7 Great Comic Book Movies That Received Over 90% on Rotten Tomatoes (& Brand New Day Isn’t One of Them)
Spider-Man: Brand New Day was on track to become not only one of the highest-grossing comic book movies at the box office, but also one of the most critically acclaimed movies in the genre as well. It held on in its box office run, and it moved into the top of the list of domestic movies, with a lifetime gross of $954.7 million, which beat out Avengers: Endgame by almost $60 million to become the highest-grossing domestic superhero movie ever. However, it still ranks below Avengers: Endgame for worldwide gross, by just under $425 million. That said, it couldn’t hold on for critical acclaim, and while it sits at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, there are several movies that passed that mark and rank higher than Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day has nothing to be ashamed of with a 90% Rotten Tomatoes score, but there are three other Spider-Man movies ranked higher. There are also movies starring Batman, Wonder Woman, and a pair of Avengers ranking higher. To add salt to the wound, the one comic book movie that ranks above Spider-Man: Brand New Day at the worldwide box office also ranks higher for critical acclaim. While there are 11 movies that have made more than Spider-Man: Brand New Day, here are the seven most notable.
7) Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) – 93%
While Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the highest-grossing superhero movie of all time domestically, it isn’t even the top Spider-Man when it comes to critical acclaim. Spider-Man: No Way Home, the last Spider-Man movie before Spider-Man: Brand New Day, sits in fourth place all-time domestically ($814.9 million) and ninth place all-time worldwide ($1.9 billion), and it sits above the new Spider-Man movie with an impressive 93% Rotten Tomatoes score. It should be noted that both movies have the exact same audience score at 97%. There is also the argument that the reason behind the success of the two movies is different.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day made all that money and has a great critical score because it is a great movie with the hero who has become the most beloved in the MCU. Spider-Man: No Way Home was also a great movie, but it was sold on the appearance of characters from the past Sony movies, including both previous versions of Spider-Man and some of the best villains in any Spider-Man movie. Nostalgia helped sell Spider-Man: No Way Home, and the great story just kept its numbers high. Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2 also has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score.
6) Logan (2017) – 93%
X-Men: Days of Future Past is the highest-rated X-Men team-up movie, sitting at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the highest-rated movie in the X-Men universe was a solo Wolverine movie, Logan. Directed by James Mangold, this movie mostly ignored the rest of the X-Men franchise and took place in an alternate future where all the X-Men were dead except for Wolverine and Professor X, the latter of whom was deteriorating due to dementia and might have been responsible for the incident that killed the mutants. They are also accompanied by the Morlock known as Caliban.
Logan is more of a post-apocalyptic Western than it is a superhero movie, and it is a very violent, R-rated outing that has Wolverine fighting to save a young girl named Laura, and eventually dying in the end. This was a seemingly important moment, as it was referenced in Deadpool & Wolverine as a major moment when that Earth’s “anchor being” died. Forget about all the comic book connections, though. Logan was an incredible story that subverted what fans expect from superhero movies, had an incredible Hugh Jackman performance, and seemed like the final Wolverine movie at the time.
5) Wonder Woman (2017) – 93%
When Zack Snyder came into the DC Universe at Warner Bros. and began to build his world, it was polarizing, to put it lightly. Man of Steel was a good start, although it was controversial since it had Superman kill. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice made good money at the box office since it had Superman and Batman in the same movie, but its critical reviews were low because it was overlong and overstuffed. Justice League was a huge debacle, and while the director’s cut received immense fan praise, the theatrical cut was panned.
Wonder Woman was better than all three movies that Zack Snyder directed because it actually brought the character from the comics to the big screen in the most respectful way possible. While both the Superman and Batman movies were dark, Wonder Woman was optimistic and delivered a sense of wonder to the world, showing what a real hero looked like in a world where other heroes in the DCEU were just grimdark antiheroes, at best. It has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score and was a huge success when released.
