Best Movies Based on Marvel Comics

List of the best films ever made based on Marvel comics and characters from Marvel Comics. (The list does not include films like "Kick-Ass" or "Men in Black" released under Marvel Imprints. It also includes only live-action Marvel films, not the animated adaptations of its various properties.)

While Marvel Comics began in the late 1930's and entered its modern incarnation in the early 1960's, movies based on Marvel Comics did not steadily start being made until the turn of the century. While there had been a few flops and low budget films made, it wasn't until Bryan Singer's "X-Men" that Hollywood really took notice. Since then, many Marvel movies have gone on to become blockbusters, including films introducing beloved characters from the Marvel pantheon, including Spider-Man, Iron Man and Captain America.

Marvel's relationship with Hollywood culminated in 2009 when The Walt Disney Company purchased Marvel Entertainment for $4.2 billion. In 2012, years of preparation and lead-in films culminated in the release of "The Avengers," an epic-scale event film bringing together a number of the company's most iconic heroes, both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents Nick Fury, Black Widow and Hawkeye and superheroes like The Incredible Hulk and Thor. The film opened with the highest weekend domestic box office gross of any film in history, earning over $200 million in its first 3 days in theaters.