Comic book movies have been around long before people were aware of them enough to complain about them. Iconic characters have come from comic books, as everyone realizes comic books can make amazing source material just like prose novels can. There's also no limit to the number of genres that can be told with the medium, even though a lot of people get distracted by the costumes.
After all, everyone might not always want to watch a superhero film from Marvel or DC. Marvel and DC both produce great comics and characters, but sometimes viewers just want something that's a bit more down-to-Earth. Or at least, they want something that doesn't always involve capes and domino masks.
10 Atomic Blonde Was Originally Based On The Coldest City
Antony Johnston and Sam Hart published the Original Graphic Novel The Coldest City in 2012 with the help of Oni Press. The comic was meant to be the first in a series of Cold War espionage stories, and would eventually get a prequel entitled The Coldest Winter.
Roughly a year after The Coldest Winter was released, Charlize Theron would star in an adaptation of Coldest City, retitled Atomic Blonde. In Atomic Blonde, Charlize Theron plays Lorraine Broughton, an MI6 agent sent to Berlin to retrieve a list of double agents. Directed by John Wick producer David Leitch, the film was a major success, and a sequel is in production.
9 Bloodshot Is One Of Valiant's Main Comic Book Characters
Not every superhero comes from DC or Marvel. The Valiant Comics universe has been around since the late 80s, and their super-assassin Bloodshot dates back to 1992. In the film, Vin Diesel plays the protagonist Bloodshot, a former soldier who's been brainwashed to become an operative for Rising Spirit Technologies.
He's been given special nanites which allow him to rapidly heal from any injuries, along with granting him super-strength, but at the cost of constantly needing them to be recharged. Bloodshot was released in March 2020, performing terribly in theaters for obvious reasons, and was sent to streaming two weeks after it came out. Hopefully one day the other Valiant comic book heroes can get their own movies.
8 I Kill Giants Started As An Image Comics Mini-Series
I Kill Giants was a successful miniseries released in 2008 from Image Comics by Joe Kelly and J.M. Ken Niimura, and a perfect comic for fantasy fans. The protagonist is Barbara Thorson, a lonely kid whose fantasies are starting to seep into her reality.
Nearly a decade later, I Kill Giants was released as a film, starring Madison Wolfe as Barbara Thorson. Like the comic, the film blends fantasy and reality, as Barbara spends most of her time avoiding people and trying to protect her home from dangerous "giants".
7 Kingsman Was Originally Known As The Secret Service
Of all the non-DC or Marvel-related comic book series, Kingsman might have achieved the most success relative to how well-known its comic was. The original comic was from Dave Gibbons and Mark Millar and was known as The Secret Service until the film came out and necessitated a rebranding. The comic series wasn't one of Mark Millar's bigger series like Wanted or Kick-Ass, but Kingsman has turned into an entire film franchise.
The first Kingsman focuses on Eggsy, an aimless young man given direction when he's inducted into the Kingsman, a spy organization that protects Britain from terrorist organizations. Generating over $400 million at the box office, the success of the first film has led to two follow-up movies so far.
6 I, Frankenstein Was A Mini-Series From A Creator With Their Own Imprint
I, Frankenstein was originally a digital graphic novel from creator Kevin Grevioux, who published it through his own imprint, Darkstorm Comics. People might recognize Grevioux from him helping to write the original Underworld movie, or they might know him as the creator of Marvel Comics' Blue Marvel hero.
Released in 2014, I, Frankenstein stars former The Dark Knight star Aaron Eckhart as Frankenstein's monster, who goes by Adam. After his creation in the late 1700s, Adam spends centuries battling against demons to protect himself and society. Despite the smart premise, the film launched to poor reviews and made around $76 million at the box office, just over its $65 million budget.
5 Polar Started As A Webcomic
Polar's humble beginnings start in 2012, as a webcomic by cartoonist Victor Santos. A noir adventure comic, Polar focuses on an older hitman named Black Kaiser after he's forced out of retirement to defend himself from other hitmen. The webcomic was turned into a full graphic novel by Dark Horse Comics, then eventually adapted into a film by Netflix in 2019.
Polar's cast included Mads Mikkelsen as Black Kaiser/Duncan Vizla and Vanessa Hudgens as Camille, but having talented leads didn't save the film. Like many of Netflix's films, Polar was regarded as a failure by critics, garnering a 19% on Rotten Tomatoes.
4 The Last Days of American Crime Was A Mini-Series For Radical Studios
The Last Days of American Crime was a graphic novel that was originally launched in 2009 by Rick Remender and Greg Tocchini. Of course, it often takes some time before a story is adapted into a film, and the comic was finally released as a movie in 2020. The story is about the U.S. government taking control of its citizens by implanting them with devices that will make it impossible to commit crimes.
With the film released in the aftermath of the 2020 protests against police brutality, Last Days of American Crime came off as tone-deaf at best. Netflix films rarely review well, but American Crime is one of the few movies with a 0% Rotten Tomatoes rating.
3 Rumble Is Loosely Based On Monster On The Hill
- Monster on the Hill was a graphic novel by creator Rob Harrell that took place in 1860s England, where every town has a monster located outside their city, responsible for "scaring" the city and bringing in tourism revenue. Rumble takes that basic concept and adds the idea of wrestling to it, making it so that the monsters compete against one another as "monster wrestlers".
Partially produced by WWE, the film also has well-known wrestlers in it as voice actors, including The Tribal Chief Roman Reigns and The Man Becky Lynch. Originally planned to release in January 2021, the film's release was pushed back multiple times before it simply came out on Paramount+.
2 The Old Guard Came From One Of Wonder Woman's Most Famous Writers
Greg Rucka is one of comic books' most prolific authors, boasting two critically acclaimed runs on Wonder Woman, and being involved with No Man's Land, one of Batman's most popular stories. But he's also known for doing independent comics like Stumptown and The Old Guard, which focuses on ageless immortals traveling the world doing good.
Netflix turned Rucka's comic into a film that was released in 2020, featuring Charlize Theron and Doctor Strange's Baron Mordo, Chiwetel Ejiofor. The film was one of the most popular films on the platform both critically and with viewers, and a sequel is already being worked on.
1 Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Summed Up The Scott Pilgrim Story Into One Film
Bryan Lee O'Malley's series of Scott Pilgrim graphic novels is one of the biggest successes to come out of indie comics in the 2000s. The comics focus on the eponymous main character, a would-be musician who's been challenged to defeat the "seven evil exes" of the girl he's developed a crush on, so the two can date safely.
Scott Pilgrim went on for six volumes, O'Malley's already gorgeous art becoming better with each volume. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World condenses that story into a single movie that's an ode to video games, music, and manga. It bombed at the box office, but in the years since has turned into a cult classic.