Since Iron Man has launched the summer movie season with superhero bravado and a surprisingly hefty Rotten Tomatoes rating, the Hound thought it fitting to revisit those comic book-inspired movies that would have probably been best left to the funny book.

Don’t get us wrong, in theory, we love super heroes and we love the movies they inspire. We wouldn’t be the nerds we are without the unabashed excitement we feel upon hearing Superman’s theme as he makes his first appearance in the Fortress of Solitude or the thrill we get when Spidey saves that runaway subway car full of New Yorkers from plummeting to certain death. But it is also our fanatical devotion to comics that makes us squirm every time we have to sit through a sub-par super hero flick.

Sadly, for every Iron Man, Superman: The Movie, or Spider-Man 2 there are a dozen lesser flicks spit out by Hollywood. So, the Hound has compiled this list of, in our humble opinion, the worst superhero movies ever produced.

1. Fantastic Four (2005) / Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) – Two movies without a plot, direction, or acting. Now THAT IS fantastic!
2. Superman III (1983) & Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) – About the only good thing that can be said about Superman IV is that it didn’t feature Richard Pryor, which makes us wonder if anything positive can be said about Superman III
3. The Punisher (1990 & 2004) – At least Dolph Lundgren’s version has some camp aspects that work for it…wait a minute, who are we kidding? They’re both awful.
4. Supergirl (1984) – While the Hound loves the character, this take on the adventures of Superman’s cousin never lives up the promise of the first two Superman films, but does generate some laughs as a cult classic and keeps Phantoms from claiming the title as "the worst movie Peter O'Toole ever starred in."
5. Batman Forever (1995) / Batman & Robin (1997) – Bat-nipples.  We'll say it again... Bat-nipples.
6. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) – One word: RATNER!
7. Ang Lee’s Hulk (2003) – Definitely one of the artier (i.e. extremely boring) superhero flicks ever made. But, Nick Nolte as the Hulk’s deadbeat dad and those CGI killer poodles are so laughable that it almost makes the big existential mess worth watching.
8. RoboCop 3 (1991) – RoboCop 2 (1990) was bad enough, but to lose Peter Weller and then make Robo fly? That was just inexcusable.  (Good luck keeping that off your resume, Frank Miller!)
9. Spider-Man 3 (2007) – Take two good movies, add three villains, a gaggle of lame supporting characters, some of the cheesiest filmmaking in recent memory (who knew Peter Parker had jazz hands?), and cram them all into two-plus hours, and you’ve got a movie that alienates just about everyone.
10. Elektra (2005) – A spinoff of Daredevil (2003)? Really? Wait a minute, why isn’t Daredevil on this list too?