Comic book movies have come a long way. Many of them have moved us to become better people, shifting our perspectives on life. Today, I want to celebrate the real superpower of the genre: meaning. As determined by you, here are the CBM Community ranking of the most meaningful comic book films of all time.
Here they are in order by release date:
Superman
"I was 9 when I saw that film in the theater, and it blew me away. The first hour might still be the best origin story in a CBM, and when he was being interviewed by Lois, and got very serious and said "Lois, I never lie." it was perhaps the most meaningful cinema moment for me. I remember thinking "Dang! This guy could do whatever he wants, and nobody could stop him...but he never lies!" It was a very meaningful moment of considering the implications of, and personal sacrifice for, morality." - GodzillaKart
"In a phrase, ground breaking. The line about believing a man can fly was so right. Forty years later, we still compare most films to this movie. Forty years later, we compare the current Superman to the first full-color big screen version." - ThunderKat
Batman
"I remember seeing this in the cinema. I was 10 and it reignited my love of comics." - MiKi
"I think Batman really changed the possibilities and landscape for CBMs. It made Marvel attempt to make movies with Captain America and Fantastic Four. It also had a lot of well known actors out the gate which made people realize that CBMs can be taken seriously." - FormulaOne
Batman Returns
"No other film gives Batman such a meaningful treatment. When watching this, I understood for the first time in life that doing the right thing can often come with a cost. We all have a dark side, but it's up to us whether we choose to embrace it or not. When tragedy strikes, we are challenged to put our vengeance aside and choose to forgive so that we do not go down a dark path like Andrea did. And no matter how much we love a person, we cannot always save them." - PeterPetrelliParker
Spider-Man
"I watched that movie every day after school for the next year or so. I always figured "I'll just watch this one cool scene and then go do my homework or whatever" and once the movie started and that theme kicked in, I just couldn't stop watching. That movie's a piece of my soul, it was such an essential aspect of my childhood, and it was genuinely inspiring to me." - MUTO123
"That final swing sequence is iconic (as are many other scenes, like the final showdown between Spider-Man & green goblin), & it still gives me chills to this day. There may have been other comic book movies that I had seen before this one, but none that impacted me so much. This film made me want to be a better person, & it is hugely responsible for inspiring me to become an artist." - ThouBear8
Daredevil
"While this film isn't very loved by the CBM community here, it's the movie that made Daredevil my favourite comic book character and got me really excited about comic book movies in general. I was only 7 or 8 when dad brought the movie home with the pizza he ordered for dinner (part of a promotions campaign at the the time, buy a pizza get a free DVD). Being a rather 'dark' superhero movie I remember my parents weren't to keen on letting me watch it, which really just added to the excitement." - MrMurdock
Spider-Man 2
"Until 2008, Spider-Man 2 was easily my favorite comic book movie. Now, it's not even my favorite Spider-Man movie, but I still consider it the reason I became a fan of Spider-Man, and really comics in general. One of my cousins actually works on Marvel, and he was the one who introduced me to comics, but when he did it was always the Spider-Man ones I read first. Though Spider-Man 2 had flaws, and t may not have aged incredibly, it and its predecessor were what made me the comic fan I am today." - Valdez
Superman Returns
"Superman Returns is not particularly the most appreciated film, for all that it remains to me the most perfect transposition of the man of steel on the big screen. Its standalone status allowing it to be in my eyes to be to the Superman film series what All-Star Superman is to comics. I really find Singer's intention to transpose the Bronze Superman Age of comics, a normally naive Superman, into the post-9/11 US, extremely interesting. The hero's groping, seeking to regain his ancient world but who is only being able to cling to a lost paradise, is magnified by images radiating beauty. The most interesting remains, however, the desire that animates Singer, who wants to show the rebirth of a nation that has been wounded and has lost its bearings." - Forager
The Dark Knight
"The Dark Knight probably has the greatest teaser trailer of all time, man was I hyped for this movie! Saw it in cinemas with my Dad and it become my favourite movie ever. Made me realise what a talent Christopher Nolan and he really blew up my passion about everything film related, comic book movies in particular." MrMurdock
