Superheroes are pop-culture icons all around the world. And as such, there are bound to be knock-off versions of our favorite comic book characters. These bargain-bin bootlegs rarely live up to their original counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they don’t provide an endless supply of entertainment at their expense. Some of these movies have blockbuster budgets and made a ton of dough at the box-office, while others look like they were produced with a few dollars and a packet of chewing gum.
Whether it’s the unintentional humor or just hilariously bad CGI, these copycats are so blatantly bad and cringey that they deserve to be checked out and enjoyed!
10 Guardians
Think Avengers, but with a giant grizzly bear wielding a machine gun. Originally titled Zashchitnik in Russia, Guardians was clearly trying to ride the superhero wave with their own version of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Some characters are amalgamations of different Marvel characters, while Khan (dude with the giant sickles) is pretty much Bucky Barnes, period.
The first trailer for Guardians was followed by plenty of positive buzz. The reception to the final product, however, was disastrous and sent the studio into bankruptcy. But the movie isn’t half as bad as the other films on this list. Is it a nonsensical mess that’s trying to cash-in on a pop-culture trend by copying other, more famous characters? Sure, but the CGI is alright, the action is decent, and there’s enough cheesiness in Guardians to keep you curious, at the very least.
9 Krrish
Krrish isn’t a cheap production by any means. It’s a massive endeavor and stars Hrithik Roshan, one of Bollywood’s hottest stars. With the biggest film industry in the world, India decided to bank on the superhero genre by producing its own comic-book-inspired franchise.
But despite the budget and legitimate attempt to create something authentic, Krrish is a shot-for-shot recreation of other Hollywood movies. The Matrix, Superman Returns, Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, Batman Begins… they’re all there! However, Krrish was successful enough to garner multiple sequels. Unabashed plagiarism and questionable effects aside, Krrish isn’t any different from the Transformers movies in terms of popcorn value. It’s a mess, but it’ll keep you entertained.
8 Doctor Mordrid
Ironically, Doctor Mordrid started out as a legitimate attempt to produce a Doctor Strange movie. Back in 1991, Charles Band and his studio, Full Moon, allegedly lost the rights to Marvel’s Master of the Mystic Arts before they were able to give the character a proper live-action adaptation. That didn’t stop them from making the film they wanted with actor Jeffrey Combs in tow, only they titled it Doctor Mordrid instead.
As far as knockoffs go, Doctor Mordrid is high up on the list for not even trying to be different. But as a movie, it’s actually pretty good in an early-90s sorta way. It’s a legitimate production with good acting and a decent plot. Knockoff or not, Doctor Mordrid is definitely worth checking out!
7 Sinister Squad
The thrifty folks at The Asylum are infamous for blatantly plagiarizing superhero movies. They’ve done it with such consistency that the studio started to amass a small cult-like following.
Take Sinister Squad, for instance. At a glance, this looks like the adult film version of its abysmal DC counterpart, Suicide Squad. But it’s actually the story of Alice (in Wonderland) who must assemble a team of fairy tale villains to battle the forces of Death itself. … uhm, what? The movie’s premise is so crazy that, just like Sharknado, it warrants a few minutes of your time.
6 Velayudham
This might be cheating because Altair isn’t exactly a superhero, but with incredible stealth and a mind that warps through multiple generations, he at least qualifies as superhuman. The Tamil movie Velayudham, a big-budget production starring Vijay, one of South India’s most popular actors, is the story of a vigilante who dishes out justice in “Assassin’s Creed gear”. Our hero also emulates the stealth-attack style of the game whenever he’s in that garb.
And that’s as far as the Assassin’s Creed similarities go. Now throw in a convoluted plot about terrorism, justice, familial bonds, a weird love triangle, mixed with random musical numbers... all strung along by a guy cosplaying as Altair, and you have yourself the mother of all guilty pleasures. That is, if you’re willing to waste 3 hours of your time watching it.
5 Mutant X
Saying Mutant X is an X-Men knockoff is an understatement. It’s a show about genetically-engineered folk called New Mutants. Need we say more? The show was created by Avi Arad and Marvel Studios (you read that right) as an alternative to the X-Men because those rights were with 20th Century Fox at the time.
What ensued was a series of ugly legal battles between Fox, Marvel Studios, and two other production houses called Tribune and Fireworks Entertainment. Nevertheless, Mutant X made it to 3 seasons before it was abruptly canceled on a cliffhanger. The show repurposed so many characters and storylines from the X-Men comics that it was hard to take it seriously. But as an early 00s guilty pleasure with bad SFX and beyond-basic sci-fi plots, it’s a pretty fun time.
4 Metal Man
Imagine if Marvel Studios wanted to create their Cinematic Universe but had none of the budget or the production value to boot. You’d still probably get something a lot better than Metal Man. This film is so horrendously cheesy that it makes Catwoman look like a masterpiece. Yet, there’s something so masochistically fun about watching poor editing and a laughable plot being stitched together by this misguided crew in an attempt to create their own bargain-bin version of Tony Stark.
You don’t need to know the plot of Metal Man because it’s fairly obvious. But if you and your buddies are looking for something that will (unintentionally) make you laugh out loud for an hour or so, look for a copy of this movie, if you can even call it that.
3 Italian Spider-Man
Italian Spider-Man is special because… well, it’s bad on purpose. This movie has been mistaken by many as a legitimate film from the 60s because that’s what it’s supposed to be parodying. It’s actually a 2007 Australian comedy that both celebrates and mocks classic international bootleg cinema. And in that sense, it succeeds at being really, really… really bad, but in a good way.
Italian Spider-Man’s powers include surfing, venomous bites, and… summoning penguins? He also battles Captain Maximum and is tasked with protecting an asteroid. Yeah. Heavily inspired by the likes of the Stan Lee-sanctioned Japanese Spider-Man and numerous other versions of copyright-infringing superheroes, Italian Spider-Man is awfully good in the worst of ways.
2 Superman (Dariya Dil)
Bollywood is no stranger to superhero knockoffs. Before modern superhero flicks like Krrish and Ra-One, there was Dariya Dil - also known on the interwebs as “Indian Superman”.
The infamous dance number (you know the one) has been memed ad infinitum, giving it new life on the internet and on a global scale. With costumes that look more like "no-budget" than "low-budget" and a dose of sincere goofiness that was probably lost on the crew behind this atrocity, Dariya Dil is by far one of the worst knockoffs in the history of cinema simply because of how seriously it takes itself. But hey, if you had fun laughing at that dance number on YouTube, you can’t fault the 1988 ripoff for not being entertaining, at least.
1 La Mujer Murcielago (The Bat-Woman)
A mad scientist is kidnapping wrestlers and using them to make human-fish hybrid monsters! Who will step forth to save Mexico from this horror?! Why, La Mujer Murcielago, of course! In 1968, director Rene Cardona decided to make a movie about “The Bat Woman” (copyright, schmopyright!) - a bikini-clad wrestler who’s also a secret agent and a superhero. Because, why not.
It’s a movie that makes no sense and is utterly insane in terms of plot. La Mujer Murcielago isn’t trying to be serious or dark. It’s campy and dumb and doesn’t own the rights to its main character, but at least it’s more fun to watch than say, Batman & Robin.