The 10 most failed superhero movies ever, ranked

Adjusted gross: $16,454,000

Damon Wayans in his "In Living Color" days starred in a comedic take on superhero movies. He plays a naive repairman who loves Batman. It probably wasn't intended for primetime, though the admittedly funny movie became a cult hit on video.

Adjusted gross: $15,851,500

Tim Allen took his own shot at the superhero genre with this family/sci-fi affair also featuring a then-unknown Kate Mara. Panned by critics, it couldn't recoup its $35 million budget. If you have no memory of the film, you're far from alone.

Adjusted gross: $15,780,300

The theatrical release for the second Power Rangers movie after "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie" probably seemed like a good idea since the characters were inescapable, but its return was far below the $66.4 million made by the first film.

Adjusted gross: $14,893,000

The story of the female Tarzan starring Tanya Roberts was a nonstarter at the box office, with a combination of action and soap opera-style drama that didn't find much of an audience, based on its five Razzie award nominations.

Adjusted gross: $11,697,700

The noirish animated feature got a theatrical release on short notice, and while critics loved the film, the botched rollout led to a very disappointing return. But it remains beloved on video.

Adjusted gross: $9,710,500

Not every Marvel movie works out. Case in point: this Punisher adaptation made under Marvel Studios, which has a much more mature, violent tone. The most successful Marvel movies since have been much lighter.

Adjusted gross: $8,091,600

"Tank Girl" was mounted with a lot of ambition, on a $25 million budget, and starred Lori Petty ("Point Break"), Ice-T, Malcolm McDowell, and a young Noami Watts. Based on a British comic, the feminist post-apocalyptic film has a cult following now for its art direction and humor, but at the time of release was seeing as a dismal failure.

Adjusted gross: $7,432,700

She doesn't really seem to have superpowers, but Pamela Anderson's sci-fi turn is based on the Dark Horse comic-book series of the same name. Anderson came under a lot of fire for her acting, and won the Razzie award for worst new star.

Roger Ebert noted in his review that the plot, strangely enough, is just like that of "Casablanca."

Adjusted gross: $3,228,100

Shaq starred in a superhero movie in his '90s heyday that was hated by both fans of the original DC Comics character (much was changed in the screenplay) and just regular movie fans. It has only a 12% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

The site's consensus concludes, "'Steel' is a badly acted movie that indulges not only in superhero clichés, but also the sappy TV-movie-of-the-week ones."