Every Superhero Movie And Special From 2022 Ranked

There was a time, not too long ago, where reading comic books and watching superhero media was seen as kid's stuff, or disposable fluff at best. While comic books and superhero stories matured a lot in the ensuing decades, it took much longer for more established entertainment entities, like Hollywood, to catch up with them. Furthermore, most big-budget movies that were greenlit in the past were relegated to only the biggest of names, like Batman or Superman, while the TV shows used to be cheesy low-budget affairs like the '70s "Incredible Hulk" and "Spider-Man" series — not to mention cheap, stilted cartoons like "Super Friends."

Currently, however, costumed do-gooders are dominating the media landscape, with a majority of top-grossing movies — and the most-viewed streaming series and specials — now based on superhero, or at least superhero-adjacent, stories (which is causing some backlash from Hollywood's old guard, via Variety). This is more than most fans could have ever hoped for, with the big-budget treatment even being given to comic book C-listers like the Guardians of the Galaxy, who still manage to be smash critical and commercial successes while also making huge impacts on mainstream pop culture at large.

But, like the superheroes these adaptations are based on, not all heroes (or anti-heroes) are created equally. So what are the best and worst pieces of superhero media that came out in 2022? From living vampires to the living embodiment of dreams, read the list below to find out!

Warning: spoilers below!

"DC League of Super-Pets" is a CG-animated family film about the titular team of superhero-adjacent animals. It has an all-star voice cast, headed by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (in the first of two DC starring roles this year) as Krypto, the trusted super-powered dog of Superman (voiced by John Krasinski, who also appeared as another superhero in 2022).

It's the first theatrical film to introduce the other super-pets from the comic books, which includes Ace (Kevin Hart), who will later become Ace the Bat-Hound after he gets adopted by Batman (Keanu Reeves). Other super-pets include PB, a pig with the ability to change their mass (Vanessa Bayer); Mertle, a turtle ironically gifted with super-speed (Natasha Lyonne); and Chip, a squirrel with electricity powers (Diego Luna). There's also the villainous Lulu (Kate McKinnon), a genius guinea pig with telekinesis, who wants to take over the world after somehow successfully capturing the Justice League (necessitating the League of Super-Pets to save the day).

The film does have slick animation, deep-cut nods to DC's vast comic history, some exciting action sequences, and even a few genuine heartfelt moments (via Rotten Tomatoes). But despite all that, it's also often a little too childish for its own good, seemingly talking down to — or lowering the stakes for the sake of — the presumed younger audience. The "League of Super-Pets" were never a marquee title for a reason, despite having some decent stories during their initial comic book run. And the less said about the cringe-worthy after-credits sequence with Black Adam's dog (also voiced by Johnson), the better.

Before this big-budget Disney+ streaming series, most fans knew Moon Knight through hilarious Photoshopped comic book panels, such as the now-infamous one of Moon Knight's profanity-laden screed against Dracula (via Moon Knight-Core). Regardless, the Disney+ "Moon Knight" show is a much more po-faced adaptation. The series stars Oscar Isaac as both the mild-mannered and bumbling British-accented Steven Grant, as well as his alter-ego (or is the other way around?) Marc Spector, a dashing and globe-trotting mercenary. Turns out Steven shares a split personality with Marc, who can transform into the supernatural superhero Moon Knight — the human avatar for the Egyptian moon god, Khonshu (voiced by F. Murray Abraham).

Like everything on this list except for "Morbius," "Moon Knight" does have quite a few things going for it. Oscar Isaac does a great job, balancing a dual role — sometimes even in the same scene — and delivering a surprisingly raw, emotional performance in the latter half. Since "Moon Knight" deals with a mentally unstable hero who  constantly questions his own reality, the series also takes a surreal, almost Lynchian – if all too brief — turn into the hero's psyche at one point.

However, like a lot of MCU projects, it ends with a boring CGI-laden finale that is especially rubbery and weightless, given the lower if still considerable budgets given to the streaming-only projects. It's also fairly unfocused, with the pacing feeling both languid and rushed at the same time.

"Werewolf by Night" is a unique Disney+ streaming special directed by Michael Giacchino, best known as the composer on such blockbuster films as "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," as well as Marvel movies like "Spider-Man: Homecoming." It stars Gael García Bernal as Jack Russell, who joins a hunt for a monster alongside other famous monster hunters — including Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly) — who are all after the magical, mystical Bloodstone. However, it turns out Russell is actually just there to rescue the aforementioned creature, who is his friend Ted (aka Man-Thing), before he himself turns into the title beast.

What sets "Werewolf by Night" apart from the rest of the MCU is its look. Giacchino purposely makes the special aesthetically evoke the old Universal monster films of the '30s, '40s, and '50s — including black and white cinematography, stark high-contrast lighting, and even realistic film grain, even digitally adding "cigarette burns" (marks on old films meant to signal the projector to move to the next film reel).

