Revisiting superhero films of the ’90s in honor of ‘Captain Marvel’

We are currently living in the golden age of superhero films. Every few months, a new one arrives in theaters and dominates the zeitgeist for a few weeks before hype (or dread) starts to build for the next film.

Captain Marvel, the latest movie in Marvel’s decade-long streak, is the first in the modern era to take us back into the 1990s, a time before caped crusaders took up such a sizable chunk of the movie and television market.

In anticipation of seeing Carol Danvers tear shit up at the end of the 20th century, I went back and revisited a whole bunch of superhero films from the ‘90s to examine what the world of superheroes looked like before Marvel and DC built up their own interconnected film dynasties.

From Darkman to Mystery Men and everything in between, the ‘90s make for an interesting decade of superhero films, especially when compared to what came after. First of all, across 10 years, there weren’t even 10 notable films that starred superheroes.

The sun rarely shines on ‘90s superheroes

The biggest and most impactful films by far were the three Batman films that followed up on Tim Burton’s 1989 masterpiece, as well as one movie that still stands as one of the best superhero films ever made: Blade. Surrounding those films is a mishmash of releases that focused on characters that never were and probably never will be household names: Darkman, The Rocketeer, and Judge Dredd to name a few.

Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone past his prime Rocky and Rambo days, is arguably one of the worst superhero films of all time to hit theaters. Stallone is terrible as the trigger-happy cop/executioner Dredd, Rob Schneider is as annoying of a supporting sidekick as you can imagine, and the writing is completely devoid of any nuance or tact.

And yet, planted firmly in the middle of the ‘90s with its theatrical debut in 1995, Judge Dredd contains the inescapable DNA the runs through every superhero movie of the decade.

The deep dark ’90s

There’s an overwhelming sense of seriousness and encroaching darkness that seeps through almost every scene of every superhero movie in the ‘90s. Sure, there can be light moments here and there, but it’s incredibly rare to see an actual joke or moment of levity in any of these films.

Not only are they thematically dark, they’re visually dark. The sun rarely shines on ‘90s superheroes.

It’s a stark contrast from today’s heroes

Except for, ironically, Darkman. Darkman, directed by Sam Raimi (best known for his three-film Spider-Man run in the 2000s) and starring Liam Neeson, kicked off the ‘90s in interesting fashion, being one of the first superhero films to not be based on an existing property.

Darkman begins with scientist Peyton Wilder (Neeson) being attacked by a gang of mobsters leaving Wilder horribly injured and nearly dead, but was luckily revived by scientists who inadvertently made him super strong and unable to feel pain, but his face still looked nasty. 

Luckily, he was working on a synthetic skin for burn victims and began to create realistic skin masks to reunite with his girlfriend (Frances McDormand, of all people) and impersonate mob members to sabotage their nefarious plans.

While there are plenty of fights in construction sites and warehouses, there’s a fair amount of outdoor, daytime action in Darkman. Nothing’s ever too bright in Darkman though, because Wilder’s horribly disfigured face is either on the surface is lurking just beneath every scene.

On the other side of the ‘90s superhero coin is Blade, a fantastic film about a vampire hunter named Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) who runs around killing vampires with reckless abandon. It stands at the precipice of the old era of superhero films, going all out in ‘90s-style action that sits perfectly between the machismo of the ‘80s and the sleekness of the 2000s. 

Blade contains an amount of blood and violence that hasn’t been given this amount of attention in superhero films since. The movie opens on a scene where a vampire rave ecstatically dances in a literal shower of blood before Blade ruins the party with his vampire-vaporizing bullets and silver stakes, capping off the evening by impaling a vampire to a wall and lighting him on fire. The camera does not cut away.

It’s wonderfully gory and it’s unlike anything that Marvel or DC has put out since the beginning of the superhero renaissance marked by Batman Begins and Iron Man in the mid-to-late-2000s.

There are no light moments in Blade, and there are almost no light moments in any of the other ‘90s superhero films. It’s a stark contrast from today’s heroes.

Inhuman heroes

In the golden age of superhero films, especially in the more recent releases, there’s a clear attempt to humanize every hero by giving the audience at least a few scenes to laugh at, making these heroes more relatable to everyday folks like us. With a light joke or a slapstick gag, even god-like figures like Wonder Woman and Thor are brought down to earth.

This modern staple is completely absent in the ‘90s.

They never really stray from being serious

Let’s look at the Batman films, Batman Returns (‘92), Batman Forever (‘95), and Batman & Robin (‘97). Despite starring three different men as Bruce Wayne/Bats (Michael Keaton reprising his role from 1989’s Batman, followed by Val Kilmer and George Clooney), they all exist within the same storyline. 

The Batman tetralogy is essentially a direct response to comic book writer Frank Miller’s approach to the character from the mid-’80s, which helped ignite a serious, dark, and broody era for comics that stretched through the ‘90s and into the 2000s.

While the characters like Danny DeVito’s Penguin, Tommy Lee Jones’ Two Face, and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Mr. Freeze are undeniably over the top and ridiculous, they never really stray from being serious, villainous caricatures, and Batman responds in kind with an unbreakably dark, heroic stoicism. 

None of the Batmen are ever the deserving butt of a joke, never in a position where they are comically underprepared, never able to deliver a funny line to make them seem relatable. We’re supposed to take them and everything they do completely seriously.

Nowadays we’re used to laughing along with characters as they poke fun of Captain America’s inability to grasp modern references or laugh at the sight of an octopus playing drums in Aquaman.

While those Batman films stood as DC’s pillars of the ‘90s, Marvel really only had Blade. Well, at least that most people are aware of.

Major failures

The biggest difference between the ‘90s movie landscape and now is that there were two Marvel films in the ‘90s featuring major household names that were either so bad or so beleaguered by problems that they’ve been all but swept under the rug.

In 1992 there was Captain America. In 1994 there was The Fantastic Four. 

Captain America was so bad that it almost didn’t come out, instead being released as a straight-to-TV movie two years after it was supposed to hit theaters. It is terrible, according to Entertainment Weekly’s review, and you can see it for yourself on YouTube.

The Fantastic Four is equally bad but never actually saw an official release, and you can also watch the whole thing on YouTube if you dare.

This was an era where companies like DC and Marvel were still figuring out exactly how to monetize their properties on the big screen, how to tell superhero stories that weren’t so one-dimensional, and how to write talent contracts so you didn’t end up with with three Batmen in four connected films.

Marvel cared so little about these films that they’ve been watched millions of times on YouTube for free without a hitch. You would never see that happen with today’s Captain America, or even today’s Fantastic Four which is still really bad but, you know, you can tell there’s a little effort there.