3. Spider-Man 2 (2004) - The first GREAT superhero movie, Spider-Man 2 took everything that worked with the first movie, and improved on it, taking out some of the duller stretches of origin-building, while heightening the action and melodrama that is signature to the series. Throw in an action-sequence (on the train) that might be the best of any film on this list, and you have the best movie offering from Marvel Comics to date. So far, it seems that the template for superhero films are solid first offerings that set up the movie universe, followed by superlative sequels, and then, thus far, followed by disappointing-to-downright-awful third entries. Here's hoping the next series on this list can break the trend.

2. Batman Begins (2005) - Despite the fact that I grew up a Marvel guy, I've always thought Batman was the coolest character in comics, and with Batman Begins, I finally had a live action movie that showed why. Christopher Nolan's reboot was the first live-action Batman adaptation to show what made the character great, as opposed to a mere outlet for the stylistic choices of its director, and it had me completely geeked out from beginning to end. What's unique about Batman Begins is that its one of the few superhero movies that succeeded in making the origin story portion of the film as compelling as, if not more than, the superhero action that follows it.

1. The Dark Knight (2008) - The Dark Knight is such a stunning achievement that not only does it top this list, it makes the rest of this list look a little weak in comparison. The gap between 1 and 2 is considerable, as The Dark Knight managed to improve upon its predecessor in every conceivable way. The story is more complex and immense, the effects are more eye-popping, and of course, the villain is far more interesting. We'll be lucky if any comic book adaptations even approach the level of quality in The Dark Knight, much less surpass it.

But what about... ? (taking a look at the titles you may think I missed)

Batman (1989) or Batman Returns (1992)? Tim Burton is easily my least favourite director-who-people-think-is-good (as opposed to the terminally shitty directors whose work I never see), so there was no way these films, which are more about Burton's eccentric style than they are about Batman, would ever get a sniff of this list.

Superman II (1980)? There are those who say the sequel to Superman: The Movie was the best of the series, and again, I can only assume those people are drunk on nostalgia. Cause what I see is a movie featuring even dumber powers than time travel via the reversing of Earth's axis (the amnesia kiss? a removable, expandable logo-trap?) with wildly differing tones depending on who was directing what scene.