Most Believable Superhero Franchise STORIES/UNIVERSES

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

This is a list of the most believable superhero franchises...not necessarily the most realistic. And, of course, these are merely my personal opinions.

Well, we all know number one is easy, but what about the rest? And remember the notion that as long as a story stays within its own set of rules, then it's "believable".

(And, please no debates on whether Batman is a SH or not.)

Most believable:

1. Nolan's Batman Trilogy- 95% based in reality as we know it, Nolan master crafted a Batman that could exist in the real world...well, mostly.

Most believable film: The Dark Knight

2. X-Men- The powers can be pretty crazy, but since they are all born into them and that's the foundation of the story, it's believable.

Most believable film: X2

3. Superman- The story quickly establishes an alien world and that Kal-El would have superhuman abilities on Earth. The rest of the movies stay within this context. The villains in the first three films and Superman Returns do at least. Nuclear Man in Superman IV is created from Superman's DNA, so they at least attempt to remain within that realm.

Most believable film: Superman

4. Kick-Ass*- They do all remain powerless and the film presents a very realistic portrayal of what would happen if an untrained teen tried to be a superhero. Yet, by the end of the film we're left wondering how an 11 year old girl, who kills a whole bunch of professional hitmen with relative ease, belongs in that world.

Most believable film(so far): Kick-Ass

5. Spider-Man- While they do establish a world in which genetics and technology are obviously pretty advanced, the odds of Peter being bitten by a genetically modified spider at the same moment in time that Norman Osborn goes insane and becomes the Green Goblin have to be astronomical. The Amazing Spider-Man at least has both Peter and the villain get their powers from the same source. Spider-Man 3, on the other hand, pushes and goes through the boundaries of believability, with random meteors, accidents with sand and sand monsters.

Most believable film: Spider-Man 2

Bottom 3:

3. Daredevil/Elektra- While DD established a world where a person could have heightened senses after an accident with radioactive materials, Elektra blew that out of the water with spiritual ninjas and an inexplicably power imbued group of villains. Oh, and the ability to cheat death. Yeah.

Most unbelievable film: Elektra

2. Fantastic Four- The first film had the entire group and the main villain receive their powers from the same exact source. Say what you want about the film, but that's very believable. However, in the second film, a cosmic planet eating entity who has probably been alive for millions of years just happens to pick Earth as his next meal at the same time these heroes exist to stop him. Odds? Incalculable.

Most unbelievable film: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer

1. Iron Man/The Avengers- A lot of you may disagree, but let's look at this closely, shall we?

The first film in the series, Iron Man, establishes a very realistic world where a very rich arms manufacturer uses his vast resources to build a suit of armor. A flying suit of armor...sure, but still something very believable in this world. The villain uses the same tech, so boom, believable superhero film.

The second film in the series gives us a gamma ray scientist that has an accident with the radiation then turns into a huge hulking green monster with ridiculous strength and durability. The villain also gets his abilities from the same source. This film also reveals the Super Soldier serum exists. And then Iron Man makes a cameo at the end, establishing he lives in the same world. OK. The odds that this happens in the same time frame are pretty slim, but, hey, it's at least feasible.

The third film is the second Iron Man film, which has a villain and "sidekick" who, again, use the same tech as Iron Man. Believable. The same film also establishes that SHIELD has an agent named Black Widow who has no powers. We're good.

The fourth film is where believability goes completely off the rails. In Thor, we are shown an alternate universe where a race of beings exist that are mostly unknown to Earthlings other than in legends. These legends not only exist but come back to Earth, wreaking havoc on a small New Mexican town. Uh huh. Oh, and these immortals who have probably been alive longer than humans have existed, just happen to show up at the same time Iron Man and The Hulk appear on the scene. Remember, before this, the only hero was Captain America, who hasn't been seen since World War II. Which brings us to...

The fifth film. Which introduces us to Captain America, a hero of the second World War. Since we already know from the previous entries in this series that the Super Soldier Serum exists, this part of the film is more than believable. And since we already know from Thor that "crazy stuff" exists, the Tesseract, a Cosmic Cube, also seems feasible. So, 95% of the film seems completely believable. It's only at the very beginning and the very end do we see the series once again delve into the absurd. SHIELD just happens to discover Cap's frozen body, held in cryogenic stasis for about 65 years. Uh huh. They thaw him out and, hey! He's resurrected at the same point in time that Iron Man, Hulk and Thor show up. Yikes.

Now we come to the sixth film. Oboy. Now we've come to the real reason this is the least believable superhero franchise. In Marvel's(gotta give credit where credit is due ) The Avengers, not only is SHIELD successful in bringing all of these guys together, but they also have a floating aircraft carrier that was not shown or even hinted at in previous films. Oh and it turns invisible! Awesome! Oh, wait, there's more. Loki, one of those mythical legends that just happened to not be a myth, teams up with...wait for it, aliens! Yep. Aliens.

