Marvel's "Avengers: Infinity War" is on the horizon and the anticipation for the most ambitious crossover event in history is sky-high.
But not all superhero movies are preceded by so much excitement and many are followed by extreme disappointment.
Business Insider compiled a list of the most infamous superhero movies that have the unfortunate distinction of being the worst in the genre (which has also generated a lot of great movies, including this year's "Black Panther").
Many of these movies are remembered not for how they elevated the form, but for how they practically destroyed their respective franchises ("Batman & Robin" ring any bells?).
Below are the 25 worst superhero movies of all time, ranked by how awful they are:
SEE ALSO: The 50 best superhero movies of all time, ranked
25. "Spider-Man 3" (2007)
Directed by Sam Raimi
Raimi's first two "Spider-Man" movies are two of the best superhero movies ever made. So what happened? Well, Raimi didn't get to make the movie he wanted to. As with so many superhero movies, the studio inserted itself into the film's making a little too much, insisting that the villain Venom be in the movie, which already had two villains that Raimi wanted to work with — the Sandman and Harry Osborn (who becomes the second Green Goblin after his father's death in the first film). Raimi's trilogy had been working toward Harry's eventual transformation, and Sandman played to Raimi's interests and strengths as a horror filmmaker. Venom being shoehorned into the film was a recipe for disaster, and resulted in a cluttered plot including one of the worst scenes in superhero movie history, in which Peter Parker dances in a jazz club to make Mary Jane jealous and creeps out everyone in the process.
24. "Justice League" (2017)
Directed by Zack Snyder
Okay, I probably enjoyed "Justice League" more than most, but in the grand scheme of things, it is not a good movie, and will be remembered as an utter failure. It ended its entire domestic theatrical box-office run with just under $230 million. By comparison, "Black Panther" made over that in its opening weekend. Box office isn't everything, but for a movie that was supposed to be DC and WB's answer to Marvel's "The Avengers," it is a devastating disappointment, and just goes to show that audiences are not attracted to the DC Extended Universe's "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" way of making movies.
23. "The Amazing Spider-Man" (2012)
Directed by Marc Webb
As pun-inspired as hiring Webb to direct a Spider-Man movie was, the fact that Sony rebooted the character just five years after "Spider-Man 3" was no laughing matter. It proved to be a major waste of time, basically re-telling the hero's origin story that we had already seen done better. This time, Andrew Garfield was cast in the title role, and his chemistry with Emma Stone is the best part of the film. But "The Amazing Spider-Man" felt like the wrong reboot at the wrong time.
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