30 Best Superhero Movies NOT Made by DC or Marvel
Marvel and DC have raised the popularity of superhero movies to unexpected proportions. And even though some of their movies are the best superhero movies of all time, those movies are not the only superhero movies out there. In this article, we are bringing you the best superhero movies that are not made by DC or Marvel.
Maybe you have watched all the Marvel and DC movies and want something else from the superhero genre, or you just want to find out what else is there from superhero movies, we have you covered with this article on the best superhero movies that are not from Marvel or DC. So let’s begin with the list, there are some very nice surprises below.
The Spirit (1987)
Shot in the line of duty, police detective Denny Colt (Jones) is thought to be dead when his body turns up missing. Allowing his enemies to believe he died, Colt dons a blue suit and mask and proceeds to fight crime as The Spirit.
Aided by Police Commissioner Dolan (Garry Walberg) and in love with Dolan’s daughter Ellen (Nana Visitor), The Spirit works outside the law as he attempts to bust an art forgery racket run by the notorious femme fatale P’Gell (McKinlay Robinson).
Flash Gordon (1980)
Ming (Max von Sydow), the supreme ruler of the universe, spends his time destroying planets and his next target is Earth. Soon the entire planet finds itself under the influence of floods, tornadoes and earthquakes that slowly but surely destroy everything in front of them. Only the eccentric scientist Dr. Hans Zarkov (Topol) sees who is behind climate change, but no one believes him.
By chance, Flash Gordon (Sam J. Jones) and his beautiful girlfriend Dale Arden (Melody Anderson) break into his laboratory. Together with them Dr. Zarkove headed for Ming’s planet. Minga catches Dale’s eye and kidnaps her with the intention of marrying her, while Flash tries to unite the warring tribes in the fight against the evil emperor to save the Earth.
Super Fuzz (1980)
As a rookie at the police academy, Dave Speed ​​(Terence Hill) was exposed to radiation, released by the explosion of a nuclear rocket loaded with red plutonium, launched by NASA. Over time, Dave discovers that he possesses superpowers – exceptional reflexes, speed, endurance, strength, the power of telekinesis, foresight, hypnosis – in a word, he is indestructible, but only when he sees the color red.
When counterfeit money appears in circulation, placed by local businessman Torpedo (Marc Lawrence) and his lover Rosy Labouche (Joanne Dru), a former actress with whom his boss and friend Dunlop (Ernest Borgnine) is in love, Dave will not rest.
The Toxic Avenger (1984)
Melvin is a social misfit who works in the Tromaville Health Club. He is always suffering the abuse of two bullies and their respective girlfriends and the four are also murderers. But all the abuse is going to end when Melvin accidentally falls into some barrels with toxic material. Now he is “The Toxic Avenger” and soon he will be the hero of Tromaville and a menace to the corrupt mayor.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
Rock star, neurosurgeon and samurai, Buckaroo Banzai, has just perfected his latest invention – a device that allows him to travel through the eighth dimension. But that very device will attract the attention of evil creatures who decide to rule our dimension.
With the help of his band members, the “Hong Kong Cavaliers”, the charming Penny Pretty and unusual creatures who look and talk like Jamaican residents, Buckaroo must stop the invasion of the evil invaders.
RoboCop (1987)
Detroit, the future. Crime has engulfed the city, unemployment is high, and the city’s police force has been bought and taken over by the multinational corporation OCP, which has slashed wages to increase profits, prompting some officers to threaten to strike.
Additionally, evil underworld boss Clarence Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) freely kills cops because he’s secretly working for the OCP. At the same time, OCP manager Dick Jones (Ronny Cox) plans to introduce a robot policeman to lay off people from the police force and thus further reduce costs, but the robot prototype ED-209 proves to be a failure.
Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is a new policeman who, together with his partner Anne Lewis (Nancy Allen), is assigned to patrol the city. In doing so, they come across Boddicker’s gang, who fatally wound Alex in a shootout. On the way to the hospital, Alex dies, but scientists use his body to create a cyborg, RoboCop, who starts working for OCP. RoboCop achieves notable success in hunting criminals, but he begins to remember his human life and his emotions awaken in him.
