with such a variety of unique characters
and compelling storylines to choose from
why do most superhero movies end up
looking rather similar alright listen up
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
superhero movie cliches for this list
we’re looking at the most common cliches
found in superhero movies this is about
beyond alkali leg number 10 a city is
destroyed in a large battle the hero is
supposed to save the world from the evil
villain who wants to destroy the planet
yet more often than not a city is
absolutely leveled during a climactic
battle that would likely result in
hundreds of deaths and millions of
dollars worth of damages
we see this in the Incredible Hulk The
Avengers the x-men lasts 10 but the
worst culprit has to be Man of Steel
disaster experts at Watson technical
consulting estimated that 129 thousand
people would have been killed and there
would have been over 700 billion in
damages
Superman is Earth’s Savior are they gone
I think so they saved us
number 9 the villain is a science
experiment gone wrong tonight you’re all
gonna be a part of a social experiment
sure we know it can be difficult to come
up with ways for a person to gain
superpowers but why does it always have
to be science related dosage has been
increased to 200 milligrams the worst
offender of this cliche is the
spider-man franchise the Green Goblin
Doc Ock and the lizard were all
promising scientists before their
experiments went horribly horribly wrong
ladies and gentlemen
fasten your seatbelts we also see
villains emerge from scientific
experiments in the Incredible Hulk and
Iron Man 3 how about more villains like
the Joker
we’re just evil for the sake of being
evil introduce a little anarchy
upset the established order and
everything becomes chaos number 8
convenient connections between all the
main characters sometimes you know
people there are over 7 billion people
in the world and there are way more
across the galaxy if you include all the
other planets in the comic book universe
yet most superhero movies tend to
revolve around a small group of
characters that are all connected
somehow Peter Parker for example in the
amazing spider-man Peter fights dr. Curt
Connors the mentor to his girlfriend
Gwen Stacy whose father is the police
captain who helps Peter a Spidey in his
fight at the end of the film your
boyfriend is a man many masks I get it
Connors was also the partner of Peter’s
father Richard Parker before he
disappeared you know that is some guy
work with your dad I guess number 7 cops
are against the hero free is they don’t
move this is one of the more
understandable cliches on the list but
it’s a cliche nonetheless official
policy is to arrest the vigilante known
as Batman on site if a strange person
showed up with the ability to shoot webs
or turn into a Green Giant there’s a
strong chance the police forest and
military would take every necessary
precaution president could declare a
state of emergency place every mutant in
the country under arrest
still after seeing it in the spider-man
Batman and x-men franchises it’s
starting to become dull watching the
hero have to explain to the cops that
he’s actually on their side every time
drop the knives and put your hands in
the air
number 6 pep talk
with great power comes great
responsibility no matter how powerful or
strong-minded the hero is it always
seems that he needs a pep talk at some
point typically from an older wiser
figure some men just want to wash them
well but the most obvious examples being
Uncle Ben and Alfred with great power
comes great responsibility a pep talk
can also be given by the leader of a
team like Nick Fury who uses Phil
Coulson’s death to motivate the Avengers
Phil Coulson died still believing in
that idea in heroes and Peter quill aka
star-lord in guardians of the galaxy I
for one am NOT gonna stand by and watch
as Ronan wipes out billions of innocent
lives isn’t it inspiring enough that you
have to save the world no high two for
it but that’s the point of Batman number
five the origin story
sometimes we don’t need to know where
the characters come from in order to
appreciate them now gaaah founders time
Moscow like Constantinople or Rome what
before it the city has become a breeding
ground for suffering and injustice more
often than not the origin story bogs
down a film case in point
do we really need to see a spider bite
Peter Parker again it’s much more
entertaining to see spider-man swinging
around New York City than it is to watch
Peter Parker get picked on at high
school there’s a reason why films where
the hero is already established are some
of the most critically successful
superhero movies you have another father
to gave you another name and he sent you
here for a reason Clark number four
hidden identity I’m spider-man this
cliche primarily applies to be
spider-man and Batman franchises and
seeing as it seems incredibly easy for
people to figure out that Peter Parker
is spider-man we are primarily
referencing Batman
Bruce Wayne seriously would it have
really mattered if James Gordon knew
that Batman was Bruce Wayne Bruce Wayne
even more shocking he couldn’t figure it
out until the last movie while
protecting a secret identity helps to
add drama to the film doesn’t seem like
it’s all that practical who are you a
friend everyone knows who the Avengers
are and they seem to manage just fine
number three villain explains master
plan to the hero it occurs to me that a
500 Megaton bomb planted at just a
