Comic book movies are not always just for kids. Whether it is the latest superhero adventure movie or a beloved graphic novel adaptation, there are scenes in many of these flicks that are definitely geared towards adult audiences, and that might be a little too scandalous for kids to watch. Not all of these movies are R-rated either, as some of the films with the most risqué scenes are blockbusters that the entire family enjoyed. Even many of the PG-13 comic book movies released today have harsh language, and the R-rated ones have ultra-violence and even some risqué, scandalous scenes as well.
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The films on this list include superhero movies with scenes that remain iconic to this day, even if not for entirely wholesome reasons. These are not only superhero movies but also films adapted from crime and prestige graphic novels, all with varying levels of stories suitable for mature audiences only. Along the way, there are even cases where some movies rated for kids have some scandalous scenes that remain in our memories. Whether it is hyper-realized characters like Catwoman and Barb Wire or even mainstream characters like Black Widow and Mary Jane Watson, there have been some great scenes bordering the lines of decency!
15 BARB WIRE OPENING SCENE
If anyone plans to see a movie starring former model Pamela Anderson, they likely expect one thing. The wealthy model achieved her greatest fame thanks to appearances in Playboy magazine and running in slow motion on Baywatch. She also got a chance to star in a comic book movie in 1996. Barb Wire is horrible but remains eery to watch today as it took place in the future year of 2017 and centered on a Second American Civil War between a Nazi-inspired government and underground rebels.
However, there is one part of the movie that might be worth watching, and that is the opening scene of the film, which is pure Pamela Anderson-schlock. Barb is at a club, performing a pole dance while someone sprays her with water. It is pure B-movie in its gratuitous nature and is the best performance of the Razzie-winning acting by Pamela Anderson.
14 BEVERLY SEDUCES HOWARD THE DUCK
Is it scandalous when a girl seduces a talking duck? It just might be one of the most bizarre scenes in any comic book movie, but that isn’t too surprising coming from an adaptation of Howard the Duck. This scene was mostly a shock to those fans in the ‘80s who grew up seeing Lea Thompson as the sweet girl next door from Back to the Future, even though that movie also had some strong connotations as well when it came to her and her future son.
Howard the Duck is an alien based on the Marvel Comics character created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik and might be the least likely character to end up in a live-action movie. The film was a flop, but the incredibly strange movie saw Thompson’s Beverly seduce Howard, and it is one of the most uncomfortable scenes in any comic book movie.
13 SWAMP THING AND ABBY ARCANE
The first Swamp Thing movie, directed by Wes Craven, starred Adrienne Barbeau and there wasn’t much chance the sequel had of matching that casting decision. However, when Jim Wynorski directed The Return of Swamp Thing, he tried his best with TV vixen Heather Locklear, a girl whose posters lined many teenagers’ rooms during the '80s. Then, the movie did the unthinkable.
Swamp Thing used a psychic link to allow him to have sex with Locklear’s Abby Arcane. This scene wasn’t unexpected for fans of the Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson-created comic books because it was canon in that world as well. However, it was a strange moment in the movie with the plant-based creature and beautiful Abby that ended with her asking if it was even real and Swamp Thing responding it was as real as she wanted it to be.
12 CATWOMAN SEDUCES BATMAN
Batman Returns was about as close to borderline PG as a comic book movie could get at the time that Tim Burton made it. While Batman was hugely popular and a giant success, Batman Returns added a lot more violence, more death scenes, and a scandalous scene that involved Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman with Batman on a rooftop.
Anyone who has followed Batman for long knows that there is a certain tension that engulfs their relationship, from the comics to the '60s era TV show to Batman Returns. Pfeiffer was dressed in the skin-tight catsuit and remains one of the most iconic sex symbols in all comic book movies. In this scene, police shoot Batman and as he lays on a rooftop, Catwoman straddles him under a mistletoe and seductively licks him before he kicks her off and escapes. That scene remained in many fans' dreams for years to come.
11 MYSTIQUE TRIES TO SEDUCE WOLVERINE
While Catwoman seducing Batman in Batman Returns was an iconic scene that lives forever as one of the most scandalous in comic book movie history, the X-Men franchise tried to mimic it. This scene took place in X2: X-Men United, arguably the best film in the entire franchise. Logan and Jean Grey have shared a complicated relationship for years and Mystique took advantage of that in this movie.