Finally, in a cocaine factory, he encounters the man who “killed” him, Boddicker, and arrests him. Dick Jones breaks Boddicker out of prison and decides to liquidate RoboCop in order to introduce his ED-209 robot to the market. RoboCop and Anne, however, at the same place where Alex was “killed”, liquidate Boddicker’s gang and reveal that Jones is involved in crime. Jones takes the old owner of OCP hostage, but is killed by RoboCop’s shot. The old man asked RoboCop what his name was, and he answered: “Murphy”.
Masters of the Universe (1987)
On the planet Eternal, the evil Skeletor (Frank Langella) has conquered Castle Grayskull and captured its sorceress (Christina Pickles), who has power over the entire universe. He-Man (Dolph Lundgren), the greatest warrior of Eternia and Skeletor’s enemy, is the only hope to save the planet and the entire universe. During the battle, when He-Man frees the dwarf Gwildor, he reveals to him the secret of the cosmic key that Skeletor used to conquer the castle.
Namely, it is the key that opens the portal to pass through at any time or place. Gwilodor possesses a copy of the key and it mistakenly takes He-Man and friends to Earth, and when the key ends up in the hands of two teenagers (Courtney Cox and Robert Duncan McNeill), the fate of the entire universe is in danger.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)
Four little turtles come into contact with a mysterious substance in the sewers of New York and suddenly become huge. And not only that. They are turtles that talk, walk on two legs and… love pizza.
The wise rat Splinter becomes the mentor of Donatello, Michaelangelo, Leonardo and Raphael and turns them into strong warriors, into ninja fighters. The enemy that the Ninja Turtles must fight against is the Shredder, who is trying to take over the world, but he has got opponents who will not tolerate evil intentions.
Darkman (1990)
Scientist Peyton Westlake (L. Neeson) is on the verge of discovering artificial human skin. He is in love with lawyer Julie Hastings (F. McDorman) whose employer is construction entrepreneur Louis Strack (C. Friels) involved in crime. A document proving this happens to be found in the scientist’s laboratory. The criminal Robert Durant (L. Drake), who works for Strack, breaks into the laboratory with his killers in order to get hold of the document.
The scientist is doused with flammable liquid, and an explosive is set in the laboratory. Westlake survives, but most of his body is burned. However, he manages to cover the wounds with artificial skin and even makes himself a new face, the same as before. His fiancee thinks he is dead, but the man from the darkness is plotting revenge on those who destroyed his body and career.
The Rocketeer (1991)
Daredevil test pilot Cliff Secord enjoys his job and his friendship with scientist A.”Peevy” Peabody. Cliff’s attractive girlfriend Jenny Blake is an aspiring actress who finds her boyfriend a bit irresponsible. Starring in a film project, Jenny meets the famous actor Neville Sinclair, who starts courting her.
Cliff finds unusual flight equipment in his hangar, left there by thieves after stealing it from the Howard Hughes studio. Deciding to try it out with Peevy’s help, Cliff takes off during the presentation of his friend’s new plane, and the media soon calls him the Rocketeer.
After learning that powerful gangster Eddie Valentine’s men killed Otis Bigelow, Peevy’s boss, Cliff realizes that the equipment and its blueprints are wanted by domestic criminals as well as FBI agents. Meanwhile, Jenny grows closer to Sinclair, unaware that he is involved with Valentine.
Doctor Mordrid (1992)
An unspeakable evil has come into our dimension and wants to rule over Earth, and only a mysterious sorcerer known as Doctor Mordrid can stop him.
The Meteor Man (1993)
One night, Jefferson Reed, a high school teacher, is hit by a piece of meteorite. After that he gets certain abilities: he can fly, although he is afraid of heights; he can learn any book in just fifteen minutes. Family and friends urge him to protect a community that is being bullied by a hideous group called the Golden Lords.
Another superhero Black sci-fi movie on our list, but this one was before the superhero subgenre became all the bells and whistles.
The Crow (1994)
An old belief says that the crow takes the souls of the departed to the world of the dead. Sometimes the crow can bring the dead back to the world of the living. Eric (B. Lee) and Shelly (S. Shinas) were supposed to get married on Halloween itself, but the night before they were raped and beaten to death, and he was killed with a knife and gunshots by criminals in the service of Dollar Guy (M. Wincott).
A year later, Eric is revived by a crow and he wants to take revenge on the people who destroyed his and Shelly’s happiness. Along the way, he will be helped by the little girl Sarah (R. Davis), who was like his own daughter to him and Shelly, and police sergeant Albrecht (E. Hudson).
