The Best Superhero Films With Nothing to Do With Marvel or DC

Superhero movies are bigger than two comic-book logos, even if the last two decades have occasionally made it feel otherwise. Some of the genre’s sharpest films came from Pixar, Dark Horse, independent comics and completely original ideas, giving you everything from dysfunctional super-families to psychic teenagers wrecking Seattle.

Five Films That Prove the Genre Is Bigger Than the Big Two

1. The Incredibles (2004)

Yes, Pixar made one of the best superhero movies ever. And more than 20 years later, The Incredibles still understands something plenty of live-action blockbusters miss: having powers would probably make family life more complicated, not less.

Brad Bird’s film gives Bob Parr a midlife crisis, Helen a marriage she’s trying to hold together and their children abilities that neatly match their personalities. Violet can disappear when she wants the world to leave her alone. Dash is a hyperactive kid who can literally run circles around everyone.

Then there’s the action. The island sequences borrow heavily from old-school Bond movies, while Syndrome remains an unusually memorable superhero villain because his resentment feels painfully human.

The numbers back up its staying power. The Incredibles opened in 2004, earned approximately $261 million at the US box office and currently holds a 97% Tomatometer score.

2. Hellboy (2004)

Ron Perlman was born to play Hellboy. Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Mike Mignola’s Dark Horse comic surrounds him with Nazis, demons, enormous monsters and paranormal government agents, then wisely makes its hero behave like a grumpy working guy who happens to have horns.

That contrast is why Hellboy works. The mythology can get enormous, but Perlman keeps the character grounded. He worries about Liz Sherman, complains about assignments and would rather eat than fulfil some grand apocalyptic destiny.

Del Toro also gives the film a tactile personality that’s increasingly rare in effects-heavy superhero cinema. Released in 2004, Hellboy made about $59 million domestically and sits at 81% on Rotten Tomatoes.

3. The Crow (1994)

Before superhero movies became brightly lit franchise machinery, The Crow gave audiences rain, leather, industrial rock and Brandon Lee stalking through a permanently miserable-looking Detroit.

Alex Proyas’s film follows Eric Draven, a murdered musician resurrected to take revenge on the gang responsible for killing him and his fiancée. The premise is simple. The atmosphere does the heavy lifting.

There’s also genuine sadness behind the fantasy. Lee died during production following an on-set accident, giving his final performance a weight the film never could have planned. Three decades later, the original remains the version people care about. It currently has an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score, compared with just 22% for the 2024 reimagining starring Bill Skarsgård.

When Superpowers Stop Being Fun

4. Chronicle (2012)

Most superhero origin stories ask what a responsible person would do after gaining extraordinary abilities. Chronicle asks what three teenage boys would do.

The answer starts with messing around.

Andrew, Matt and Steve develop telekinetic powers after encountering a mysterious object underground. At first, they use them for jokes, experiments and the kind of stupid decisions teenagers make when nobody can stop them. Then Andrew, played by Dane DeHaan, starts pushing further.

The found-footage format should feel dated by now, but it actually gives Chronicle an intimacy that bigger superhero films struggle to create. Flying feels exciting because these kids react like people who can't believe they're flying. Violence becomes disturbing for exactly the same reason.

Michael B. Jordan also appears as Steve, three years before Fantastic Four and six before he played Killmonger in Black Panther. Released in 2012, Chronicle earned roughly $65 million domestically and holds an 85% Tomatometer score.

The Cult Classic That Deserved Better

5. Dredd (2012)

Forget the 1995 Sylvester Stallone version for a moment. Dredd strips the 2000 AD character down to what he needs to be: an intimidating helmet, a brutal gun and Karl Urban’s permanently furious lower jaw.

The setup is beautifully economical. Judge Dredd and rookie Judge Anderson enter a 200-storey tower block controlled by drug lord Ma-Ma, played by Lena Headey. They get trapped inside. They have to fight their way through.

That’s pretty much your movie.

But the simplicity works because director Pete Travis and screenwriter Alex Garland understand the character’s world. Mega-City One feels overcrowded, violent and exhausted. Dredd himself isn't softened into a conventional hero either. He’s an unsettling product of the authoritarian system he enforces.

The strange part is how badly audiences missed it in cinemas. Dredd earned only about $13 million domestically after its 2012 release, yet it has an 80% Tomatometer score and has spent years building the cult following it deserved the first time around.

Why You Should Care

If superhero fatigue has you skipping anything involving masks and powers, these movies are a useful reminder that the genre itself probably isn't the problem. The Incredibles, The Crow and Chronicle barely feel like they belong to the same category, despite all qualifying as superhero stories.

And that variety is exactly what you lose when “superhero movie” becomes shorthand for one interconnected franchise. Sometimes you want continuity and cameos. Sometimes you want Karl Urban trapped in a tower block shooting people with an absurdly complicated handgun.

What to Watch Next

Start with Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008) if del Toro’s monsters were your favorite part of Hellboy. It gives him more room to build strange creatures and an entire hidden fantasy world without losing Perlman’s grouchy charm.

Then try Unbreakable (2000), M. Night Shyamalan’s unusually quiet take on discovering that you might genuinely be superhuman. For something nastier, go with Kick-Ass (2010), which turns the fantasy of ordinary people becoming costumed vigilantes into something funny, violent and frequently uncomfortable.

Marvel and DC still own most of the superhero conversation. But if you’ve watched enough multiverse portals open for one lifetime, there’s plenty happening outside them.