As Logan rested in a tent after the Mutants escaped an attack on their mansion, Jean Grey crawled in and started to mount him. As he lay there in shock, he began to give in until he saw the scars that helped him realize it was Mystique. She then shifted into other women and then to herself to see what Logan might be more into. It wasn’t the only time Mystique tried this as she also attempted to seduce Magneto in X-Men: First Class.
10 EVA MENDES DROPS A TOWEL
There is almost nothing to like about The Spirit, one of the worst comic book movies ever made. However, much like Ghost Rider, it did give viewers the pleasure of seeing Eva Mendes in a comic book adaptation. Unlike Ghost Rider, this movie knew how to display the actress’ talents. Mendes joined a cast of beautiful actors, but it was Mendes herself that left a lasting memory.
The scene in question involves the femme fatale Sand Saref, played by Mendes. Sand was the childhood sweetheart of The Spirit, who married rich men and then had them killed to inherit their fortunes. The Spirit shows up to arrest Sand as she gets out of the shower, so she drops her robe and puts her hands on her head. Clearly, her character liked playing both mind games... and other types, too.
9 A DAME TO KILL FOR
In the first Robert Rodriguez Sin City movie, the director did almost everything right with the Frank Miller adaptation. Honestly, this might be the one perfect comic book adaptation, shot against a green screen and flawlessly delivering the iconic shots from the comics onto the big screen. Add in a perfectly cast Mickey Rourke as Marv and you have one of the top comic book movies out there.
However, things didn’t go as well when Rodriguez brought back Sin City with A Dame to Kill For. It was still stylish and featured some solid performances, but it just didn’t have the special touch the original did. Still, it did have Eva Green in a role so hot that censors banned her movie poster after protests. Green was a perfect femme fatale in this movie and spent almost as much time undressed as she did in clothes.
8 DEADPOOL CELEBRATES THE HOLIDAYS
Not all scandalous scenes are meant to be sultry. A perfect example is Deadpool, where even nude scenes in an R-rated comic book movie play out for humor. Of course, Deadpool has Ryan Reynolds starring as the Merc with a Mouth, who is out for vengeance after he finds himself disfigured and invulnerable. However, the movie starts off with Wade Wilson living a semi-normal life.
That life involves spending lots of time with the love of his life Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). The two have an interesting relationship, playing into their already reckless lifestyles, which includes a unique way to celebrate the holidays. The movie skips through time by use of the holidays, and the unique sexual encounters the two share as the celebrations come and go. Ryan Reynolds actually gets more skin time than his co-star did in these scenes!
7 UPSIDE DOWN KISS IN SPIDER-MAN
Interestingly, the scene in Spider-Man was almost innocent and is something kids all over the world have seen numerous times. It involved Mary Jane Watson and Spider-Man in a rainstorm. That alone should tell people exactly what the scene is, as this remains one of the most iconic shots in all of comic book movies, as well as one of the most mocked. Spider-Man: Homecoming even paid homage when he was hanging upside down in front of Liz Allen, and his suit told him to kiss her.
So, what makes the Spider-Man iconic kissing in the rain scene so scandalous? Well, that would simply be because of what Mary Jane Watson was wearing – or not wearing. With the water pouring down on her and the lack of a bra, audiences undoubtedly had a fantasy memory of Kirsten Dunst to last them a lifetime. It also didn't hurt that the setup for the scene intimated another kind of intimacy. But we'll leave that to your own imagination.
6 HARLEY QUINN CHANGES CLOTHES IN SUICIDE SQUAD
One of the tamest scandalous shots on this list came in the DCEU movie Suicide Squad. It of course featured a group of supervillains who joined up under the direction of Amanda Waller to head into a city under siege and save someone important. The villains then ended up fighting the big bad and saved the entire city – although no one ever knew the role they played. One of these villains was Harley Quinn.