The Shadow (1994)
Lamont Cranston (Alec Baldwin) is a former American soldier, and a veteran of the First World War. He decides to seek a necessary rest from the great fateful events in Tibet. There he slowly becomes Ying-ko, a large producer of opium and a dangerous criminal. One night, Ying-ko is kidnapped and taken to the priest Tulku (Brady Tsurutani), who tells him that he knows his true identity and begins to teach him how to turn to the side of good.
During the seven years of his apprenticeship, Lamont will learn to control the power of other people’s perceptions solely through his concentration. Specifically, this power will allow him to become completely invisible, only his shadow will be visible. Lamont returns to America and begins to fight criminals. Everything is going according to plan, until the ominous Shiwan Khan (John Lone) appears in town.
Blankman (1994)
City crime is at its peak, and the police are on strike. Only one man has the courage to put an end to the crime, but he has no superpowers, or money and is totally unknown. He is Blankman. Eccentric inventor Darryl Walker (Damon Wayans) can turn an orthopedic shoe into a deadly boomerang, and his grandmother’s dressing gown into a noose.
Armed with an arsenal of weapons from his workshop, mild-mannered Darryl transforms into the evil vigilante Blankman. He is joined in the fight against crime by his brother and resigned helper, Kevin (David Alan Grier). Kimberly Jonz (Robin Givens) is the reporter whose story will make Blankman famous, and Jason Alexander is the sleazy reporter known as Mr. Stone.
Dredd (2012)
In the city of the future, whose streets are patrolled by protectors of the law known as Judges, a new, the extremely dangerous drug has appeared – “Slo Mo”. Dredd, an experienced judge who has become the fear and terror of the underworld, joins forces with a young recruit to destroy forever the source of the drugs that threaten his city.
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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995)
Humanity is under attack, and the Power Rangers must defend the world from the evil Ivan Ooz while surpassing their enviable martial skills to win the relentless, breathtaking battle. A dangerous evil force commands an incredibly powerful army and threatens the citizens of Angel Grove.
With a nefarious plan to take over the world, Ivan Ooze releases massive amounts of poisonous saliva. The only force that can stop him is the Power Rangers. With the fate of the world in their hands, the Power Rangers fight their biggest battle against the purple and gelatinous demon. The heroes will also have to face the possible loss of their mentor Zordon.
After the vile Ivan destroys their command center, the Rangers must gain even greater powers to save Zordon and the world. With the help of the incredibly beautiful warrior Dulcea, they learn the ancient martial art of Ninjettia, which achieves the unity of mind, body and spirit. With their newly acquired powers, they are ready to confront Ivan.
The Phantom (1996)
The one and only, more precisely the 21st in line, successor of the legendary Bengali superhero Phantom is Kit Walker (Billy Zane), who must go to distant New York to prevent a great danger. Namely, the crazy rich man Xander Drax (Treat Williams) discovered that the ultimate power to rule the world could be provided by three magical skulls, as said by an ancient prophecy.
Orgazmo (1997)
Joseph Joe Young is a young Mormon missionary from Utah, who comes to Los Angeles to win new people to his faith. That’s how he knocks on the door of the pornographic author and producer Maxx Orbison, who orders his guards to get rid of him. But Joe is a master of martial arts and masters them with ease, so Orbison offered him the title role in his new film “Orgasmo”, because the title character, in addition to being a skilled lover, was also conceived as a fearless fighter against villains.
Joe is not out of his mind to accept the immoral offer, but when Orbison offers him a fee of twenty thousand dollars, he realizes that it is an offer he cannot refuse, especially since he and his beloved fiancee Lisa long to be married in the Mormon temple in Salt Lake City, and wedding ceremonies there are extremely expensive.
The only condition that Joe sets is that he does not participate in the coitus scenes himself, but that he be replaced by a double, to which Orbison agrees. Contrary to all expectations, “Orgazmo” becomes a big hit that newspapers such as the “Times” write about, and to make Joe’s trouble worse, Lisa, who doesn’t know what kind of movies he’s acting in, decides to visit him in Los Angeles.
Unbreakable (2000)
Philadelphia security guard at the university stadium, also a former football player, David Dunn (Bruce Willis), is the only survivor of a catastrophic train accident. Not only did he survive, but he came through without the slightest injury. After the accident, he is convinced that he is lucky in life, that nothing can harm him and that he is invulnerable.
