Marvel’s Early Movie History - 1994 to 2003
Last week I started a column that takes us through the history of Marvel movies before they launched their cinematic universe with Iron Man in 2008. The first list featured films from 1944 to 1990. Today I bring you a list of Marvel movies that were made from 1994 to 2003. In this set of films, I've included some information that shows you the roles these films played in the future development of the MCU that we see today.
1994 - FANTASTIC FOUR - Constantin Film Produktion
This was the legendary Robert Corman Fantastic Four movie that was never officially released. It only exists as a bootleg film, and goes down in history as one of the most tragic Marvel films ever. Stan Lee said that this movie was never intended to be released, and that it was made only because the studio that owned the rights to make the movie would have lost them if it didn't begin production by a certain date. What's sad is that the cast and crew didn’t know this while they were shooting it. (There was a documentary made about this called Doomed! The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four, and you can see a clip from that here.)
When an experimental space voyage goes awry, four people are forever changed by cosmic rays: Reed Richards, inventor and leader of the group gains the ability to stretch his body and takes the name Mr. Fantastic. His girlfriend, Sue Storm, gains the ability to turn invisible and create force fields becoming The Invisible Girl. Her little brother, Johnny Storm, becomes The Human Torch with the ability to control fire, including covering his own body with flame. The pilot Ben Grimm is turned into the super-strong, super-tough Thing. Together they become a team of super-heroes and use their unique powers to foil the evil plans of villains.
1996 - GENERATION X - New World Television
This was a TV movie that acted as a pilot for a TV series that never got made. If you watch the movie that I’ve embed below, then you’ll see why it never happened. It was just way too 90s for it's own good. A couple interesting facts about the movie are that the X-mansion used in it was later re-used for the X-Men film franchise. Then the actor who plays Banshee, Jeremy Ratchford, also voiced Banshee on the '90s X-Men cartoon.
A group of young mutants--humans with a genetic variation that gives them superpowers and makes them feared by the population at large--begin training at a school for heroes. Their studies are interrupted when they must rescue one of their number from a mad scientist who can enter others' dreams.
1998 - BLADE - New Line Cinema
Blade was really the first Marvel movie I saw that I thought was awesome. He wasn’t a main well-known Marvel character, but the movie still kicked ass! Stan Lee originally shot a cameo in the film, but was ultimately cut out. (He was one of the cops that come in to the blood club during the aftermath and discover Quinn's body on fire.) As for Wesley Snipes, he was in discussions with Marvel to play Black Panther in another movie they were developing when he joined Blade. David Fincher was also originally set to direct the film, but he dropped out of it to pursue other other film projects. I can’t help be think that a Blade film directed by Fincher would have been really cool.
In a world where vampires walk the earth, Blade has a goal. His goal is to rid the world of all vampire evil. When Blade witnesses a vampire bite Dr. Karen Jenson, he fights away the beast and takes Jenson back to his hideout. Here, alongside Abraham Whistler, Blade attempts to help heal Jenson. The vampire Quinn who was attacked by Blade, reports back to his master Deacon Frost, who is planning a huge surprise for the human population.
1998 - NICK FURY: AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. - 20th Century Fox Television
David Hasselhoff starred as Nick Fury in this laughably bad TV movie adventure. One of the crazier things about this movie is that it was written by David Goyer, who went on to write Bryan Singer’s X-Men, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, and Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel. I’m surprised he got work after this movie! This was the last Marvel B-movie that was made.
Marvel's hard-boiled hero is brought to TV. He is brought back to fight the menace of Hydra after exiling himself in the Yukon since the end of the Cold War. The children of the former Hydra head, Baron Von Stucker, have taken charge of the terrorist organization. Under the lead of his vicious daughter, Viper, Hydra has seized a deadly virus and threatens the destruction of America. The covert agency SHIELD brings Fury out of retirement to fight the terrorists.
2000 - X-MEN - 20th Century Fox
Now this was the first true badass Marvel movie to be released that featured a team of characters that comic book fans loved and recognized. Director Bryan Singer did a helluva job bringing it to the big screen. He actually turned down the film three times because he felt that comic books were unintelligent literature. After reading some X-Men comics and watching the 90s cartoon series, he changed his mind and found the story's themes of prejudice and discrimination compelling. This is the only film in the X-Men franchise to be an original story. All of the other movies were loosely based on specific stories from the comic books.
In a world where both Mutants and Humans fear each other, Marie, better known as Rogue, runs away from home and hitches a ride with another mutant, known as Logan, a.k.a. Wolverine. Charles Xavier, who owns a school for young mutants, sends Storm and Cyclops to bring them back before it is too late. Magneto, who believes a war is approaching, has an evil plan in mind, and needs young Rogue to help him.
