While we tend to think of Marvel movies, they are often associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However a few years back, Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy and they were forced to sell away several different properties. With the being said I'm going to bring you my top 10 favorite non-mcu films of all-time. So without further ado...
10. X-Men: First Class
This film is absolutely amazing and it is the film that helped revitalize the X-Men franchise. X-Men: First Class unveils the epic beginning of the X-Men saga - and a secret history of the Cold War and our world at the brink of nuclear Armageddon. As the first class discovers, harnesses, and comes to terms with their formidable powers, alliances are formed that will shape the eternal war between the heroes and villains of the X-Men universe. X-Men: First Class has a rating of 87% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Daredevil
While the theatrical version isn't great, the directors cut is simply amazing on every level.Matthew Murdock (played by Ben Affleck) is a lawyer whose father, a prizefighter, was killed by gangsters when Murdock was just a boy. Since then, Murdock has devoted his life to bringing wrongdoers to justice and is willing to help others by taking on cases no other attorney will touch. Murdock is also blind, after being struck down by a truck while trying to save a man from being hit. What no one knows is that Murdock was also doused with an unusual radioactive isotope which had a strange effect on him -- while Murdock's sight may be gone, his other senses have been raised to such a keen pitch that they act like radar, allowing him to tell where he's going and what happens around him, both near and far away. Murdock puts his gifts to use at night as the costumed crime-fighter Daredevil, whose pursuit of justice has earned him the wrath of underworld leader Kingpin (played by Michael Clarke Duncan). Kingpin wants Daredevil out of his way once and for all, and hires Bullseye (played by Colin Farrell), a super-assassin with an uncanny ability to throw blades, to do the job. Daredevil also makes the acquaintance of Elektra Natchios (played by Jennifer Garner), a woman with super-heroic talents who is also on Kingpin's bad side, though it remains to be seen if she has aligned herself with the forces of good as Daredevil has done. Daredevil has a rating of 44% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Spider-Man
This along with X-Men helped saved the comic book movie genre and helped form what it is today. Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) an orphaned, intellectual teen loner living in Queens with his aunt (played by Rosemary Harris) and uncle (played by Cliff Robertson), and dreaming of the girl next door, Mary Jane (played by Kirsten Dunst). On a field trip to a Columbia University lab, Peter is bitten by a genetically altered spider and overnight he gains superhuman strength, agility, and perception. At first, Peter uses his powers for material gain, winning a wrestling match with a purportedly lucrative prize. But when Peter apathetically fails to stop a burglar from robbing the wrestling arena, a tragedy follows that compels him to devote his powers to fighting crime -- as the superhero Spider-Man. When he's not busy fighting crime in a spider suit, Peter moves into an apartment with his best friend, Harry (played by James Franco), and begins work as a photographer at the Daily Bugle. Meanwhile, his do-gooder alter ego finds a nemesis in the form of the Green Goblin (played by Willem Dafoe), a super-powered, megalomaniacal villain who happens to be the alter ego of Harry's father, weapons-manufacturing mogul Norman Osborn. Spider-Man was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Mixing and it has a rating of 89% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. X-Men
As I said before this along with Spider-Man helped show that comic-book movies can be successful. Psychic Professor Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart) leads a school of skilled mutants called X-Men, a peacekeeping force to safeguard the world against a race of genetically mutated humans known as Homo Sapiens Superior. However, Magneto (played by Ian McKellen), a mutant with a powerful magnetic charge, has also begun to organize a team to strike first against what he believes to be a threat from humanity. When he kidnaps Rogue (played by Anna Paquin) from the X-Men's compound, Xavier and his forces must rescue her, even as they continue to vie with Magneto for the fearsomely strong mutant battler Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman). Both Xavier and Magneto also have to contend with Senator Kelly (played by Bruce Davison), a heartless political leader who wants a final solution against mutants on both sides. X-Men has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. The Punisher
