PremiumAs Aquaman 2 inches closer, 7 superhero sequels that were better than the predecessor - The Dark Knight to Logan
Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom has tough shoes to fill as the first part was a big success; let's take a look back at some very good superhero sequels.
Last Updated: 06.45 PM, Dec 19, 2023
The base rule of any new IP in the superhero realm is to create avenues for it to have a future and maybe even branches of the content to strike a chord with the audience. The conversations around sequels and spin-offs got rigorous in recent years, but it is not like they didn’t exist or no one was making them. We now stand a couple of days away from the release of one of the most controversial movies and a sequel to Warner Bros’s DC branch’s most successful standalone movie, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom. The sequel has a lot to cater to and the buzz mostly going against it. But you never know.
A sequel to Aquaman, which starred Jason Momoa, Amber Heard, Nicole Kidman, and an ensemble, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom is set to take the story ahead. But the future is already dark because this is the last of the DCEU and there is no space in the DCU at the moment. But that doesn’t take away the fact that it is a sequel to one of the most successful superhero movies in recent years. In this case, Aquaman 2 has to compete with its predecessor before it fights the rest of the culture.
Over the years we have seen many such instances and the sequels that worked big time, be it with the content of the Box Office. So today at OTTplay we list down seven movies that were much better than the first parts. Read on.
The Dark Knight (2008)
Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Ensemble.
Director: Christopher Nolan.
Available on: Amazon Prime Video.
Christopher Nolan was shaping a superhero franchise. There was no doubt he would try to up his last work with the next. Christian Bale starrer The Dark Knight came after Batman Begins. It wasn’t a comic book story adapted to the screen, but rather a crime drama that had a fan-famous superhero at the center of it all. Bale was pitched against Heath Ledger and together they gave cinema one of its best films ever made.
Spider-Man 2: (2004)
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and Alfred Molina.
Director: Sam Raimi.
Available on: Netflix.
Sam Raimi was busy finding the heart in the life of one of the most loved and recalled superheroes. Spider-Man felt vulnerable in his version of the superhero. After the interesting first part, Raimi made sure he had a villain that was complex enough to be very much a hero and then pitched him against his real hero. Doctor Octopus and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man fought against each other while Sam weaved magic from behind the screen making one of the best Spidey films out there.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Cast: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, and Sebastian Stan.
Director: Anthony Russo.
Available on: Disney+ Hotstar.
In a universe that is backed by a children-centric studio, and films that look away from any kind of serious subject, Captain America and his origin story was a very big shift in the MCU. There was not much color, vibrance, or humor involved. It was rather very much a serious business with two ideologies involved. The Winter Soldier was more of a thriller than a superhero movie. The premise was interesting and the characters were complex enough to invest in.
X2: X-Men United (2003)
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Alan Cumming, Brian Cox, Halle Berry, and ensemble.
Director: Bryan Singer.
Available on: Disney+ Hotstar.
The highlight of X2 was Magneto. We had already seen the origin story in 2000 and now was the time to jump into business. It was here we realized the significance of Magento and how he was not just some other villain the team defeated. Rather he was a man with many layers. The movie also established Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in a much bigger way by strengthening the roots of the character.
Logan (2017)
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Dafne Keen, Patrick Stewart, and Ensemble.
Director: James Gold.
Available on: Disney+ Hotstar.
It was more of an emotional goodbye (we didn’t know he would come back with Deadpool 3 then). Hugh Jackman was all set to mark his last appearance as Wolverine in the 2017’s Logan. This enabled the makers to shape a movie so emotionally that it ended up leaving its audience in tears. Logan is an emotion more than a movie and no write-ups can ever put words to what the movie did to the writers.
Hellboy ll: The Golden Army (2008)
Cast: Ron Perlman, Doug Jones, Like Goss, and ensemble.
Director: Guillermo del Toro.
Available on: Amazon Prime Video.
How does the world of a demon who works for the government’s Bureau For Paranormal Research and Defence look when Guillermo del Toro decides to shape it? Well, taking us all by surprise, this sequel to 2004’s Hellboy was a very interesting tale of the character. Of course, the visuals, cinematography, set design, and sound, were all top-notch, but what was even more interesting was that Guillermo decided to explore the human behind the demon and how even he has a heart that beats for someone.
Blade ll (2002)
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Norman Reedus, and Leonor Varela, and ensemble.
Director: Guillermo del Toro.
Available on: Amazon Prime Video.
Blade (1998) is what enabled Marvel's live-action world. It was here that everyone realized the potential of these characters which were mainly restricted to the comics. An anti-hero takes over the screen in a dark film and the audience accepts him, a victory. 2002 was the year Blade ll released and changed the grammar of the superhero culture massively. Yet another Guillermo del Toro directorial on the list, this one just decided to go over dramatic on everything and yet have the balance intact.
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