2002 - BLADE II - New Line Cinema
I guess we could say that Blade was the first Marvel movie franchise to get a theatrical sequel. I thought the sequel was actually better than the first film, and that might be thanks to its director, Guillermo del Toro. A lot of people were hoping that del Toro would direct Dr. Strange when that film was still searching for a director a year or so ago, but a lot of people forget that he already directed a Marvel movie when superhero films were just starting to become a thing. The Marvel character Morbius was originally wanted as a primary villain in the story, but Marvel decided they wanted to keep the rights to the character so they could make an entirely separate franchise out of Morbius, but that obviously never happened. That would have been pretty rad, though.
A rare mutation has occurred within the vampire community. The Reaper. A vampire so consumed with an insatiable bloodlust that they prey on vampires as well as humans, transforming victims who are unlucky enough to survive into Reapers themselves. Now their quickly expanding population threatens the existence of vampires, and soon there won't be enough humans in the world to satisfy their bloodlust. Blade, Whistler (Yes, he's back) and an armory expert named Scud are curiously summoned by the Shadow Council. The council reluctantly admits that they are in a dire situation and they require Blade's assistance. Blade then tenuously enters into an alliance with The Bloodpack, an elite team of vampires trained in all modes of combat to defeat the Reaper threat. Blade's team and the Bloodpack are the only line of defense which can prevent the Reaper population from wiping out the vampire and human populations.
2002 - SPIDER-MAN - Columbia Pictures
James Cameron famously developed this movie and had a pretty unconventional take on it, but it was Sam Raimi who ultimately ushered in a new breed of comic book filmmaking. I enjoyed both Blade and X-Men, but Spider-Man was always a favorite superhero of mine, so seeing this iconic character brought to life on the big screen for the first time was a mind-blowing experience for me, and thankfully it was awesome! This was the first Marvel movie I saw that gave me chills. Hugh Jackman said that Wolverine was originally supposed to have a brief cameo in the film. Jackman actually showed up in New York to film the scene, but the plan was scrapped because the crew couldn't get access to the Wolverine costume from the X-Men movie. This could have been the first Marvel feature film with a crossover. Spider-Man was also the very first movie ever to gross $100 million in its opening weekend alone. This was the moment Hollywood was like, “We need to cash in on these comic books!” This was also the first Marvel movie to feature the opening Marvel logo with the flipping pages.
When bitten by a genetically modified spider, a nerdy, shy, and awkward high school student gains spider-like abilities that he eventually must use to fight evil as a superhero after tragedy befalls his family.
2003 - DAREDEVIL - 20th Century Fox
There was a lot of excitement in the air with the rise of superheroes films with X-Men and Spider-Man, and then Daredevil came out. This was such a huge disappointment, and it was the first major comic book movie to be released in this modern age of films that enraged fans. To this day people still can’t let go of the awfulness of Daredevil. There was one good thing that did come from the film though. It was during this production that actor and director Jon Favreau started discussions with Marvel over what would eventually become Iron Man. Favreau played Franklin 'Foggy' Nelson in the movie.
Fate deals young orphan Matt Murdock a strange hand when he is doused with hazardous waste. The accident leaves Matt blind but also gives him a heightened "radar sense" that allows him to "see" far better than any man. Years later Murdock has grown into a man and becomes a respected criminal attorney. But after he's done his "day job" Matt takes on a secret identity as "The Man Without Fear," Daredevil, the masked avenger that patrols the neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen and New York City to combat the injustice that he cannot tackle in the courtroom.
2003 - X2: X-MEN UNITED - 20th Century Fox
After the Daredevil box-office bomb, 20th Century Fox recovered with Singer's sequel to X-Men, and it was a great flick! That opening sequence with Nightcrawler in the White House was insane! At the time, the film was listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as having ”The Widest Film Release.” It opened on 3,741 screens on the same day. After production was completed on the film, Hugh Jackman was reportedly offered the role of Frank Castle in the 2004 film The Punisher, but he turned it down. That would have been interesting!
The X-Men band together to find a mutant assassin who has made an attempt on the President's life, while the Mutant Academy is attacked by military forces.
2003 - HULK - Universal Studios
Ang Lee’s Hulk didn’t get a lot of love from the fans, but I enjoyed it. I really liked the comic book visual style that he implemented into the film. Then there was his version of the Hulk transformation, which I loved. I thought the casting and story was great as well. People didn’t seem to like the tragic, serious tone that it had, but now that’s something we see in a lot of superhero movies. Edward Norton was offered the lead role in this movie, but turned it down, only to accept it later in the 2008 version. Director Joe Johnston was also originally supposed to direct it, but turned it down to film October Sky. He later went on to direct Captain America: The First Avenger.
Bruce Banner, a brilliant scientist with a cloudy past about his family, is involved in an accident in his laboratory causing him to become exposed to gamma radiation and Nanomeds (A tiny life-form that is supposed to heal wounds but has killed everything with which they have made contact). Confused and curious about his survival, Banner discovers that since the accident, whenever he becomes angry he transforms into a giant green monster destroying everything in sight in an act of fury. Bruce's mysterious past and the answer to why the radiation had this effect becomes revealed to him as his Birth Father David Banner intervenes with hopes to continue experimenting on him.