This an absolute brutal film and one of the best portrayals of The Punisher Frank Castle 9played by Thomas Jane) is a man who has seen too much death in his life, first as a Delta Force Op and later as an FBI special agent. He has managed to beat considerable odds, and is finally moving out of the field and into a normal life with him wife, Maria (played by Samantha Mathis), and young son, Will (played by Marcus John). However, on his final assignment, the operation spins out of control and a young man, Bobby Saint (played by James Carpinello), is inadvertently killed. This places the FBI on the wrong side of Tampa businessman Howard Saint )played by John Travolta), his wife Livia (played by Laura Harring), and their underworld ties. Inflamed by the death of their son, the Saints are on a mission of blood vengeance. Frank's worst nightmare comes true when Howard Saint and his lieutenants unleash hell at the Castle family reunion. But Castle, to his everlasting torment, survives. Now, Frank Castle--the Punisher--views the world as one darkened by war, crime, cruelty, and injustice. He has no superpowers to battle the evil he sees, only his fierce intelligence, his years of combat experience and, above all, his iron determination to avenge those wronged by society's villains. The Punisher has a rating of 29% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. X2: X-Men United
This is a spectacular film, an amazing comic-book film and a tremendous sequel. When a failed assassination attempt occurs on the President's (played by Cotter Smith) life by the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler (played by Alan Cumming), it's Professor Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart) and his School for Gifted Youngsters who are targeted for the crime. While Jean Grey (played by Famke Janssen) and Storm (played by Halle Berry) try and locate the assassin, Cyclops (played by James Marsden) and Xavier (also known as 'Professor X') seek answers from their old foe Magneto (played by Ian McKellan) in his glass cell...Little do they know they're walking into a trap set by the villainous William Stryker (played by Brian Cox), a mysterious governmental figure that figures into Wolverine's (played by Hugh Jackman) secretive past, along with information about the X-Men's operation, supplied by Magneto through a mind-controlling agent. Meanwhile Wolverine, just home from a failed mission to regain his memory, is in charge of the students when a crack-commando team led by Stryker infiltrates the school by order of the President. With a mansion full of young, powerful mutants and the ferocious Wolverine in babysitter mode, can he defend the school against the one man who can answer his questions? What roles do the sinister Mystique (played by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and Lady Deathstrike (played by Kelly Hu) have in all of this? Why does Stryker want Professor X and his Cerebro machine? With the war between humanity and mutants escalating to extremes, can the rest of the X-Men trust their old foes to help them? X2: X-Men United has a rating of 86% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Blade
I first watched this film as a kid and I've loved it ever since. Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) exists somewhere between the two worlds, not human but not fully vampire. He has become a relentless and superhuman vampire hunter, out to avenge the death of his mother and protect the rest of humankind from the evil vampire race. In this pursuit, Blade storms a notorious vampire nightclub and in a virtual bloodbath manages to wipe out most of the blood-lusting denizens. But the burnt corpse of vampire Quinn (played by Donal Logue) is reanimated at the hospital morgue and bites hematologist Karen Jenson (played by N'Bushe Wright). Blade magically appears at the hospital just in time to whisk Karen to his hideaway, a machine-shop run by his mentor Abraham Whistler (played by Kris Kristofferson), who once rescued Blade and who now produces a antidote to keep Blade from turning into a full-fledged vampire and who builds custom weapons for Blade to use against his evil foes. Meanwhile, Blade's vampire arch-nemesis Deacon Frost (played by Stephen Dorff) uses computers to translate the Book of Erebus, with the ultimate aim of bringing down the old-guard vampire council, headed by Dragonetti (played by Udo Kier), and triggering the Blood Tide -- an event in which everyone in the world becomes a vampire. Blade has a rating of 54% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Spider-Man 2
