The 25 Most Important Superhero Movies and Their Impact on Cinema History

A few noteworthy hits scattered throughout the 20th century (mostly towards the end of it) could not have prepared audiences for the onslaught of costumed do-gooders earning huge bucks at the box office and gradually earning credibility as a serious artistic genre.

That's why it's so easy to take the history of superhero movies for granted these days, and why it's vital to explore the many films that took big risks, whether they succeeded or failed, and forever altered the landscape.

The evolution of the superhero genre takes costumed crimefighters from the silent era, through uncertainty, and into the wild blue yonder.