There is a scene early in the movie that took place after all the villains got their proper introductions, where they are all preparing to leave for their mission. The shot has Harley finding the weapon she wants and then stripping down to change clothes outside and in front of everyone. The camera then slowly pans up from her hot pants to her pulling the shirt up and over her bra, before she stops and innocently asks “what?”
5 BLACK WIDOW ALL TIED UP IN THE AVENGERS
Fans had fallen in love with Black Widow since her introduction in Iron Man 2. That movie even included a scene that had her changing clothes in the back of Tony Stark’s limo, almost causing Happy Hogan to wreck as he snuck a peak. That was also right before she introduced her skintight leather bodysuit. By the time The Avengers rolled around, Scarlet Johansson had completely owned the role of Black Widow.
However, no one was prepared for her introduction in The Avengers. Black Widow wore a very tight minidress while tied to a chair. A group of Russian gangsters interrogated her as she sat there, acting helpless. However, it wasn’t long before she flipped to her feet, used the chair as a weapon, and took out all the gangsters, while still tied to the chair in the very tight minidress.
4 NANCY HARD AT WORK IN SIN CITY
The first Sin City movie perfectly portrayed the scenes that Frank Miller drew in his groundbreaking comics. The film was about the infamous Sin City, the crime life, the decadence, the danger, and the beauty of the women, as well as the rugged attractiveness of the men. Of the women, perhaps paramount was Nancy.
Played by the inimitable Jessica Alba, Nancy was not innocent, but she was a young girl who barely escaped a deranged sociopath. As an adult, she became an exotic dancer. The first time that the hero of the story – Det. Hartigan – sees the little girl that he once saved after he gets out of prison, she is performing a very scandalous and risqué dance that takes him by shock. It also should be mentioned that there is another scene, this one with Carla Gugino, that remains must-see as well.
3 CHEERLEADER SCENE IN A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
A History of Violence is a comic book movie based on the graphic novel by John Wagner and Vince Locke. This film has nothing to do with superheroes, but instead is a David Cronenberg vehicle about a man (played by Viggo Mortensen) pushed to the brink who has no other option but to fight back in the most devastating and violent way possible.
The movie also has two of the most scandalous scenes in any comic book movie as Maria Bello plays a wife who learns that her mild-mannered husband has a deep dark past. Early in the film, she dons an old cheerleader uniform to roleplay with her husband, showing their innocence in a very hot scene. However, later in the movie, the two start physically fighting each other, which turns into amorous lovemaking on the stairs – showing how dark their lives have become. We're not gonna lie, it's pretty disturbing to watch.
2 BOLTIE FORCES HER WAY ONTO FRANK IN SUPER
Before James Gunn joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe and made the family-friendly Guardians of the Galaxy, he was directing indies, including his original superhero movie Super. This film was more of a look at the superhero genre, as no one in the movie had powers or even had the skills to be a hero. Rainn Wilson's Frank suffered a mental break and started attacking criminals while Ellen Page starred as Libby, a girl who wants to be his sidekick.
That isn’t all that "Boltie" wants. Once Frank agrees to let her be his sidekick, she decides to take advantage of him and forces herself on him. He struggles against her advances as he still loves his wife, but she overpowers him. It is extremely disturbing to watch her sexually assault Frank and proves she is more unhinged than he is at this point.
1 SILK SPECTRE AND NITE OWL HOOK UP IN WATCHMEN
Before Zack Snyder arrived in the mainstream DC Comics universe, he made a pair of comic book adaptations with Watchmen and 300. Both movies were almost purely shot in front of green screens and the director’s cut of Watchmen did the impossible – it made the “un-filmable” Alan Moore comic book series into a solid and entertaining R-rated comic book film.
There was also a scandalous scene in the middle of the movie that seemed to come from nowhere for many moviegoers. While the film was pure rated-R goodness, with ultra-violence and a very adult-oriented plot, there was also a scene that involved Silk Spectre and Nite Owl. This scene took place on Nite Owl’s airship and had the two engaged in one of the only semi-graphic scenes in superhero cinema, but one that was important to both characters, standing out as defining moments in their lives as both heroes and humans. It was uncomfortable but also sweet, with the late Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” serenading their salacious goings-on.
Can you think of any other scandalous scenes in comic book movies? Let us know in the comments!