# Which superhero flick will bomb the worst this year? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 2, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931 "2011-04-02T11:22:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/1 "2011-04-02T11:22:16Z")
I don’t think any will do that great myself. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/2 "2011-04-02T11:41:37Z")
Well, I’m actually looking forward to _Captain America_. It was smart, IMO, to keep it set in the '40s, when, as we all know, there was a lot less irony. The trailers give off a vibe that reminds me of _The Rocketeer_, a personal fave of mine. I recognize that _The Rocketeer_ was more of a cult classic than a box office smash, so the new film may have the same fate. _Green Lantern_ and _Thor_ never meant too much to me during my comics-reading years, so I don’t have much interest in them now. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/3 "2011-04-02T13:06:26Z")
“Thor” is going to be a massive bomb. The other might bomb too, but I’m confident “Thor” will be a terrible movie and wo’t do well. ---
**Author:** ![heathen\_earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/13edae/32.png) [@heathen\_earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heathen_earthling)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/4 "2011-04-02T13:19:51Z")
Green Lantern, because he’s not Marvel or Batman. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/5 "2011-04-02T14:06:04Z")
And the shame of all this is that there are some excellent scripts (and come to think of it, storyboards!) already done for these heroes. I think I have to go read some of the the Walt Simonson THOR comics just to cleanse my brain after looking up the trailer… ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/6 "2011-04-02T14:11:28Z")
Where was option D) All of the above? It’s hard to pick a “worst” from among three movies that no one gives a shit about, are all poorly thought out in the first place, and all feature lead actors that no one wants to see. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/7 "2011-04-02T14:36:06Z")
Did _The Green Hornet_ not make the list because it has already bombed big or because you don’t consider him a super hero? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/8 "2011-04-02T15:03:58Z")
_Thor_ will do okay, because it has quality actors out the wazoo - Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Stellan Skarsgard. _Captain America_ will do okay, because it’s a familiar superhero to more people than the other two are. It’s the only one I’d go to see of the three, but then I have a soft spot for Director Joe Johnston. I don’t think _Green Lantern_ will do well, because it doesn’t have big names (Ryan Reynolds, Tim Robbins), and the trailer looks completely bizarre and not like a regular superhero flick at all. So says a man who doesn’t really know much about any of these second-tier superheroes, and who is really crap at predicting which movies people will respond to. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/9 "2011-04-02T15:24:39Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > _Thor_ will do okay, because it has quality actors out the wazoo - Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Stellan Skarsgard. Those are all talented actors, as is Idris Elba, but none are Grade A box office draws and even a Grade A draw guarantees nothing, as evidenced by “The Tourist” or “Knight & Day.” Anthony Hopkins has been in enough bombs. Thor’s star is a relatively unknown actor in a movie that looks like absolute crap, has no obvious draw, and is based on a franchise with almost no popular understanding or appeal outside of a limited following of comic book fans. Now, I haven’t seen the movie and so hey, who knows. It’s directed by Kenneth Branagh, so maybe he’s got an unexpected spin on it. But the trailers have “complete and total shit” written all over them and the guy who plays Thor… well, does he look like a Norse god to you? To me he just looks like a blonde guy who works out. Using an unknown can work out, as evidenced by Christopher Reeves’ wonderful work in “Superman,” but this movie… meh. Where are they going to get enough theatregoers to make back the $200 million of so they spent making and marketing this? I sure as hell have no intention of paying cineplex prices to see it, and I don’t know a single person who does. By comparison, I was eager to see Batman, Spider-Man, and any number of superhero movies that had superheroes people actually give a crap about, and I’m not even a comic book aficionado, but when they said “big budget Spider-Man flick with some good actors” I was all over that. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/10 "2011-04-02T16:08:30Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > It’s hard to pick a “worst” from among three movies that no one gives a shit about, are all poorly thought out in the first place, and all feature lead actors that no one wants to see. Have you watched the Captain America trailer? It looks awesome and I can see it making big money this Summer. And if Cap puts a beatdown on Hitler, I’ll bet it’ll turn out even more popular. Thor looks terrible, but it won’t bomb. Green Lantern will do the worst because he’s more or less unknown outside of Comic Book Guy circles. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/11 "2011-04-02T16:19:03Z")
