The Top 10 Best Original Superheroes from Movies
These Original Superheroes Didn’t Start in a Comic Book.
Superheroes are all the rage in Hollywood these days. It’s hard not to hit the internet without seeing a flame war between fans of Marvel and DC arguing over which adaptation is the best. While I’m a huge comic book geek, this week I’m taking some time to honor the original superheroes that Hollywood has given us over the years. Those characters that were printed on 35mm film before they were printed in comics. It turns out there are actually a lot of characters that would be eligible for this list, but more than a few are pretty awful. Luckily there were still enough for me to put together a solid ranking of superheroes that deserve recognition for their originality and not all of them wear capes. This list has everything from indie films to animated movies to classic 80’s action flicks. So, it’s time to hang up your cape and enjoy this list of super-powered characters that aren’t comic book adaptations.
10. Jefferson Reed AKA Meteor Man- The Meteor Man
Robert Townsend wrote, directed, and starred in this early 90s flick as Jefferson Reed, a mild-manner inner-city teacher who encounters a meteor one night that (of course) he touches. Contact with it imbues him with powers, ranging from the standard flight, super strength, speed, and invulnerability, to the slightly weirder ability to absorb a book’s content by touch and telepathy… With dogs. He does what anyone would in that situation and gets a super-suit so he can start cleaning up the neighborhood. The logical part of my brain recognizes that The Meteor Man is far from a good movie. However, I’ve always believed that not all great movies are good. That said, The Meteor Man is definitely not a great film either. However, he’s one of the few original superheroes from a movie that was aimed at inner-city kids and that makes him a character worth a spot on this list (for now).
9. Jenny Johnson AKA G-Girl- My Super Ex-Girlfriend
Next up on this list of original superheroes from movies is another character who gained powers from a meteorite. Uma Thurman stars as G-Girl possesses your standard flight, superhuman strength, speed, and senses, invulnerability, super breath, and heat vision, which she uses to fight crime on a daily basis. While the world might see her as a hero, the truth is that she really needs to see a super-therapist, because it turns out that G-Girl also possesses the power to be neurotic, possessive, jealous, and vindictive. When she gets dumped for these reasons by her boyfriend, she loses it. Determined to make him pay, G-Girl proves that hell truly hath no fury like a woman scorned, and a woman with superpowers, well forget about it. As impressive as her powers are, G-Girl’s instability also makes her terrifying and a bit of a menace.
8. Dr. Peyton Westlake Aka Darkman- The Darkman Series
From the man who brought us the original Spider-man trilogy comes one of the ugliest superheroes this side of the Toxic Avenger (who deserves an honorary mention anyways). While he might not be based on a comic, Darkman has an origin that will be very familiar to comic book fanboys and fangirls (fan people?). Liam Neeson plays a scientist who developed a unique formula that creates a synthetic skin that can be worn for 99 minutes before it breaks down. Of course, he suffers a terrible lab accident at the hands of an evil crime lord and is permanently disfigured. Luckily he’s got that synthetic skin that allows him to impersonate anyone he wants and along with his suddenly enhanced strength and vulnerability to pain (lab accidents be crazy like that) he takes his vengeance on those who wronged him an hour and a half at a time.
7. Captain Excellent- Paper Man
I’m going to go ahead and make the call right now that imaginary superheroes from movies do count, as long as they interact with characters (no background characters). Now that I’ve put that loophole in place, I can give my man-crush Ryan Reynolds a spot on yet another list for his role as Captain Excellent in Paper Man. He might not save the day, but he does serve as the emotional support system for a struggling writer named Richard (Jeff Daniels). As a child, Richard depended on Captain Excellent to help him deal with anxiety and confidence issues, and never grew out of that dependency. As an adult though, Richard is at a point where he needs to grow beyond Captain Excellent, which the spandex-clad hero is definitely not excited about. Despite not displaying any displays of superheroism, Captain Excellent is a character that wants what’s best for people, even if he has no idea what that is (something I can relate to).
6. Steve Stronghold and Josie DeMarco-Stronghold AKA The Commander and Jetstream- Sky High
Sky High is chalked full of superheroes. It becomes apparent early on though that the big dawgs in this world are The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston). The Commander possesses superstrength and invulnerability, while Jetstream has the ability to fly at supersonic speeds. The two make a pretty good crime-fighting duo, so it made sense that teamwork would carry over into their personal lives. It doesn’t take long after they’re married for them to have a bouncing baby boy of their own, who will someday grow up to follow in their footsteps. That is if their son actually has powers of his own. Despite their incredible abilities and awe-inspiring feats, The Commander and Jetstream are parents underneath it all. Between taking down evil robots and megalomaniacs, they worry about their son’s academics and personal life. I figured this list of original superheroes could do with some super parents.