proper point would would destroy most of
California why does the villain have to
explain everything to the hero before
killing them or failing to kill him this
is a common cliche of the Banjara but
it’s found in superhero movies as well
the Chitauri are coming nothing will
change that
what have I to fear Lex Luthor is
perhaps the best example as he reveals
to Superman that there are in fact two
missiles headed for the United States a
plan Superman eventually foils after
escaping from Luthor’s underground lair
yeah Superman double jeopardy even you
with your great speed couldn’t stop both
of them this cliche has actually been
manipulated by other films as well like
Sin City when senator Roark explains the
entire plan to Hartigan feeling full
well that he can’t do anything to stop
it but I heard you firm and fit healthy
I’m even putting up cash of my own to
get you more surgery fix that heart
condition of yours you’re gonna keep on
living a long time I’ll make sure that
number two love interest is kidnapped
hello I hear as if the stakes weren’t
high enough the heroes love interest
always seems to be kidnapped by the
villain let die the woman your love Mary
Jane Watson Wednesday C Rachel Dawes
Pepper Potts and Nancy Callahan are just
some of the numerous characters to play
the damsel in distress role clever girl
so pretty so pretty unless a female
character has superpowers it seems that
all they’re good for is getting captured
what’s actually more embarrassing than
that
your here is my Charlie Christopher
Nolan at least played on this cliche by
having Batman failed to save Rachel
during the Dark Knight well Quinn Stacy
actually assisted spider-man in his
battle versus the lizard in the amazing
spider-man before we unveil our number
one pick here are a few honorable
mentions Oh
and Hulk smash
I’m scared from the start we don’t know
this would have happened
number one traumatic childhood it seems
that all superheroes are inspired at a
young age to fight crime because they
experienced some sort of traumatic event
during their childhood the most common
cliche is the death of a parent or
parental figure Uncle Ben Thomas and
Martha Wayne Uncle Ben and Jonathan Kent
are just some of the many examples we
also learned that magneto lived in the
concentration camp during World War two
while Matt Murdock aka daredevil was
blinded at a young age can someone who
had a happy childhood gain superpowers
and still be motivated enough to save
the world do you agree with our list I
was wrong about you Thea what’s your
favorite superhero movie cliche I don’t
mean the lecture and I don’t mean to
preach for more super top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com I don’t
you
and compelling storylines to choose from
why do most superhero movies end up
looking rather similar alright listen up
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’re
counting down our picks for the top 10
superhero movie cliches for this list
we’re looking at the most common cliches
found in superhero movies this is about
beyond alkali leg number 10 a city is
destroyed in a large battle the hero is
supposed to save the world from the evil
villain who wants to destroy the planet
yet more often than not a city is
absolutely leveled during a climactic
battle that would likely result in
hundreds of deaths and millions of
dollars worth of damages
we see this in the Incredible Hulk The
Avengers the x-men lasts 10 but the
worst culprit has to be Man of Steel
disaster experts at Watson technical
consulting estimated that 129 thousand
people would have been killed and there
would have been over 700 billion in
damages
Superman is Earth’s Savior are they gone
I think so they saved us
number 9 the villain is a science
experiment gone wrong tonight you’re all
gonna be a part of a social experiment
sure we know it can be difficult to come
up with ways for a person to gain
superpowers but why does it always have
to be science related dosage has been
increased to 200 milligrams the worst
offender of this cliche is the
spider-man franchise the Green Goblin
Doc Ock and the lizard were all
promising scientists before their
experiments went horribly horribly wrong
ladies and gentlemen
fasten your seatbelts we also see
villains emerge from scientific
experiments in the Incredible Hulk and
Iron Man 3 how about more villains like
the Joker
we’re just evil for the sake of being
evil introduce a little anarchy
upset the established order and
everything becomes chaos number 8
convenient connections between all the
main characters sometimes you know
people there are over 7 billion people
in the world and there are way more
across the galaxy if you include all the
other planets in the comic book universe
yet most superhero movies tend to
revolve around a small group of
characters that are all connected
somehow Peter Parker for example in the
amazing spider-man Peter fights dr. Curt
Connors the mentor to his girlfriend
Gwen Stacy whose father is the police
captain who helps Peter a Spidey in his
fight at the end of the film your
boyfriend is a man many masks I get it
Connors was also the partner of Peter’s
father Richard Parker before he
disappeared you know that is some guy
work with your dad I guess number 7 cops
are against the hero free is they don’t
move this is one of the more
understandable cliches on the list but
it’s a cliche nonetheless official
policy is to arrest the vigilante known
as Batman on site if a strange person
showed up with the ability to shoot webs
