X-Men (2000) wasn’t the first X-Men movie. And Samuel L. Jackson wasn’t the first live-action Nick Fury. You might not remember either of these things. Or perhaps you weren’t ever aware of them. So what was the first X-Men movie and who portrayed Nick Fury before Jackson? The answers are below in this revealing look at 10 comic book movies & series you forgot existed. (And as a bonus, I list 5 more that don’t quite fit into the main one.) Some of these I’ve watched and others I haven’t.
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Nick Fury: Agent of S. H. I. E. L. D. (1998)
There will only ever be one, true Nick Fury: David Hasselhoff. Long before Samuel L. Jackson took on the role on the big screen, Hasselhoff took on the role for a TV movie. And it turned out pretty much as you would’ve expected for a 1990s TV flick.
I don’t recall much about it. It’s forgettable but for the time it was . . . okay (I think). Nothing spectacular, quite silly, and definitely low-budget. But it wasn’t the worst thing ever made. I don’t know if the producers intended for this to be a pilot for a TV series or not. Regardless, nothing more ever grew out of this one-shot.
Below is a mashup of clips from the movie (and not a trailer as the video says).
Generation X (1996)
Before X-Men (2000) with Hugh Jackman and everyone else, Fox television aired this X-Men TV movie. It was awful.
Casting was uneven, the storyline wasn’t good, and the limited budget meant special effects and action were spare and subpar. Again, this may have been intended to serve as a pilot for a TV series but nothing ever came of it.
And, yes, I realize the voiceover in the below video says that Generation X was based on a comic that was different than X-Men. That seemingly contradicts what I wrote above. But the Generation X teens (in the comic book and TV movie) are mutants who are X-Men adjacent, and who literally train at Xavier’s “academy.” So I’m sticking with what I wrote about X-Men not being the first X-Men movie.
NightMan (1997-1999)
Based on the Malibu / Marvel comic book series, NightMan was a syndicated TV series and fit right in with all the other syndicated series of the 1990s. It ran for a handful of seasons.
It was cheesy (as they say) but watchable if you were okay with that. (Again, all based on my memory about the show, which could be flawed.)
Barb Wire (1996)
Starring Pamela Anderson and including that guy who played Boba Fett—or rather Jango Fett—or actually he played both Jango Fett and Boba Fett, although he wasn’t the original Boba Fett because . . . now I’m getting off topic.
Anyway, Anderson played the titular character, which was based on a comic book of the same name in this big-screen adaptation. It was pretty much what you’d expect from a movie led by Anderson.
Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (1976)
For some reason, Hollywood kept giving Sid & Marty Krofft money to make TV series. And the Kroffts always made bizarre ones. Electra Woman and Dyna Girl appears to be no exception.
This one isn’t based on a comic book so I technically shouldn’t have put it here. But it’s just so weird I did so anyway.
The series apparently only ran for one season. And it looked very Krofft-like.
Dr. Strange (1978)
This TV movie came and went without much interest. And the character never had another live-action appearance until the MCU brought him onto the big screen in the second decade of the 21st century.
Steel (1997)
Steel is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen. I disliked it from start to finish when I watched it in the 1990s. It’s just terrible in pretty much every way.
One of the things I can remember thinking when I watched it all those years ago was, Why do the bad guys want the new type of “gun,” which seems to be less powerful than the guns they have?
In other words (if I recall correctly—and I may not), the weaponry the bad guys wanted at times seemed quite powerful and other times didn’t. I think there is at least one scene where they shoot someone in the chest with it and the guy . . . doesn’t die.
Even if my memory is wrong about this, I remember the movie was horrible.
Tank Girl (1995)
Tank Girl has apparently maintained some sort of following over the years since its release way back in the 1990s. It failed at the box office but I think sci-fi nerds and other geeks still remember it and have an appreciation for it.
Some of the visuals are interesting. But it also includes a plot point about the female protagonist having a kangaroo boyfriend.
I’m glad I never watched it.
The Punisher (1989)
Before the Netflix series, and even before the 2000s movies starring Thomas Jane and Ray Stevenson, Dolph Lundgren starred as the Punisher.
The film was released in theaters across the globe but never in America (at least not in 1989). It’s really violent as you can see in the below clip.
Witchblade (2001-2002)
Witchblade was first a TV movie and then a popular TNT series, and allegedly only lasted for two season due to issues that had nothing to do with ratings.
Visually, the series differed greatly from the comic book. Other than that, well, I don’t know how it compared with the comic book. I never read it and don’t remember much from the TV series. But below is a clip of it to give you an idea of the show.
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So those were the 10 that made the main list of comic book movies & TV series you forgot existed. The next 5 I kept off it because 4 of them were never widely distributed (1 was never even made), and one of them wasn’t actually based on a comic book even as it must’ve been inspired by comic books.
Justice League of America (1997)
I believe this TV movie was intended to be a pilot for a series but, again, nothing came of it. In fact, it was so bad that I don’t know if it’s ever aired in America.
But you can easily find clips of it online.
Captain America (1990)
This movie was bad enough that it didn’t make it to theaters in America after the filmmakers completed it. (It eventually did in the early 2010s in a limited capacity.) It stars Matt Salinger as Captain America. Salinger is J. D. Salinger’s kid.
And it wasn’t the first time filmmakers screwed up bringing Captain America to life.
Hollywood made two made-for-TV movies of Captain America back in the 1970s. I’d actually forgotten about them until I started writing this entry on CA. If I had remembered them, I’d probably have squeezed them into the main list. In fact, just go ahead and mentally switch this entry with Electra Woman and Dyna Girl in the main list since that one shouldn’t be there.
The Fantastic Four (1994)
Filmmakers made this movie but never released it—not officially, at least. It was terrible, and supposedly one of the reasons they made it at all had to do with needing to do so in order to retain rights to the Fantastic Four.
Roger Corman was a producer, or something, on this awful movie.
M. A. N. T. I. S. (1994-1995)
M. A. N. T. I. S. was a TV movie and then TV series about a paralyzed guy who constructed an exoskeleton that allows him to walk. But the suit works so well that it also allows him to become a costumed vigilante who fights crime.
It was an original idea and not based on a comic book series so I didn’t put it into the main list.
Daredevil (1975)
There were plans to make a Daredevil TV series way back in 1975. Angela Bowie, wife of David Bowie at the time, even had a photo of her taken dressed as the Black Widow. Another actor portrayed Daredevil.
But the series never happened; they didn’t even produce a pilot.
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That concludes the full list of comic book movies & series you forgot existed. We covered a lot of them that have faded into the mists of time. Still, we definitely didn’t cover them all. List some below if you can think of any.
Top Image: Photo from “Nick Fury: Agent of S. H. I. E. L. D.” (1998).