I’m just hoping Green Lantern will be _watchable_, because GL is my favorite superhero of all time. And I’ve been saying for several years that if there was ever a superhero suited to CGI, it’s GL. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/12 "2011-04-02T16:29:15Z")
I voted for CA (I’m not sure how an irony-free movie will play in our Age of Irony), but I worry about Thor because it bombing might preclude any attempts at a genuine film on Scandinavian myths (Ragnarok etc. etc.), tho given that there have been no such attempts past present or future, yes I realize that this is a pretty weak reason to be wary of the superhero take on the character. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/13 "2011-04-02T16:39:09Z")
I voted for the Lantern, but Thor has an equal chance. Cap might be just as bad, but more people will go to see it. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/14 "2011-04-02T16:46:26Z")
Definitely Green Lantern. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/15 "2011-04-02T17:09:29Z")
_Green Lantern_ doesn’t look too bad. I never read a lot of Green Lantern, so I don’t know how close Ryan Reynolds is in his characterization of Hal Jordan. Out of those three, _Thor_ looks the weakest. I’ll still see it in the theater, though. I noticed the OP left out the new _X-Men_ movie, though. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/16 "2011-04-02T17:11:51Z")
You did forget one: X-Men: First Class. I really don’ think any of them will “bomb,” but I bet Green Lantern will do the worst. It’s coming right in the middle of the summer movie season, so it has the most competition (and people might be thinking, "Lets take a break from the movies). It also doesn’t have any connections to any other movies, while people will go see Thor and CA just because of the connection to Iron Man and the upcoming Avenger movie. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/17 "2011-04-02T17:14:13Z")
I think the X-Men Origins movie might bomb. I think that franchise is kind of played. Of those listed in the OP, _Thor_ looks the worst from the trailers. I think _Green Lantern_ might be a sleeper, though, if it’s well executed. Ryan Reynolds is the best actor of the three, and his character is the least ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/18 "2011-04-02T17:58:30Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > I voted for CA (I’m not sure how an irony-free movie will play in our Age of Irony), but I worry about Thor because it bombing might preclude any attempts at a genuine film on Scandinavian myths (Ragnarok etc. etc.), tho given that there have been no such attempts past present or future, yes I realize that this is a pretty weak reason to be wary of the superhero take on the character. Oh, come on, there’s been at least three “Beowulfs” in the last few years that I can think of offhand, and probably more. The problem isn’t that the movies don’t do Scandanavian mythology, it’s that they only do one story. I voted for GL, though I have no strong opinion on the matter. I think Thor has MUCH wider recognition than the other two, after all, he’s not JUST a comic book character, so I think they will have the best shot. Don’t know if they will capitalize on it though. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/19 "2011-04-02T18:54:11Z")
Of the three in the poll, I think _Green Lantern_ will do worst, because I think it has the potential to come out looking incredibly cheesy. In part, this will be because of the more blatant use of special effects: Most of what Captain America or Thor do is “buff-looking guy swings around a big piece of metal”, with maybe some special effects to spice it up, but almost all of what Green Lantern does will be obvious SFX. That said, though, I probably will end up seeing _Lantern_ unless the reviews are horrible, but I probably won’t end up seeing _X-Men: First Class_ unless the reviews are amazing. _X-Men United_ was already starting to feel pretty played out, and everything I’ve seen of the new one has looked all wrong to me. The people who didn’t like the other X-Men movies won’t like this one for the same reasons, but the people who did like the previous ones don’t have any reason to connect this one to them. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931/20 "2011-04-02T19:03:40Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Ryan Reynolds is the best actor of the three, and his character is the least ridiculous. I don’t know how you come to that conclusion. Both Captain America and Thor are trivially easy for Joe Schmoe to “get”: “During WWII, the US turned someone into a peak human”; “Thor (yes, that Thor) screwed up and got sent to Earth as punishment”. All the hard bits are things he already knows. For the Green Lantern, you’ve got an origin story involving an interstellar corps of aliens and a ring that provides certain magic powers, both of which are completely new to the average moviegoer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-superhero-flick-will-bomb-the-worst-this-year/576931.md?page=2)