or turn into a Green Giant there’s a
strong chance the police forest and
military would take every necessary
precaution president could declare a
state of emergency place every mutant in
the country under arrest
still after seeing it in the spider-man
Batman and x-men franchises it’s
starting to become dull watching the
hero have to explain to the cops that
he’s actually on their side every time
drop the knives and put your hands in
the air
number 6 pep talk
with great power comes great
responsibility no matter how powerful or
strong-minded the hero is it always
seems that he needs a pep talk at some
point typically from an older wiser
figure some men just want to wash them
well but the most obvious examples being
Uncle Ben and Alfred with great power
comes great responsibility a pep talk
can also be given by the leader of a
team like Nick Fury who uses Phil
Coulson’s death to motivate the Avengers
Phil Coulson died still believing in
that idea in heroes and Peter quill aka
star-lord in guardians of the galaxy I
for one am NOT gonna stand by and watch
as Ronan wipes out billions of innocent
lives isn’t it inspiring enough that you
have to save the world no high two for
it but that’s the point of Batman number
five the origin story
sometimes we don’t need to know where
the characters come from in order to
appreciate them now gaaah founders time
Moscow like Constantinople or Rome what
before it the city has become a breeding
ground for suffering and injustice more
often than not the origin story bogs
down a film case in point
do we really need to see a spider bite
Peter Parker again it’s much more
entertaining to see spider-man swinging
around New York City than it is to watch
Peter Parker get picked on at high
school there’s a reason why films where
the hero is already established are some
of the most critically successful
superhero movies you have another father
to gave you another name and he sent you
here for a reason Clark number four
hidden identity I’m spider-man this
cliche primarily applies to be
spider-man and Batman franchises and
seeing as it seems incredibly easy for
people to figure out that Peter Parker
is spider-man we are primarily
referencing Batman
Bruce Wayne seriously would it have
really mattered if James Gordon knew
that Batman was Bruce Wayne Bruce Wayne
even more shocking he couldn’t figure it
out until the last movie while
protecting a secret identity helps to
add drama to the film doesn’t seem like
it’s all that practical who are you a
friend everyone knows who the Avengers
are and they seem to manage just fine
number three villain explains master
plan to the hero it occurs to me that a
500 Megaton bomb planted at just a
proper point would would destroy most of
California why does the villain have to
explain everything to the hero before
killing them or failing to kill him this
is a common cliche of the Banjara but
it’s found in superhero movies as well
the Chitauri are coming nothing will
change that
what have I to fear Lex Luthor is
perhaps the best example as he reveals
to Superman that there are in fact two
missiles headed for the United States a
plan Superman eventually foils after
escaping from Luthor’s underground lair
yeah Superman double jeopardy even you
with your great speed couldn’t stop both
of them this cliche has actually been
manipulated by other films as well like
Sin City when senator Roark explains the
entire plan to Hartigan feeling full
well that he can’t do anything to stop
it but I heard you firm and fit healthy
I’m even putting up cash of my own to
get you more surgery fix that heart
condition of yours you’re gonna keep on
living a long time I’ll make sure that
number two love interest is kidnapped
hello I hear as if the stakes weren’t
high enough the heroes love interest
always seems to be kidnapped by the
villain let die the woman your love Mary
Jane Watson Wednesday C Rachel Dawes
Pepper Potts and Nancy Callahan are just
some of the numerous characters to play
the damsel in distress role clever girl
so pretty so pretty unless a female
character has superpowers it seems that
all they’re good for is getting captured
what’s actually more embarrassing than
that
your here is my Charlie Christopher
Nolan at least played on this cliche by
having Batman failed to save Rachel
during the Dark Knight well Quinn Stacy
actually assisted spider-man in his
battle versus the lizard in the amazing
spider-man before we unveil our number
one pick here are a few honorable
mentions Oh
and Hulk smash
I’m scared from the start we don’t know
this would have happened
number one traumatic childhood it seems
that all superheroes are inspired at a
young age to fight crime because they
experienced some sort of traumatic event
during their childhood the most common
cliche is the death of a parent or
parental figure Uncle Ben Thomas and
Martha Wayne Uncle Ben and Jonathan Kent
are just some of the many examples we
also learned that magneto lived in the
concentration camp during World War two
while Matt Murdock aka daredevil was
blinded at a young age can someone who
had a happy childhood gain superpowers
and still be motivated enough to save
the world do you agree with our list I
was wrong about you Thea what’s your
favorite superhero movie cliche I don’t
mean the lecture and I don’t mean to
preach for more super top 10s published
every day be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com I don’t
you
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