Even better, there are almost no digital visual effects — outside of Man-Thing — with Bernal (and his stunt double) in full werewolf prosthetics. The special is also satisfyingly bloody and violent, and could conceivably have been rated R if it wasn't in black-and-white. The only thing really setting it back is that, while it's a fun novelty, the story is somewhat predictable after the initially intriguing set-up. Also, while the special should be praised for its use of mostly practical effects, the CG that is utilized is pretty rough.

The Matt Reeves-helmed and Robert Pattinson-led "The Batman" had a lot to prove, being the ninth live-action take on the character (10th if you count each "Justice League" cut as separate films) and the sixth actor playing the role. The new Batman film does have a truly stacked cast, including Pattinson as a fittingly moody Bruce Wayne/Batman, Zoe Kravitz as a fun, multifaceted Catwoman, Paul Dano as a truly unhinged Riddler, Colin Farrell as a mafioso Penguin, Jeffrey Wright as the eternally put-upon Lieutenant Jim Gordon, and so on. Each actor does an amazing — sometimes even definitive — take on the classic comic book characters.

There are also a lot of great things about the film besides the performances, such as its striking production design, propulsive score, and exciting action sequences. Highlights include the opening fight scene with the face-painted thugs and the epic Batmobile chase on the highway.

Despite all that, there are also a lot of things holding it back. This includes its muddy and incoherent politics, with the Riddler's final plan to flood Gotham making no sense with his actions throughout the film (and the excuse that "he's just crazy" is both lazy and, worse, simply uninteresting). It also can't help being somewhat derivative, since — despite a valiant effort — "The Batman" doesn't really add much new to the table, and ultimately feels more like warmed-over Christopher Nolan leftovers. But Nolan leftovers are still good leftovers.

"Sandman" might be the best possible live-action adaptation of the original graphic novels that fans could ever have hoped for. Like any adaptation, it's not perfect, but it's close enough to be considered a minor miracle. Ever since the comics' debut in 1989, Hollywood has attempted to adapt it to the screen. But the recent Netflix show avoids a lot of the issues that previous attempts at adapting the property faced — including one attempted script that Gaiman said was the worst he'd ever read (via Rolling Stone). 

For one, by being a show rather than a movie, it allows for more of the story and characters to be shown on screen, rather than being relegated to the cutting room floor or clumsily composited. Speaking of characters, the show is also extremely well-cast, with lead actor Tom Sturridge looking and acting as if Morpheus, aka the titular Sandman, had walked out of the comic page and into our mortal plane. Kirby Howell-Baptiste as the bubbly goth girl personification of the concept of death is also a major highlight of the show as well. In fact, Netflix's "Sandman" might be one of the most accurate comic adaptations ever.

John Cena, portraying the psychotic patriotic-themed anti-hero Peacemaker, was one of the many highlights in director James Gunn's R-rated DCEU superhero reboot/sequel "The Suicide Squad." Despite that, it was still unclear if Peacemaker himself could actually headline an entire show, especially since he was a colorful side character in the film, which isn't usually the kind of character that lends itself to being put in the protagonist role.

Luckily, Gunn — who created and wrote the entire eight-episode HBO Max series and directed five episodes — knew what he was doing. Not only is "Peacemaker" just as exciting, blood-soaked, and hilarious as "The Suicide Squad," but "Peacemaker" also has a lot of genuine heart as well. The show really plays to Cena's strengths, which include a great grasp of comedic timing, while using his wrestler past to really sell the exciting action scenes.

However, the real standout from "Peacemaker" is probably the uber-violent, murderous — but also surprisingly sweet — green-spandexed Vigilante, played by Freddie Stroma. At least he meant well.

"She-Hulk: Attorney at Law" is quite frankly a breath of fresh air for the MCU. This is especially true of the extremely metatextual season finale (in a nod to the "She-Hulk" comic books), where Jessica Walters, aka She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany), enters our reality to confront Marvel chief creative officer Kevin Feige (depicted as a robot A.I., whose initials mean "Knowledge Enhanced Visual Interconnectivity Nexus") to complain about the many legitimate problems with the increasingly-stagnant MCU formula. This includes an overuse of daddy issues as a dramatic plot point, always ending with a "dark reflection" of the hero as the main antagonist (which almost happens in "She-Hulk"), and even shoehorning in action-packed climaxes, rather than focusing on the characters and their journeys.

This is part of why the show is so great, and it has a fun tone, a great lead performance, and good-to-great CGI (even more impressive given its streaming budget). It also talks candidly about things like the casual harassment of women on the streets, in the workplace, and online. In fact, the penultimate episode is a surprisingly raw expression of online harassment against women, and the feelings of anger and hurt it elicits.

Beyond the show's refreshingly comedic tone, it also has some great, underrated action sequences, such as She-Hulk's fight with Mark Ruffalo's OG Hulk in the pilot episode, and later on her fight against Charlie Cox's now-fashionably red-and-yellow-suited Daredevil.