The Greatest Superhero Films Of All Time

Ever since the end of the Second World War, Hollywood has tried to capitalise on the success of the superhero. However, it's only in the last twenty years that technology has allowed Tinseltown to really go crazy with the medium. The result, naturally, is a lot of mediocre superhero movies, interspersed with the occasional turkey. Rare is the day fans get to see a genuinely good effort.

Despite that, though, the quality has shone through - relatively speaking, each franchise has one good film in it, before the money men come along and decide that shifting merchandise is more important than telling a good story. Superman, Batman and the X-Men have all suffered this fate, before being recalimed years later in a spectacular return. Batman Begins, X-Men: First Class, Superman Returns... okay, maybe not the latter, but hopes remain high for the Zack Snyder reboot Superman: Man of Steel.

This, then, is our list of the greatest superhero films ever made. As ever, many will disagree with our choices, some more voiciferously than others. But we feel these fifteen movies are the pinnacle of an over-used and much-abused genre. From Superman the Movie to X-Men: First Class, and with plenty of brilliance inbetween...