Superhero film

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A superhero film is a film that focuses on superheroes and their actions. Superheroes are individuals who usually do possess superhuman abilities, and dedicate their lives to protecting the public. These films typically feature action, adventure, fantasy, or science fiction elements. The first film about a particular character often focuses on the hero's origin story and typically introduces the hero's nemesis.

Many superhero films are adaptations, such as those based on superhero comics from popular comic book publishers such as Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse. Some films are based on TV shows, such as the Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Super Sentai franchises. The Green Hornet is based primarily on the original radio series and its 1960s television adaptation, and both Underdog and The Powerpuff Girls are based on their respective animated television series. Anime superhero films are based on manga and television shows. Some superhero films, like the RoboCop series, The Meteor Man, the Unbreakable film series, Hancock, Darkman and They Call Me Jeeg were produced as original projects for the screen.

The highest-grossing superhero film franchises (according to the box office income) since 1967 are Tsuburaya Productions' Ultra Series, Toei Company's Kamen Rider and Super Sentai, New Line Cinema's Blade, 20th Century Fox's X-Men, Sony Pictures' Spider-Man trilogy directed by Sam Raimi, the Amazing Spider-Man duology directed by Marc Webb, Pixar's The Incredibles, Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The genre has seen major financial success especially in the 21st century, earning over $28 billion for the MCU alone.^[1][2][3]