Over the past twenty years, Marvel and DC Comics have become incredibly popular, leading most people to think of comic books as solely being about superheroes. These companies are so large that even if a movie based on their characters isn’t successful, the studios quickly begin planning the next version. Because of this, a disappointing film isn’t seen as the end of a character or series, but rather a temporary problem. This allows Marvel and DC to consistently perform well in theaters, and gives studios the freedom to restart familiar stories even after a movie fails.
While superhero comics dominate the market, many other comics offer compelling stories with the potential for long-running franchises. Unfortunately, these non-superhero or independent comics often struggle to succeed as movies because one poorly received film can kill the entire idea. Luckily, the rich stories and detailed worlds within these comics still exist in their original form, waiting for a studio brave enough to adapt them successfully after a previous attempt may have fallen short.
5) Judge Dredd
The 1995 Judge Dredd movie is famously considered a failure because it lost the comic’s clever and critical edge, turning off longtime fans. A key mistake was having Judge Dredd (Sylvester Stallone) take off his helmet, breaking a core part of the character’s look. Later, the 2012 reboot, Dredd, with Karl Urban, got the gritty, intense feel of Mega-City One right and kept the helmet on. Despite positive reviews and staying true to the source material, it didn’t do well in theaters, earning only $41 million with a $45 million budget.
Honestly, the movie flopped at the box office, which immediately killed any plans for a sequel – a real shame, because fans were loud about wanting more. But the world they built, Mega-City One, is just brimming with cool stuff – think sprawling, mutated wastelands and these genuinely terrifying villains called the Dark Judges. It’s got huge franchise potential, if a studio can just figure out how to keep that gritty, dark vibe while still appealing to a wider audience. It’s a tough balancing act, but I think it could really work.
4) Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
As a huge sci-fi fan, I was really excited for Luc Besson’s Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. It was based on this amazing French comic, Valérian and Laureline, and honestly, the visuals were incredible – the Alpha space station was just mind-blowing, a truly stunning city filled with all sorts of alien life. But sadly, the movie didn’t quite work. The story felt weak, and there was just no spark between Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as Valerian and Laureline. It’s a shame, because it ended up being a really expensive flop, despite all that visual flair.
A 2017 film overlooked a rich source of inspiration for Star Wars, letting a potentially successful franchise slip away. The original comics are full of exciting elements – time travel puzzles, galactic politics, and colorful alien worlds – offering plenty of material for new movies and TV series. A studio could successfully revive Valerian as a major science fiction series by focusing on strong stories rather than relying too much on special effects.
3) Heavy Metal
The Heavy Metal brand is known for its mature, science-fiction stories, but Hollywood has repeatedly failed to turn it into a successful movie series. The original 1981 animated film gained a dedicated following by bringing the magazine’s unique and visually impressive stories to life. However, its format as a collection of separate stories didn’t allow for a connected, ongoing film universe. The 2000 sequel was a disappointment, losing the original’s rebellious spirit and ultimately halting any further theatrical attempts for many years.
Range Media is trying to bring back the Heavy Metal brand with a fresh start, which shows the entertainment industry still sees its potential. This is encouraging because a well-developed Heavy Metal franchise could become a leading outlet for mature, animated science fiction. Like the original magazine, it could feature a variety of talented directors each adapting compelling, dark, and futuristic stories.
2) Conan the Barbarian
John Milius’s Conan the Barbarian gave audiences a raw and intense beginning to Conan’s story (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), and it helped establish fantasy films in 1982. Despite being a well-regarded and enjoyable movie, it didn’t launch the large, interconnected film series that Robert E. Howard’s original stories deserved.
The Conan franchise took a turn for the worse with the lighter tone of Conan the Destroyer, then got stuck in development for years. This culminated in a failed 2011 reboot that seemed to end any hope of future Conan movies. Despite this, the world of Conan – the Hyborian Age – is a richly imagined fantasy setting with powerful magic, varied lands, and terrifying creatures, comparable to any popular fantasy world today. Recently, Arnold Schwarzenegger announced he’s returning for a new film, King Conan, with 20th Century Studios, suggesting that the studio now recognizes the potential for a long-running series featuring an older, experienced barbarian king struggling to hold his kingdom together.
1) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Stephen Norrington’s film adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was widely criticized for significantly changing Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s original graphic novel. These changes led to the film being a box office disappointment and negatively impacted the career of its main actor. The 2003 movie moved away from the graphic novel’s clever and critical take on Victorian stories, instead opting for a typical action-movie formula. Furthermore, the film simplified the complex characters, such as Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery) and Captain Nemo (Naseeruddin Shah), turning them into a generic superhero team and losing what made the story special.
Despite the disappointing movie adaptation of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the original idea behind it – bringing together famous characters from Victorian literature – is actually very strong and could support a large, interconnected world. Hulu explored a reboot in 2022 with screenwriter Justin Haythe, showing there’s still interest in this concept as a potential franchise. Unfortunately, with no recent updates, it seems unlikely the reboot will happen.
If you could revive one unsuccessful comic book movie and turn it into a huge franchise, which one would it be? Share your thoughts in the comments and join the discussion on the ComicBook Forum!
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2026-05-08 00:13