Soon after these discoveries, comic book publisher Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) approached him in a bizarre way and presented him with a fantastic assumption: Price was born with a rare disorder that causes him to have “glass” bones, and so far he has had as many as 54 fractures.
He assumes that somewhere in the world there must be his antipode, someone who has never been hurt or sick. He’s pretty sure that man, a sort of comic book superhero, is David Dunn. Dunn doesn’t believe him, but his son Joseph, a teenage boy, really wants to believe it.
Jumper (2008)
David (Hayden Christensen) is a young man who finds an escape from the gloomy reality by teleportation from place to place by the force of will. He uses his powers to rob banks, seduce girls on the other side of the world, visit the pyramids or spend time surfing in Fiji.
But David soon learns that he is not the only one with such power and that he is in danger from people like Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), who sees the jumpers as a threat to the human race and is tasked with eliminating them all. But everything changes when David meets fellow jumper Griffin (Jamie Bell), with whom he teams up against the organization that decided to exterminate them.
Hancock (2008)
John Hancock (Will Smith) is a superhero who loves a bottle of whiskey more than saving the innocent, the public despises him and all his attempts to stop crime end up with more problems than they started. After saving the life of Ray Embery (Jason Bateman), an expert in public relations, the latter decides to help him and turn him into a real superhero.
Defendor (2009)
Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson) advocates the fight against violence. That’s why he turns into the superhero Defendor and goes out into the streets to protect innocent citizens.
Push (2009)
Nick Gant (Chris Evans) has telekinetic abilities inherited from his father, who was killed ten years ago by the secret government organization – The Division. Namely, the Division genetically changes innocent citizens, turning them into an army of warriors who can move things and eliminate opponents, change reality and predict the future with the power of thought and will.
The agency is particularly interested in Nick and will do anything to get hold of him. Therefore, Nick is forced to live in a sanctuary in Hong Kong along with other people who have similar powers to him. Soon Nick meets Cassie Holmes (Dakota Fanning), a psychic who needs his help to find Kira, who can defeat the Division once and for all.
Kick-Ass (2010)
The main character of this incredible action comedy is Dave Lizewski – a teenager, a high school student who literally nobody notices. Dave is a huge comic book fan. Soon he will have a brilliant idea: influenced by the huge amount of comics he owns and reads, Dave will decide to become a superhero and fight against vicious criminals. For this purpose, he will acquire the necessary suit, glasses and mask and change his name to – KICK ASS.
There’s just one small problem: Kick Ass doesn’t have any superpowers! However, his life will soon change drastically after a bunch of like-minded people start imitating him, and he himself meets 11-year-old Hit Girl and her father Big Daddy and becomes a partner with another “wanna-be” superhero – Red Mist. Local mobster Frank DAmico will get involved in the whole story, and he will put our newly minted superheroes to the test!
Super (2010)
Chef Frank’s life falls apart when his beautiful wife Sarah leaves him for Jacques, a charismatic strip club owner and dealer, who gets her hooked on drugs again. Frank then decides to become a superhero, and takes the name “Crimson Lightning” – and his superpower is the skillful use of a wrench, with which he beats up all sorts of villains. He soon gets an assistant – Libby, a cutie from the comic book store, who, like “Lightning”, proves to be just as capable in dealing with criminals.
The Green Hornet (2011)
Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is a rich publisher and popular media figure by day, but at night he turns into a masked hero, the Green Hornet, who fights crime together with his assistant Kat (Jay Chou), a top martial arts master.
I Am Number Four (2011)
Based on the book of the same name, the story follows nine teenage aliens who come to Earth after their planet is destroyed by evil forces. However, they will soon discover that their enemies have been following them all along and that they too are on Earth.
Chronicle (2012)
Three close friends, and high school classmates, make an incredible discovery after which their lives change completely. They get superpowers that are very interesting and exciting at first, but… Soon, however, everything gets out of control, and the strong friendships between them are no longer like that.
Brightburn (2019)
After a difficult struggle with infertility, Tora’s dream of motherhood comes true with the arrival of a mysterious boy. Brandon seems to be everything Tori and her husband Kyle ever wanted – smart, talented, curious to discover the world. But as Brandon approaches puberty, powerful darkness seems to be awakening within him, and Tori becomes terrified by terrible suspicions about her son.
