With Loki Wrapped, I Ranked Every Marvel and DC Title in Letterboxd’s Million-Watched Club — See Who Tops the List
Superhero mania may have exploded with Iron Man in 2008, but Fox’s X-Men and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man lit the fuse—setting the stage for a decade where Marvel and DC turned fandom into a nonstop binge.
Superheroes have been clogging our watchlists since 2008’s Iron Man kicked the door in, but the obsession started earlier with Fox’s X-Men and Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man. So, for a quick hit of nostalgia and a reality check on what people actually watch, here are the Marvel and DC titles that cracked Letterboxd’s 1 million-watched club. It’s a weird, wide mix: MCU and DC stuff old and new, Sony’s Spidey-adjacent chaos, and recent headliners like James Gunn’s Superman and Marvel’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Yes, even the Sony corner that reimagines a classic villain makes the cut.
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Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Tom Hardy’s second go-round leans harder, faster, and louder. The first Venom teased Woody Harrelson in a goofy wig; the sequel delivers him as Carnage, and he’s genuinely unsettling when the film slows down long enough to let him be. The problem: it rarely does. The story sprints, the action blurs, and a lot of people walked out wondering what the movie was actually trying to say. Compared to 2018’s scrappy charm, this one didn’t land the Venom-Eddie magic as well. Still, as the Sony Spider-Man Universe’s spin on a classic antagonist, it’s a swing.
Where to watch: Philo
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Thunderbolts* (2024)
Billed as a squad of misfits corralled by Thunderbolt Ross, this MCU team-up basically morphs into the New Avengers by the third act. The Sentry/The Void should be a god-tier threat; instead, he’s played surprisingly light, and the big finish leans on a literal group hug. Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, who deserved a meaty arc, gets shortchanged. That said, the movie’s mental health thread is handled with an unusual amount of care for the MCU, and audiences responded to that part even if the plotting didn’t click.
Where to watch: Disney+
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Superman (2025)
James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DCU opener puts David Corenswet in the cape with Rachel Brosnahan and Nicholas Hoult as a very modern Lex Luthor. It took heat for not matching Man of Steel’s operatic scale, but if you treat it like Clark’s year one, the choices line up: he gets knocked around, learns on the fly, and still leads with hope. Naive and powerful can coexist, and this Superman protects the planet, not just Metropolis.
Where to watch: HBO Max
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Justice League (2017)
The film that was supposed to be Zack Snyder’s big team-up became a hybrid when Warner Bros. handed the reins to Joss Whedon to get it over the finish line. The end result is uneven and got mixed reviews, but it’s undeniably watchable. Seeing Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, and company finally stand shoulder to shoulder scratched a very specific itch and grabbed plenty of eyeballs.
Where to watch: HBO Max
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)
Marvel Studios finally brought the First Family into the MCU, and it went big. The team dynamic works, the vibe feels fresh, and Galactus is no longer a sad space cloud. Here he’s a towering, god-tier presence with an alien-metal aesthetic, which is exactly the kind of overcorrection fans wanted after Rise of the Silver Surfer. With Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and more, it also drops a post-credit stinger that counts as one of Phase 6’s jaw-droppers.
Where to watch: Disney+
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
For all its rough edges, this one swings for the fences with Logan’s life story: childhood, wars, heartbreak, and the moment he’s literally turned into a weapon. It also sneaks in the first on-screen appearance of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool… just not the version anyone was hoping for. Beyond Wolverine and Sabretooth, you also get Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Gambit popping in, because why not.
Where to watch: Disney+
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X2: X-Men United (2003)
The Fox-era sequel that figured out the formula: heroes and villains forced to team up against a bigger monster. William Stryker’s program and the horrors at Lake Alkali give the story weight, the Nightcrawler opener still rules, and the finale hits harder than you remember. It’s the franchise at its cleanest and most confident.
Where to watch: Disney+
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Fantastic Four (2005)
Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, and the late Julian McMahon headline an origin story that leans on a solid blend of practical effects and mid-2000s CG. Five astronauts (yes, five) get blasted by cosmic radiation and slowly discover what that means. It’s also one of the better showcases for Doctor Doom’s raw power in that era, even if the tone is pure popcorn.
Where to watch: Disney+
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Loki (2021–2023)
Tom Hiddleston’s two-season arc starts by introducing He Who Remains, a variant of Kang the Conqueror, and ends by giving Loki the kind of bittersweet, mythic sendoff most characters never get. The show sticks the landing so well it basically sets up Loki as the multiverse’s guardian, with the promise that we’ll see that ripple into Avengers: Doomsday.
Where to watch: Disney+
That’s the club: some classics, some chaos, and a couple of brand-new crown jewels. Agree, disagree, or already queuing a rewatch — tell me what you’d bump up or boot off.