9 Superhero Films That Shocked Everyone At The Box Office

No matter how much the experts claim to know, box office numbers are never as cut and dry as they seem. There are certain films that are immune to negative criticism and blow everyone out of the water, while there are others that need every bit of assistance to help them break even. Superhero movies are no different. Make no mistake: The genre's the most profitable and popular right now and studio execs rub their hands in glee at just how much money there is to be made. As comic book legend Frank Miller told Deadline: "This has been the best period for superhero movies we ever had. I mean there was that wonderful sunburst of the first Christopher Reeves Superman movie. That was just a ray of sunshine. We've had ups and downs over the years. Now look at what we've got." Still, there are some that overachieved during their theatrical runs and surprised everyone in a good way. No sane person is ever going to say no to receiving more than expected, of course. However, when you look back at the history of several projects, you'll see that they exceeded everyone's wildest dreams and spreadsheets. So, on that note, join us as we explore 9 superhero films that seriously over-performed at the box office. Whether they deserved to make the money they did or not is another matter entirely, but the fact of the matter is that no one expected them to do as well as they did. Suicide Squad The fact that even most DCEU fans label Suicide Squad as the cinematic universe's poorest offering tells you all you need to know about it. It wasn't just negatively received by critics (27% on Rotten Tomatoes) and fans alike; it was mauled. For all intents and purposes, it should've flopped hard at the box office. But instead, it made more money than the studio's 2017 centerpiece Justice League. The budget for the film was a reported $175 million and it brought in a whopping $746.8 million worldwide. So, what was the key to the pic's financial success despite the critical kryptonite? Undoubtedly, the marketing campaign that featured a lot of great music and teased a completely different movie. If you compare it to Doctor Strange – which came out a few months later, received an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score, cost an estimated $165 million and brought in $677.7 million – you'd see that Rotten Tomatoes be damned here. Iron Man 3 For many, the last great Iron Man film was the original released in 2008. That's not to say that the other two sequels were unwatchable – not at all – but for Iron Man 3 to join the billion-dollar club, it left a lot of people surprised. Was it really that good of a movie? Undoubtedly, the Shane Black-helmed pic rode off The Avengers wave from the previous year as the audience craved more of Marvel's heroes. But to haul in $1.215 billion off a budget of $200 million is quite remarkable in any climate. What's even more surprising is how the Mandarin reveal in the film disappointed a lot of fans, yet it still bossed the box office. It makes you wonder why Marvel gets a free pass with its controversial creative changes while DC would be slammed for doing something similar… Batman Forever Tim Burton's Batman films broke the mold. They made superhero movies popular again and established the Dark Knight as the premier comic book character of the '90s. Warner, though, wasn't happy with Burton's dark fantasy world and wanted a more kid-friendly approach to peddle toys and Happy Meals. Burton wasn't having any of it and walked – as did Batman himself, Michael Keaton. A crisis of this magnitude could've derailed everything, but Warner Bros. stuck to its guns, hiring Joel Schumacher to direct Batman Forever and putting Val Kilmer in the cape and cowl. While the film wasn't as warmly received as its predecessors, it made $336.5 million worldwide off a budget of $100 million. To put it in context, Batman Returns made $266.8 million off $80 million. As such, Warner felt vindicated by its choice, doubled down on the kid-friendly method and crapped out Batman & Robin as further punishment two years later. Guardians Of The Galaxy For years, studios have avoided venturing into B-grade comic book characters. There's this belief that if the likes of Spider-Man and Superman can struggle at the box office at times, it would be catastrophic for lesser-known properties. Marvel Studios put this theory to the test though by bringing Guardians of the Galaxy to the big screen in 2014. Proving its faith in the film, Marvel even pumped a budget of over $200 million into it. Thankfully, the results were phenomenal. It raked in over $770 million worldwide and became a pop culture phenomenon – especially its groovy soundtrack. Suddenly, these smaller comic book characters jumped into A-list territory and have received a new lease on life – in film, TV, comic books and even video games. Who knew that