This is easily one of the best comic book films of all-time and it is one of the most well-rounded films of all-time. Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) is attempting to juggle college classes and his job as a photographer with the Daily Bugle while maintaining his secret life as costumed crime-fighter Spider-Man. Parker is also struggling to hold on to his relationship with Mary Jane Watson (played by Kirsten Dunst), who is beginning to enjoy success as a model and actress, and both Mary Jane and Peter have noticed he's beginning to buckle under the strain. Parker's friendship with Harry Osborn (played by James Franco) is also beginning to fray due to Peter's seeming alliance with Spider-Man, whom Harry blames for the death of his father, the nefarious Norman Osborn. As Parker weighs his responsibilities to himself and those around him against the obligations that come with his special powers, Spider-Man is faced with a new nemesis -- Dr. Otto Octavius (played by Alfred Molina), a deranged scientist whose latest project has turned him into the near-invincible cyborg Doctor Octopus. Spider-Man 2 was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing while winning the award for Best Visual Effects and it has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Hellboy
It's hard to find films that both me and mom like watching together and to be honest this is one of those films. During World War II, the Third Reich has joined forces with the evil Grigori Rasputin (played by Karel Roden), who has used his occult powers to summon up a young demon from the depth of Hell to be used as the ultimate Axis weapon. However, the demonic creature is captured by American forces, and put in the care of Professor Broom (played by John Hurt), the founder of a top-secret organization called the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Under Broom's tutelage, the creature develops empathy and a desire to do good while his physical powers and paranormal talents are honed to a fine point. Sixty years later, the demon, now known as Hellboy (played by Ron Perlman), is part of an elite secret defense team alongside Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a beautiful young woman who can create fire with her mind, and Abe Sapian (played by Doug Jones), an aquatic humanoid with the power of telepathy. Despite his many years of fighting for right, Hellboy finds himself facing his greatest challenge when the powerful Rasputin returns, determined to bring the demon back to the forces of darkness so that evil may finally rule the world. Hellboy has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. X-Men: Days of Future Past
This is just an amazing film to watch and it helped reset the failing X-Men franchise (other than X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine). The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The beloved characters from the original "X-Men" film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from the past, "X-Men: First Class," in order to change a major historical event and fight in an epic battle that could save our future. X-Men: Days of Future Past was nominated for Best Visual Effects and it has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite non-mcu films and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
10. X-Men: First Class
This film is absolutely amazing and it is the film that helped revitalize the X-Men franchise. X-Men: First Class unveils the epic beginning of the X-Men saga - and a secret history of the Cold War and our world at the brink of nuclear Armageddon. As the first class discovers, harnesses, and comes to terms with their formidable powers, alliances are formed that will shape the eternal war between the heroes and villains of the X-Men universe. X-Men: First Class has a rating of 87% on rottentomatoes.com.
9. Daredevil
While the theatrical version isn't great, the directors cut is simply amazing on every level.Matthew Murdock (played by Ben Affleck) is a lawyer whose father, a prizefighter, was killed by gangsters when Murdock was just a boy. Since then, Murdock has devoted his life to bringing wrongdoers to justice and is willing to help others by taking on cases no other attorney will touch. Murdock is also blind, after being struck down by a truck while trying to save a man from being hit. What no one knows is that Murdock was also doused with an unusual radioactive isotope which had a strange effect on him -- while Murdock's sight may be gone, his other senses have been raised to such a keen pitch that they act like radar, allowing him to tell where he's going and what happens around him, both near and far away. Murdock puts his gifts to use at night as the costumed crime-fighter Daredevil, whose pursuit of justice has earned him the wrath of underworld leader Kingpin (played by Michael Clarke Duncan). Kingpin wants Daredevil out of his way once and for all, and hires Bullseye (played by Colin Farrell), a super-assassin with an uncanny ability to throw blades, to do the job. Daredevil also makes the acquaintance of Elektra Natchios (played by Jennifer Garner), a woman with super-heroic talents who is also on Kingpin's bad side, though it remains to be seen if she has aligned herself with the forces of good as Daredevil has done. Daredevil has a rating of 44% on rottentomatoes.com.