4) Avengers: Endgame (2019) – 94%
The highest-grossing comic book movie of all time arrived in 2019, and it was re-released again this year with extra scenes. Avengers: Endgame ranks first all time for total worldwide box office, surpassing Avatar thanks to the re-release. This made it impossible for Spider-Man: Brand New Day to catch up with it this year. Avengers: Endgame also has a higher Rotten Tomatoes score, sitting at 94%. This movie has the same reason for its success as Spider-Man: No Way Home, as there were reasons other than just the movie for its success.
Avengers: Endgame is a movie that tied up the entire MCU story to that point, writing the conclusion to the stories of characters like Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow. This was the result of over a decade of story buildup, and it paid off everything perfectly. From Captain America’s big moments with Mjolnir and saying “Avengers Assemble” to Iron Man’s sacrifice to the gathering of all of the MCU’s heroes into one movie, this film deserved every penny that it made at the box office.
3) The Dark Knight (2008) – 94%
For many years, The Dark Knight was considered the best superhero movie ever made. Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight was released the exact same year that Iron Man started the MCU, and both movies ended up as huge successes. However, The Dark Knight was considered the better all-around movie, with critics praising it as much of a crime drama as it is a superhero movie.
While it’s not close to the box office of movies released over the last decade, when The Dark Knight brought in over $1 billion worldwide, it was considered a considerable achievement for a comic book movie about superheroes. However, it deserved every penny, and it is still the best DC Comics movie ever made. On top of its 94% Rotten Tomatoes score, it has the third-highest IMDb score from audience members of all time, behind only The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather. It also received eight Oscar nominations, and Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
2) Black Panther (2018) – 96%
The highest-ranked MCU movie on Rotten Tomatoes is Black Panther. What really stands out about Black Panther is Ryan Coogler’s attention to detail in ensuring that it maintains the culture and atmosphere expected for a story about the independent African nation of Wakanda. The cast and crew were predominantly Black, which led to the sense of authenticity that the movie needed, and it made the entire story all that much better. It also helped turn the late Chadwick Boseman into one of Marvel’s most beloved actors.
The movie is also noted for having the best villain in the entire MCU, with Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger. While he was a villain, he had a reason to hold hatred in his heart, and his intentions were understandable, even if his motives and ultimate misdeeds were mostly unredeemable. The movie surpassed $1.3 billion at the box office, and its seven Oscar nominations were topped off with a nomination for Best Picture, a rarity for any comic book movie. Its 96% Rotten Tomatoes score is the highest of any live-action superhero movie. There are two other solo MCU movies that broke 90%, with Iron Man at 94% and Thor: Ragnarok at 93%.
1) Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – 97%
The highest-scoring superhero movie based on a comic book is an animated film by Sony. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has the record for comics, with a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score. This is higher than any live-action Spider-Man movie, anything from the MCU or DC’s various attempts, and it might be untouchable for critical praise in the genre. The sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, ended up with a 95%, which is higher than any other film here other than Black Panther.
| Movie Title | Rotten Tomatoes Score |
| Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | 97% |
| Black Panther | 96% |
| Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | 95% |
| The Dark Knight | 94% |
| Avengers: Endgame | 94% |
| Iron Man | 94% |
| Thor: Ragnarok | 93% |
| Wonder Woman | 93% |
| Logan | 93% |
| Spider-Man: No Way Home | 93% |
The movie introduced the world to Miles Morales, the replacement Spider-Man from the Ultimate Universe who moved over to the main Marvel Universe after the “Secret Wars” event series. The movie also helped revolutionize animation, with a style that has forced other studios to follow suit, and the story had more heart and humor than most superhero movies, live-action or animated. Spider-Man remains the most popular superhero in the world, and the fact that four of his movies are in the top eight superhero movies on Rotten Tomatoes is impressive. While Spider-Man: Brand New Day is great, nothing beats Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
What is your favorite of these critically acclaimed superhero movies? Do you think Spider-Man: Brand New Day should be ranked ahead of any of them? Let us know in the comments below.