a talking raccoon and a tree that says three words could be so popular?! Black Panther When Black Panther was first announced, it was hyped for its cultural significance. Heck, Marvel thought it would probably pull in numbers similar to the first Guardians of the Galaxy film. Anything north of $600 million would've been deemed a success for everyone involved in the $200 million production. Fast-forward a few months later though and it's the second-highest-grossing film of 2018 and the ninth-highest-grossing film of all-time, having pulled in a tremendous $1.347 billion at the global box office. No one could've projected these sorts of numbers and it established T'Challa as a key figure of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) going forward. A sequel was quickly announced with the majority of the creative team brought back for round two. Forget about Thanos turning the titular hero into dust in Avengers: Infinity War, though, because there's no way that Marvel's about to turn away all the money it stands to make from future Black Panther productions. Deadpool The history of bringing Deadpool to the big screen is well-documented. It's a production that took many years of conversation and persuasion to pull off. For Fox, the studio refused to believe there would be a demand for an R-rated superhero film, let alone one about some character that looked like a low-budget Spider-Man with a foul mouth and ninja swords. Establishing the known fact that studios know nothing about their audiences or properties, Ryan Reynolds and the creative team behind Deadpool made movie magic in 2016. Not only did it become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, beating out Fifty Shades of Grey, but it also brought in $783 million against a measly $58 million budget. Even the team involved in Deadpool couldn't believe the impact it had. The Merc with a Mouth quickly turned into many people's new favorite superhero and dismissed the belief that comic books are only for kids once and for all. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles It's a shame that children nowadays don't understand the pop-culture phenomenon that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was in the late '80s and early '90s. The animated series was one of the most-watched and beloved programs on TV while the toys sold like hotcakes and were hot-sellers over Christmas. It was Turtle-mania in every sense of the word. Still, Hollywood didn't want to gamble on a live-action film in 1990, fearing it wouldn't perform at the box office at all. None of the major studios were interested in distributing it, so it was up to the then-independent New Line Cinema to put the $13.5 million Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie out into the world and pray for the best. The critics and studios were shown the middle finger again as the audience lapped up the lean, green pic, turning it into a cult classic and creating another franchise. Oh, it also helped that it took in $202 million at the global box office, establishing it as the highest-grossing independent film at the time. Thor: Ragnarok By the time when Thor: Ragnarok was announced, you could hear the collective "meh" on the internet. The God of Thunder hadn't achieved much since 2011's Thor and become a bit of a wet rag in the MCU. Did he really deserve a third solo film? Well, Marvel showed some balls by releasing Ragnarok so close to Justice League. While the latter had experienced a storied and troubled production, surely people would be more psyched for DC's super-sized team-up than Thor, right? As it turns out, the joke was on all of us. The threequel outperformed Justice League and made $854 million off a $180 million budget. Not only that, but it also became the highest-grossing film of the trilogy and the ninth-highest-grossing MCU film to date. Perhaps its biggest achievement, though, was how it reenergized Thor and gave him a new purpose as he soared in popularity once again. The Incredibles Pixar has something of a Midas touch. Nearly every single one of its films is a smash-hit at the box office, with both audiences and critics. However, a few eyebrows were raised when it released its own animated superhero movie in the form of The Incredibles in 2004. Sure, the genre wasn't what it is today, but characters such as Spider-Man, X-Men and Blade were doing pretty well at the box office. As such, would audiences care about this new family of superheroes that weren't the Fantastic Four? The answer was a resounding yes. Brad Bird's film reaped $633 million from a $90 million budget. Its most-lasting quality, though, is how it's often cited as one of the best superhero films of all time, even though it doesn't belong to Marvel or DC. It's no surprise that its sequel, Incredibles 2, is breaking the box-office records in 2018 as well, with it already raking in over $790 million to date.