8. Spider-Man
This along with X-Men helped saved the comic book movie genre and helped form what it is today. Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) an orphaned, intellectual teen loner living in Queens with his aunt (played by Rosemary Harris) and uncle (played by Cliff Robertson), and dreaming of the girl next door, Mary Jane (played by Kirsten Dunst). On a field trip to a Columbia University lab, Peter is bitten by a genetically altered spider and overnight he gains superhuman strength, agility, and perception. At first, Peter uses his powers for material gain, winning a wrestling match with a purportedly lucrative prize. But when Peter apathetically fails to stop a burglar from robbing the wrestling arena, a tragedy follows that compels him to devote his powers to fighting crime -- as the superhero Spider-Man. When he's not busy fighting crime in a spider suit, Peter moves into an apartment with his best friend, Harry (played by James Franco), and begins work as a photographer at the Daily Bugle. Meanwhile, his do-gooder alter ego finds a nemesis in the form of the Green Goblin (played by Willem Dafoe), a super-powered, megalomaniacal villain who happens to be the alter ego of Harry's father, weapons-manufacturing mogul Norman Osborn. Spider-Man was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Mixing and it has a rating of 89% on rottentomatoes.com.
7. X-Men
As I said before this along with Spider-Man helped show that comic-book movies can be successful. Psychic Professor Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart) leads a school of skilled mutants called X-Men, a peacekeeping force to safeguard the world against a race of genetically mutated humans known as Homo Sapiens Superior. However, Magneto (played by Ian McKellen), a mutant with a powerful magnetic charge, has also begun to organize a team to strike first against what he believes to be a threat from humanity. When he kidnaps Rogue (played by Anna Paquin) from the X-Men's compound, Xavier and his forces must rescue her, even as they continue to vie with Magneto for the fearsomely strong mutant battler Wolverine (played by Hugh Jackman). Both Xavier and Magneto also have to contend with Senator Kelly (played by Bruce Davison), a heartless political leader who wants a final solution against mutants on both sides. X-Men has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
6. The Punisher
This an absolute brutal film and one of the best portrayals of The Punisher Frank Castle 9played by Thomas Jane) is a man who has seen too much death in his life, first as a Delta Force Op and later as an FBI special agent. He has managed to beat considerable odds, and is finally moving out of the field and into a normal life with him wife, Maria (played by Samantha Mathis), and young son, Will (played by Marcus John). However, on his final assignment, the operation spins out of control and a young man, Bobby Saint (played by James Carpinello), is inadvertently killed. This places the FBI on the wrong side of Tampa businessman Howard Saint )played by John Travolta), his wife Livia (played by Laura Harring), and their underworld ties. Inflamed by the death of their son, the Saints are on a mission of blood vengeance. Frank's worst nightmare comes true when Howard Saint and his lieutenants unleash hell at the Castle family reunion. But Castle, to his everlasting torment, survives. Now, Frank Castle--the Punisher--views the world as one darkened by war, crime, cruelty, and injustice. He has no superpowers to battle the evil he sees, only his fierce intelligence, his years of combat experience and, above all, his iron determination to avenge those wronged by society's villains. The Punisher has a rating of 29% on rottentomatoes.com.
5. X2: X-Men United
This is a spectacular film, an amazing comic-book film and a tremendous sequel. When a failed assassination attempt occurs on the President's (played by Cotter Smith) life by the teleporting mutant Nightcrawler (played by Alan Cumming), it's Professor Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart) and his School for Gifted Youngsters who are targeted for the crime. While Jean Grey (played by Famke Janssen) and Storm (played by Halle Berry) try and locate the assassin, Cyclops (played by James Marsden) and Xavier (also known as 'Professor X') seek answers from their old foe Magneto (played by Ian McKellan) in his glass cell...Little do they know they're walking into a trap set by the villainous William Stryker (played by Brian Cox), a mysterious governmental figure that figures into Wolverine's (played by Hugh Jackman) secretive past, along with information about the X-Men's operation, supplied by Magneto through a mind-controlling agent. Meanwhile Wolverine, just home from a failed mission to regain his memory, is in charge of the students when a crack-commando team led by Stryker infiltrates the school by order of the President. With a mansion full of young, powerful mutants and the ferocious Wolverine in babysitter mode, can he defend the school against the one man who can answer his questions? What roles do the sinister Mystique (played by Rebecca Romijn-Stamos) and Lady Deathstrike (played by Kelly Hu) have in all of this? Why does Stryker want Professor X and his Cerebro machine? With the war between humanity and mutants escalating to extremes, can the rest of the X-Men trust their old foes to help them? X2: X-Men United has a rating of 86% on rottentomatoes.com.
