Analyzing the Most Disappointing CinemaScores in Comic Book Movie History

The debut of “Supergirl” did not quite electrify audiences. The film garnered an average B- from CinemaScore, a research company that surveys viewers on opening night to gauge potential word-of-mouth momentum. CinemaScore can sometimes reveal which original films resonate with audiences, as evidenced by the success of “Sinners,” which scored an A and blossomed into a box office hit. Conversely, the data can also highlight films that struggle to capture widespread appeal, as seen with “Supergirl.”

Regrettably, “Supergirl’s” fate at the box office was dismal. Directed by Craig Gillespie, it nonetheless eclipsed the abysmal scores attributed to some of the worst-reviewed comic book films in CinemaScore’s history. These five films, arranged from highest to lowest score, failed to connect with audiences due to significant artistic missteps. The feedback from their initial screenings foreshadowed the reputations they would battle over time.

Comic book movies typically receive favorable CinemaScore ratings, making the five films in question intriguing outliers within the genre. Analyzing these flops sheds light on why “Supergirl’s” debut is seen in a relatively more positive light.

Just days before “Kraven the Hunter” premiered in North America, whispers circulated online suggesting that Sony’s Spider-Man Universe was nearing its conclusion. Despite “Venom’s” trilogy, the series, including “Morbius” and “Madame Web,” could not sustain itself. Always living in the shadow of Spider-Man, these films struggled mainly because they couldn’t thrive without the famed superhero’s presence. The absence of quality storytelling further complicated their standing. “Kraven” failed to convincingly argue for the longevity of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.

Ultimately, “Kraven the Hunter” failed commercially, earning a C from CinemaScore. The film’s inability to captivate audiences isn’t unexpected, as it served primarily as an extended introduction. Its focus was on grooming characters such as Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and The Chameleon (Fred Hechinger) for future villain roles, resulting in scant memorable action or engaging characters for the present. Given these shortcomings, it’s hardly surprising that viewers exiting the opening night screenings were less than impressed.

The dismal reputation of “Kraven the Hunter” made the demise of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe inevitable. That dreadful CinemaScore grade was just one of countless problems this saga could never overcome.

Back in 1981, “Superman II” dazzled audiences so much that they gave it an A+ CinemaScore grade, a fantastic result that spoke highly of how much Christopher Reeve’s interpretation resonated with people. This also marked the first time a superhero film secured this score, paving the way for subsequent A+ CinemaScore titles like “Black Panther” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Alas, the good times could not go on forever for the “Superman” movies. The next two sequels starring Reeve got significantly worse responses from audiences.

One of those sequels was “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,” widely considered the worst “Superman” film of all time. Its abysmal reputation was clear even from its opening night screenings where “Quest for Peace” was given a C CinemaScore mark. One might normally say that the first two “Superman” movies had set such a high bar that most efforts couldn’t have met audience expectations. However, “The Quest for Peace” was just a straight-up bad movie regardless of context. Its visual effects were terrible, its storyline was emotionally inert, and the fight scenes were unintentionally comical. The whole thing was a disaster that left audiences seeking some uplifting spectacle understandably cold.

Some bad movies take a while to amass their infamous reputations. The CinemaScore grades for “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace,” though, suggest this dud’s awful reputation was sealed.

One of the more baffling comic book movies out there has to be the 2008 Frank Miller directorial effort “The Spirit.” For one thing, its noir-inspired visuals hewed closer to “Sin City” (a movie adaptation of a Miller comic that he also co-directed) than the vintage Will Eisner comics. Even more bizarrely, “The Spirit” clearly emulated the grimy and hard-R mayhem of “Sin City,” but within the confines of a PG-13 rating. This meant the film couldn’t even deliver surface-level titillation or graphic violence that “City” fans expected. Whether you wanted something dark or faithful to classic “Spirit” comics, this star-studded boondoggle was going to disappoint. 

To the surprise of no one, “The Spirit” scored atrocious responses. After being forced to listen to lines of dialogue like “I’m gonna kill you all kinds of dead” and “The cat! She is all the reason I need. I will kill you” for 103 minutes, moviegoers inevitably plastered “The Spirit” with a C- CinemaScore. This incredibly messy enterprise was always going to leave audiences cold, but coming out just a few months after massive crowdpleasers like “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight” didn’t help.

Viewers had just seen the pinnacle of comic book cinema, which just amplified the glaring shortcomings of this bizarre yet tedious adaptation. It’s no surprise “The Spirit” fell flat on its face when it came time for its CinemaScore.

In many all-time bad movies, there comes a single moment where it becomes clear to viewers that they’re watching something historically awful. For 2015’s “Fantastic Four,” that comes when the four of the lead characters are trapped in an alternate dimension that’s pelting them with dangerous weather. As they all return to the pods that brought them to this realm, director Josh Trank suddenly cuts to Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell) screaming as a bunch of rocks rain down on him. The shot’s cramped framing just makes it look like Jamie Bell is being bombarded by a bunch of plastic squares, with his ADR’d wails amplifying the moment’s unintentional comedy.

If “Fantastic Four” was trying to be a horrifying David Cronenberg take on this superhero material, that intent went staggeringly awry in execution. That level of tomfoolery made it unsurprising “Fantastic Four” had one of the biggest comic book movie second weekend drops of all time and became a box office bomb. Word of mouth was nothing short of dreadful, with opening night audiences giving “Fantastic Four” a C- CinemaScore grade, a shockingly bad rating for a superhero movie. For comparison’s sake, “Catwoman” got a B grade.

Failing to deliver either compelling escapist action or an exciting new vision of these familiar Marvel characters cemented “Fantastic Four” as one of the worst superhero movies of all time. That one scene with the plastic rocks hitting Ben Grimm alone guaranteed “Fantastic Four” terrible audience responses.

There were once hopes that “Joker: Folie à Deux” could reach a domestic opening weekend exceeding $100 million. As history has infamously shown, “Joker: Folie à Deux” didn’t come close to those expectations. Instead, it became one of the biggest box office flops in history with a domestic cume of $58.3 million. It was also incredibly frontloaded, making $37.67 million of that lifetime North American haul in its first three days. How was that possible? Simple: “Joker: Folie à Deux” had some of the worst word of mouth imaginable for a major studio release.

“Joker: Folie à Deux” secured a D CinemaScore grade from opening night audiences, the same score as infamous boondoggles like “Movie 43,” “The Snowman,” and 1998’s “The Avengers,” the latter of which at least featured a scene where Sean Connery gives an intimidating speech to people in colorful teddy bear costumes. It’s no mystery why “Joker: Folie à Deux” was such a disaster. It wasn’t just the bewilderment of it being a musical. Sitting down in a theater and getting surprised with a musical as good as Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” would be one thing.

Suddenly getting bombarded with Joaquin Phoenix screaming “For Once in My Life” lyrics was nobody’s idea of a good time. No wonder “Joker: Folie à Deux” had some of the worst audience responses ever for a comic book movie.