Derrickson’s notable credits include The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Black Phone, and Deliver Us from Evil, as well as Sinister. The success of these movies has earned him a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most dependable horror filmmakers, but Doctor Strange does not fit the pattern. However, the success of his Marvel movie should be noted as evidence that Derrickson is another director from the MCU, the DCU, or beyond that is capable of finding success even outside of his creative comfort zone.

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