Marvel films have taken the world by storm in this past decade, with the interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe movies and TV shows. Today, the MCU is the highest grossing film franchise in history with a whopping worth of 23 billion dollars across all current films. However, there was a time before Marvel was the titan in entertainment that we all know it as now. Marvel actually for a while struggled at the box office and didn’t see a successful film for almost 12 years! Together with the handful of great Marvel films then, we arguably would not even have the MCU. So here are some films that paved the way for the Marvel we all know and love today.
The Blade Trilogy (1998-2004)
Hailed as the very first successful live action Marvel film, Blade was an action horror movie about a vampire hunter named , you guessed it, Blade. Played by Wesley Snipes, Blade was a half vampire himself, trying to save the world from the vampire’s threat to humanity. Though it is a Marvel film, it’s not at all the kind of one that you’d see today. Known for it’s violence and maturity, many people didn’t even know it was done by Marvel. Nonetheless, the movie smashed the box office making 131 million dollars and had great reception from fans. Marvel later made two more Blade movies Blade II featuring a pre The Walking Dead Norman Reedus and Blade Trinity featuring Ryan Reynolds in his first superhero film. Currently, there is a plan for a Blade film not connected to these but to the MCU, for the 4th phase of the cinematic universe. Blade will be played by Mahershala Ali best known for his roles in Netflix’s House of Cards and Marvel’s Luke Cage.
X-Men (2000)
Bryan Singer’s X-Men brought to life the beloved group of mutants & their journey to protect a world that views them as freaks. In this universe, there are two kinds of people, regular humans and mutants who have inhuman like powers thus leading the non mutants to fear and hate them. This film was the introduction of many iconic roles such as Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, and Ian McKellen as Magneto. Due to the success of X-Men, there were multiple movies made with the total currently standing at a total of 13 films in the live action X-Men universe. Most notably, The Wolverine trilogy and even the two Deadpool movies. As it stands, there are plans for there to be a MCU X-Men film, according to Kevin Feige. “There is a plan to bring the X-Men into the MCU, even if it doesn’t happen right away. “
Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy (2002-2007)
Arguably the most recognizable and popular group of films on this list, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man was a total game changer when it came to Marvel films. Following a nerdy high school student named Peter Parker, who gets bit by a radioactive spider on a school trip giving him spider like powers such as web slinging, wall crawling, and spider senses. The movies focus on Peter trying to balance his regular life along with his superhero alter ego fighting super villains. There have been multiple Spider-Man movie adaptation after these such as The Amazing Spider-Man, Spider-Man into the Spiderverse, and the current MCU Spider-Man movies starring Tom Holland. There are currently three MCU Spider-Man movies with the third expanding on Marvel’s multiverse. This brought back three iconic villains from the Sam Raimi movies, Willem Defoe as the Green Goblin, Alfred Molina as Doctor Otto Octavius, and Thomas Haden Church as Sandman.
Hopefully this was a nice trip down memory lane for you, I know it was for me! Which pre-MCU marvel movie is your favorite? Personally, I think you can’t go wrong with your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!
- The Attractions that Came Before Stitch’s Great Escape - October 8, 2023
- 10 Facts About The Nightmare Before Christmas - October 6, 2023
- 10 Spooktacular Facts About The Nightmare Before Christmas - September 17, 2022