4. Blade
I first watched this film as a kid and I've loved it ever since. Blade (played by Wesley Snipes) exists somewhere between the two worlds, not human but not fully vampire. He has become a relentless and superhuman vampire hunter, out to avenge the death of his mother and protect the rest of humankind from the evil vampire race. In this pursuit, Blade storms a notorious vampire nightclub and in a virtual bloodbath manages to wipe out most of the blood-lusting denizens. But the burnt corpse of vampire Quinn (played by Donal Logue) is reanimated at the hospital morgue and bites hematologist Karen Jenson (played by N'Bushe Wright). Blade magically appears at the hospital just in time to whisk Karen to his hideaway, a machine-shop run by his mentor Abraham Whistler (played by Kris Kristofferson), who once rescued Blade and who now produces a antidote to keep Blade from turning into a full-fledged vampire and who builds custom weapons for Blade to use against his evil foes. Meanwhile, Blade's vampire arch-nemesis Deacon Frost (played by Stephen Dorff) uses computers to translate the Book of Erebus, with the ultimate aim of bringing down the old-guard vampire council, headed by Dragonetti (played by Udo Kier), and triggering the Blood Tide -- an event in which everyone in the world becomes a vampire. Blade has a rating of 54% on rottentomatoes.com.
3. Spider-Man 2
This is easily one of the best comic book films of all-time and it is one of the most well-rounded films of all-time. Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire) is attempting to juggle college classes and his job as a photographer with the Daily Bugle while maintaining his secret life as costumed crime-fighter Spider-Man. Parker is also struggling to hold on to his relationship with Mary Jane Watson (played by Kirsten Dunst), who is beginning to enjoy success as a model and actress, and both Mary Jane and Peter have noticed he's beginning to buckle under the strain. Parker's friendship with Harry Osborn (played by James Franco) is also beginning to fray due to Peter's seeming alliance with Spider-Man, whom Harry blames for the death of his father, the nefarious Norman Osborn. As Parker weighs his responsibilities to himself and those around him against the obligations that come with his special powers, Spider-Man is faced with a new nemesis -- Dr. Otto Octavius (played by Alfred Molina), a deranged scientist whose latest project has turned him into the near-invincible cyborg Doctor Octopus. Spider-Man 2 was nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing while winning the award for Best Visual Effects and it has a rating of 93% on rottentomatoes.com.
2. Hellboy
It's hard to find films that both me and mom like watching together and to be honest this is one of those films. During World War II, the Third Reich has joined forces with the evil Grigori Rasputin (played by Karel Roden), who has used his occult powers to summon up a young demon from the depth of Hell to be used as the ultimate Axis weapon. However, the demonic creature is captured by American forces, and put in the care of Professor Broom (played by John Hurt), the founder of a top-secret organization called the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Under Broom's tutelage, the creature develops empathy and a desire to do good while his physical powers and paranormal talents are honed to a fine point. Sixty years later, the demon, now known as Hellboy (played by Ron Perlman), is part of an elite secret defense team alongside Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a beautiful young woman who can create fire with her mind, and Abe Sapian (played by Doug Jones), an aquatic humanoid with the power of telepathy. Despite his many years of fighting for right, Hellboy finds himself facing his greatest challenge when the powerful Rasputin returns, determined to bring the demon back to the forces of darkness so that evil may finally rule the world. Hellboy has a rating of 81% on rottentomatoes.com.
1. X-Men: Days of Future Past
This is just an amazing film to watch and it helped reset the failing X-Men franchise (other than X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine). The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The beloved characters from the original "X-Men" film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from the past, "X-Men: First Class," in order to change a major historical event and fight in an epic battle that could save our future. X-Men: Days of Future Past was nominated for Best Visual Effects and it has a rating of 91% on rottentomatoes.com.
So ladies and gentlemen what are some of your favorite non-mcu films and what do you think of my list? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.
Jonah Sparks
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