Whether they be the product of DC or Marvel, superhero movies are among the most widely popular blockbusters of the past decade. Though the popularity of these films has notably exploded with the introduction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, countless superhero films have been produced across the past forty years. While some of these movies follow the source material quite faithfully, such as many of DC's animated comic recreations, there are others that stray a great deal from their comic book origins.
These alterations range from an adjusted origin, a restructured plot, or even a completely overhauled premise. While many of these changes allow a longer story to be told within a single film, other alterations have led a story to barely resemble its source material. Here are the least faithful superhero movies of all time that strayed from their source material!
10 Infinity War
As previously mentioned, not all major changes made to a comic story being translated into film are for the worst. One of the most notable examples of this can be seen in 2018's Infinity War. Primarily drawing influence from the comic The Infinity Gauntlet, while much of the tone and overarching themes of the comic and film remain the same, depicting Thanos's acquisition of the Infinity Stones, the driving influence between these two stories differ greatly.
While Thanos's goal in Infinity War is to maintain population control through erasing half of the universe's population, in The Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos's motivation stems from his desire to court the physical manifestation of death itself.
9 The Amazing Spider-Man & The Amazing Spider-Man 2
While The Amazing Spider-Man series may maintain many plot threads from the original comics, such as many of those that relate to Gwen Stacy, there is one area where these films couldn't stray further from the comics: Spider-Man himself.
Peter Parker is traditionally depicted as a socially awkward teenager whose confidence grows overtime after donning the mantle of Spider-Man. In The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker possesses such a cool confidence from the word go, that he comes off as a completely different character.
8 Spider-Man
For years, Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films of the early 2000s were viewed as some of the best superhero films around. Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 are still considered as some of the most iconic depictions of the character.
Despite being the first major introduction to the character of Spider-Man for many non-comic reading audiences, these films featured many elements that vary greatly from the comics. Most notably, these films are responsible for countless individuals thinking that Peter Parker's webbing comes directly out of his wrists.
7 Civil War
Like Infinity War, while Civil War is a serviceable and well-liked entry of the MCU, it is rife with differences that make it a completely different experience than the comic of which it is based.
Though the film pits two ultimately small teams of Avengers against each other, this conflict in the comic is of a mammoth scale featuring countless heroes and villains alike. This noteworthy (yet understandable) change of scale makes these two stories feel distinct from one and other.
6 Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Batman and Superman have fought each other within comics on numerous occasions, such as within the classic The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: Hush. The plot of Batman V Superman would not be too farfetched at first glance; however, upon closer examination, there are two glaring deviations from the comics that land Batman V Superman on this list.
Firstly, the film's new origin of Doomsday as a creation of Lex Luthor could not be farther from his original alien origins. On a completely different note, Batman blatantly kills numerous people in Batman V Superman. Enough said.
5 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
There are numerous comic book inaccuracies across the X-Men film franchise. One of the most notable of these changes is Rogue being completely overhauled to take on a roll reminiscent of Jubilee in the comics.
However, there is an egregious and blatantly fallacious alteration made in X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Deadpool. In backstory, design, tone, and even powers, this film's depiction of Deadpool is such a departure that it's effectively a completely different character than the one seen in the comics. Luckily, fans were able to see a much more faithful depiction of the character in 2016's Deadpool.
4 Venom
Released in 2018, Venom is a movie that was destined to be disconnected from comic book continuity. Venom is a character whose origin is intrinsically tied to the character of Peter Parker.
Despite this, as a solo Venom-focused film, Spider-Man's absence fundamentally changes a noteworthy degree of Eddie Brock's motivation and backstory.
3 Batman & Robin
Reviled by fans and often described as the worst Batman movie of all time, while Batman & Robin takes plenty of plot threads from other works such as the implementation of Mister Freeze's motivation, this film is a far cry from the comics.
Batman & Robin dramatically changes the backgrounds of the characters such as Batgirl, who is altered to be the daughter of Alfred rather than James Gordon, and Bane, who is depicted as a mindless brute rather than his traditionally calculating self. To top it all off, this film also features inclusions such as its costume design and the notorious "Bat Credit Card."
2 Steel
Similarly to Batman & Robin, 1997's Steel is not a film regarded for its quality. Most often remembered for starring Shaquille O'Neal as the film's namesake character, Steel is inherently opposed to the character's comic origins by design.
While Steel is a supporting character of Superman in the comics, a character whose actions are primarily inspired by Superman himself, the film omits Superman entirely. Not only does this drastically change nearly every element of the story save for the character's name, it even deprived the character of his Superman inspired insignia.
1 Catwoman
Often regarded as one of the worst comic book movies of all time, 2004's Catwoman bears little to no resemblance to the comic it's based on. While Catwoman is traditionally a resident of Gotham City and a character based in realism, this film takes every traditional convention of the character throwing it out the window.
Rather than being a traditional cat burglar, Catwoman showcases the namesake character gaining cat-like superpowers from a magical Egyptian Mau cat. It should be no surprise that this abysmal movie made its way onto this list, when the titular character's name isn't even maintained when making the jump to film, changing Selena Kyle to Patience Phillips.