So let's recap. We've went from a realistic rich guy who creates armor to...a scientist who becomes a monster to...mythical gods in a parallel dimension to...aliens. Hey, I love the Marvel series. I really do. And they may not be believable, but they're damn entertaining.

Oh, and just wait for Guardians of the Galaxy, which I'm sure will up the ante on unbelievability. Don't let me down, Marvel! Excelsior!

Most unbelievable film: The Avengers(...for now)

Feel free to express your opinions. But be nice now.

Edited November 30, 2012 by ShAAken not Stirred™

[John Marston]

None. Yes even Nolan's movies

[CoolioD1]

^Yeah, I agree. Can't think of any.

[4815162342]

The Punisher (Thomas Jane version).

[#ED]

Great thread, AA. I'll edit this post with my thoughts tomorrow when I finish up my thread.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Personally, I think you two are confusing "believable" with "realistic". The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings are believable, but are the stories realistic? Of course not.

[CoolioD1]

Personally, I think you two are confusing "believable" with "realistic". The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings are believable, but are the stories realistic? Of course not.

Oh ok..... Still can't think of any.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

The Punisher (Thomas Jane version).

I agree to a point. The film starts out great, but by the end, it gravitates toward the absurd. The Punisher taking the time to make his family's killer think his wife is having an affair with his right hand man? When, in context with the beginning, he'd just go kill the bastard. Edited November 30, 2012 by ShAAken not Stirred™

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Oh ok..... Still can't think of any.

[DAR]

Just a little aside. When Transformers came out and friend of mine didn't like it because he said it wasn't believable. I replied naturally with the robots from a distant planet who can transform into various Earth vehicles? No he thought Shia Lebouf getting Megan Fox was the unbelivable. Peoples mileage tends to vary.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Just a little aside. When Transformers came out and friend of mine didn't like it because he said it wasn't believable. I replied naturally with the robots from a distant planet who can transform into various Earth vehicles? No he thought Shia Lebouf getting Megan Fox was the unbelivable. Peoples mileage tends to vary.

That's great.

[Ozymandias]

The Dark Knight, obviously. It doesn't have any fantasy shit like the Avengers or all other superhero movies and the Joker could pass for a criminal mastermind that uses make-up to hide his real identity and its embedded in real life politics and "possible" realistic situations. Of course its not 100% believable, but it easily wins against all the other superhero shit Hollywood dishes out. Even though I don't like superhero movies, I've always respected The Dark Knight a LOT because it aspires to be much, MUCH more than the typical formulaic cookie cutter crap of the genre itself like The Avengers is the epitome of.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Shpongle

[BK007]

Tim Burton's Batman.Joker. Penguin. Catwoman. Never again.edit: As the most unbelievable.

Edited December 1, 2012 by BK007

[BK007]

Also, interesting topic, AA, but maybe you can help me clarify.From the Avengers Phase One series, I really liked Iron Man, TIH and TA. The others were meh. Now I know we all have different levels of acceptance of different films, but for example I found TA fantastic as a blockbuster. Didn't care whether it was unbelievable or not. To me, it seemed like a natural progression. Maybe that's because Iron Man has had so many films in between. Pretty much, the introduction of Thor helped that. I would say either IM2 with its need for SHIELD and Red Skull in CA were the worst of that series.A raccoon may be too much for in the GOTG depending on how they do it. Maybe it's the way a film itself progresses? Like how the rules are established and whether or not they are changed.Some films just from the outset become ridiculous and some manage it. You're a big fan, care to help me analyze why this is.Giving an example, I didn't like Batman Returns at all and I liked the Avengers.

[RichWS]

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

As the most or least believable?

[RichWS]

Most believable to me, damn it!

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Believable doesn't necessarily equate to better. For example, I'll take the 60s Spider-Man animated series over the 90's version. Why? Well it certainly isn't more believable. It's got rehashed animation, plot holes, long stretches of Spidey just swinging to nowhere, and some downright goofy characters. But I'd argue it's got more charisma and personality in one episode than the Spider Slayer, Spider Slayer, Spider Slayer 90s version had in its entire series.One good thing going for the films so far...no Spider Slayers.

[Accursed Arachnid!™]

Most believable to me, damn it!

I love the Flash TV series. Still think it's a shame it didn't get more than one season. Not because the ratings were not good enough, they were, but for a series that cost half as much. Hamill as the Trickster killed.

[Tower]

Also, regarding the Avengers, I also found it unbelievable how the Hulk suddenly gains the ability to control his anger for no apparent reason in the middle of the film.

Edited December 1, 2012 by Tower