"The movie is meaningful because it has elevated the genre to a level that has not since been matched by any other CBM but it shows what is possible." - Forthas
"What really sets this movie apart tho, of course, is Heath Ledger. His performance was so astounding, you couldn't help but feel moved by it. It's hard to even put it into words. Combine that with Aaron Eckhart's surprisingly powerful Two-Face & Gary Oldman's Gordon, & I was totally blown away. There's a reason everyone still talks about this movie." - ThouBear8
"The movie that got me into comics, film, and comic book movies, which have dominated my free time ever since." - Elayem
Thor
"Some may not believe this. It is the most general audience accessible superhero movie of them all. There's no sluggish origin. Boom: here's Thor, Loki, Odin, Asgard, Frost Giants, et al. From there, you get the heart of the story which has heart with a little bit of humor." - ThunderKat
Captain America: The First Avenger
"This film is of personal meaningful to me because I particularly like the comic books from the golden age, as well as the pulps and serials of this period, essentially let's say I love the popular culture of the 1930s and 1940s." - Forager
The Avengers
"I had seen all the other MCU and superhero films but this movie is what truly got me invested in the superhero genre. One of the best in theater experiences I've had and loved every second of the movie. It had a dramatic impact as I started reading comics because of this movie and still am to this day. It brought me to this site, and although I may not be my favorite CBM anymore it changed my life and is still great." - Starlordsdad
"Never have we seen a shared universe in a CBM until this. From that point on all CBMs will be like this and other genre of film is trying to duplicate it." - FormulaOne
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
"I can go on and on about how incredible this movie is in terms of its action, in terms of how dark it gets (this is probably the closest Marvel's ever gotten to making an R-rated film), but what I love most about this movie is that it took a character that I'd previously thought was cool, but not necessarily one of my favorite heroes, and it made him possibly my favorite hero in the MCU." - MUTO123
"As someone who is not enamored of the endless humor that defines Marvel films, Captain America: Winter Soldier was the closest movie to the epic level of the Dark Knight that Marvel has produced. It shows that Marvel can make clever, well acted and action packed films that exists on another level than most of its other films." - Forthas
Avengers: Age of Ultron
"Evan Peters' Quicksilver is one of the worst character adaptations I've had the displeasure of witnessing, so having a decent amount of screen-time in an Avengers movie dedicated to getting the character way more right was a treat. They did the accent/European treatment, the relationship with Wanda, a more logical demonstration of his powers, the bad guy to good guy arc, etc." - PietroJmaximoff
Captain America: Civil War
"Civil War not only had meaningful themes and great character development, it also had scenes that looked like they were taken straight from the comics. It had the best parts of Avengers and the best parts of Winter Soldier all together, and it basically ushered in a golden age of the MCU." - Valdez
"One of my favorite movies of all time period and definitely my favorite CBM of all time." - Starlordsdad
Logan
"It hit me on many emotional levels from seeing the death of one of my favorite childhood superheroes, to being reminded of my grandma's Alzheimers through Professor X, to the heartfelt connection I felt between Logan and Laura as a soon-to-be-dad myself. Logan reminded me that hope is often not seen, that the good we do for others we might not see the fruit of in our lifetime. But nevertheless, Eden awaits." - PeterPetrelliParker
"As a father to a young daughter I really dug the whole dynamic between Logan and X-23, and found the ending blew me away." - MiKi
Wonder Woman
"The No Man's Land scene legitimately had me welling up with tears of straight confidence or something. Whatever it was, I couldn't have loved that act of the movie any more. She showed the world that women are just as [frick]ing worth it as men in any context or environment when given the chance." - PietroJmaximoff
I want to recognize the ones that had the most votes: Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, The Dark Knight, The Avengers, The Winter Soldier, Civil War, Logan. These 8 films tend to be benchmarks of the genre, so I thought that was interesting.
Well that's it for this editorial. There were may runners-up that were not listed here, and I'm sure there were many more, so feel free to give yours in the comments below.
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