🦸♂️SUPERHERO FATIGUE WAS REAL — UNTIL 2025 FOUGHT BACK
The world said they were done with superheroes. The critics called the genre overcooked. The audience said, “Give us something new.”
And then came 2025 — the year every major studio threw their capes back into the ring.
Four films. Four studios. Four bold attempts to prove the superhero era isn’t over — it’s just evolving.
But not all heroes are created equal. Some soared higher than ever; others fell faster than a DC trailer leak.
So here’s the India Herald verdict — the definitive, no-mercy ranking of 2025’s superhero offerings. Let’s settle the score once and for all.
🧬 #1 — THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS 🥇
Rating: 9/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 86% | Verdict: “Marvel’s First Family Finally Gets Its Crown.”
After a decade of failed reboots, The Fantastic Four: First Steps didn’t just meet expectations — it shattered them like a cosmic wave.
For the first time, Marvel remembered that the Fantastic Four aren’t just superheroes — they’re explorers, inventors, and a family.
The chemistry clicked, the visuals dazzled, and the script didn’t treat the audience like lab rats in a fan-service experiment.
Reed Richards was finally a genius, not a meme. johnny Storm felt like a rockstar again. And Sue Storm got more depth than half of Phase 4 combined.
It wasn’t just a film — it was a resurrection.
If Marvel’s Phase 6 has a new anchor, this is it.
🔥 Why It Wins: Emotional core, crisp pacing, zero filler.
💀 Why It Hurts: It made us realize how bad the last decade’s FF movies really were.
🧨 #2 — THUNDERBOLTS 🥈
Rating: 8.8/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 88% | Verdict: “Marvel’s Dirty Dozen Finally Get Dirty — And It Works.”
Think Suicide Squad without the cringe and Guardians of the Galaxy without the jokes.
Thunderbolts delivered something the MCU desperately needed — moral grayness.
From Yelena Belova’s sharp wit to Bucky Barnes’ guilt-ridden leadership, this was Marvel’s first true antihero epic.
It was cynical, grounded, and surprisingly emotional — the kind of team-up movie where nobody trusts anyone and yet somehow, it still clicks.
🔥 Why It Wins: Real stakes, killer chemistry, brutal emotional weight.
💀 Why It Hurts: A little too safe in its final act. It needed one betrayal too many.
🦸♀️ #3 — SUPERMAN 🥉
Rating: 8.3/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 83% | Verdict: “The Boy Scout Is Back — And He Means Business.”
James Gunn’s Superman isn’t just a reboot — it’s a rebuild.
After years of grimdark tones and messianic metaphors, this version remembered that Superman isn’t supposed to scare you — he’s supposed to inspire you.
The film gave us a Clark Kent with heart, hope, and humor — a symbol in a cynical world.
And the supporting cast, from Lois Lane to Lex Luthor, reminded everyone that the DCU can still deliver character-driven spectacle.
🔥 Why It Wins: It made Superman human again.
💀 Why It Hurts: The pacing dragged in the middle, and some fans missed the Snyder-style grandeur.
🪖 #4 — CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD 💥
Rating: 4.6/10 | Rotten Tomatoes: 46% | Verdict: “Captain America Deserved Better — So Did We.”
Nine years of buildup for… this?
Brave New World had the impossible task of following Endgame and passing the shield. Instead, it passed the buck.
Despite Anthony Mackie’s charisma, the script felt like a political PowerPoint with CGI fights pasted in.
Every scene wanted to “say something important” — but ended up saying nothing memorable.
Even die-hard MCU fans quietly admitted it: the Captain deserved a stronger mission.
When your villains are forgettable and your message muddled, patriotism alone can’t save the day.
🔥 Why It Wins: It doesn’t. But it tried.
💀 Why It Hurts: Proof that even Marvel can lose its way when it mistakes symbolism for storytelling.
💣 THE BIG TAKEAWAY: THE ERA OF EASY HITS IS OVER
2025 was the year the superhero genre went from invincible to introspective.
The box office may have dipped — but the storytelling rose from the ashes.
No more billion-dollar guarantees. No more lazy sequels.
This was the year when studios realized something painful but true: quality is the new superpower.
And if Fantastic Four: First Steps is the new blueprint, the next decade might just be the genre’s second golden age.
🕹️ EPILOGUE: NOW IT’S YOUR TURN
So, india Herald readers — we’ve made our pick.
Now it’s time for yours.
Was Fantastic Four your cosmic comeback of the year?
Did Thunderbolts win you over with its chaos?
Or did Superman remind you why we ever believed in heroes in the first place?
Drop your vote in the comments — and remember:
In 2025, the real superpower wasn’t strength.
It was storytelling.
click and follow Indiaherald WhatsApp channel