The comic book movie is alive and well, and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

For a bit of time, I tried to resist it. Maybe I just wasn’t used to living in a world where it was cool to like comics. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. As long as knowing the score to the Giant game isn’t a necessary element of small talk, I can get used to this new world order.

It makes sense why Hollywood would want to adapt graphic novels and comic books onto the big screen. After all, comic books are kind of like storyboards but with a lot more onomatopoeias. Today’s breed of comic book movies go well beyond superheroes. There’s anti-heroes, talking trees, and even Canadians.

Comic book movies have become a genre of their own, albeit one that encompasses many other sub-genres. With Guardians of the Galaxy out this week, shattering box office records and bridging the divide between fan boys and critics, it is as good a time as ever to celebrate comics. I have dabbled in reading comics, but my knowledge of them comes more from film. Here are the rules in order to be qualified for this list:

1. Must be adapted from either a comic book or graphic novel.

2. Either it is the best possible representation of a comic book on the screen, or it does something completely unprecedented with the format.

3. It is just plain f***ing awesome.

4. It does not star Ben Affleck. Sorry, buddy.

Read my complete list below:

10. A History of Violence

This dark meditation on violence in America is about as brutal and explicit as you’d expect any Cronenberg Joint to be. A History of Violence doesn’t look or feel like a comic book movie at all; it’s set in a small town, nobody ever steps in toxic waste and gains super powers, and the hero is more of an anti-hero. A History of Violence is too often overlooked; even I wasn’t a huge fan of it when it first came out. The film boasts career best performances from the likes of Viggo Mortensen (at the time just known as Aragon), Ed Harris, and William Hurt.

9. Snowpiercer

As I wrote last month, Snowpiercer is a cult classic in the making. It is based on a little known French graphic novel that feels like it was meant to be a movie. It employs every genre from martial arts, to dystopian sci-fi, to black comedy. It is one of the most intricately detailed and original sci-fi universes in recent memory, with each section of the train that it takes place on having its own unique story to tell. In ways, Snowpiercer feels like a multimedia adventure: part comic book and part video game, in cinematic form.

8. X2: X-Men United

The original X-Men movies shaped much of my understanding of comic books. In fact, I loved the movies so much (not you, Ratner) that it inspired to buy some of the comics themselves. I almost put the original X-Men on because I watched the shit out of that DVD copy from Blockbuster. Besides some fantastic action set pieces (Magneto’s prison escape is especially noteworthy), X2 stands out by turning its biggest villain into a hero, as all the mutants now must fight for survival. X-Men has always been an allegory for Civil Rights, and X2 is when it worked the absolute best.

7. Spider-Man

Spider-Man holds a very special place in my heart. In fifth grade, I wore my DVD copy out. My love of the movie then led me to find my brother’s giant box of comics in the attic, and then me reading them. So, I also thank him for being much cooler than me. Spider-Man is not perfect, and it deviates from the source material in many ways. For instance, Spidey couldn’t actually blast webs out of his arms. Nit-picking aside, this is exactly what a Spider-Man movie should be, and it showed how Peter Parker, the vaguely Jewish* outsider, was one of the most relatable heroes out there. Raimi’s first Spider-Man would lead to an even better sequel (more on that later).

6. Iron Man

Iron Man was the hero that a country going through two wars needed. Tony Stark might be the coolest, most confident super hero alter ego out there. He is perfectly portrayed by Robert Downey Jr., who made his giant career comeback here. Iron Man mixes action and comedy perfectly, making it one of the more fun Marvel adaptations. Plus, it has a great twist ending, and it represents a time right before Marvel started using its own movies to promote movies that hadn’t even been made yet.

5. Sin City

Besides Planet Terror, Sin City is the best thing that Robert Rodriguez has ever done. This is one Tarantino ripoff that deserves to be mentioned in the same class as Tarantino, and that’s not just because Tarantino was somewhat involved in this project. Sin City is an interlocking crime story set in the grimiest city imaginable, the kind of place that makes even Gotham look tame. It’s shot in gorgeous black and white with splashes of red. A Dame to Kill For needs to come out already.

4. The Dark Knight

The movie that changed the game, for better or worse. The Dark Knight transcends the comic book movie into something between allegory and tragedy. Heath Ledger scored a well-deserved Oscar for his performance as The Joker. With all of his weird facial ticks and unpredictable impulses, Ledger’s performance is still as terrifying today as it was back in 2008. The Dark Knight ushered in an era of the gritty blockbuster, where every action movie thought that being dark would make them good. But The Dark Knight wasn’t good just because it was dark; it had a powerful story. It was about something. And most of all, it was still a blast to watch.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

Speaking of which, Guardians is the first official film of the post-gritty era. In fact, it feels less like a comic book movie and more like a throwback to Raiders of the Lost Ark. It contains five protagonists who are all fully fleshed out. Maybe the best part about is that it is the rare super hero movie in which all of the heroes are true outcasts. They wear their flaws on their sleeves, and that it what makes this space opera so relatable. It is still in theaters. You have no excuses. Go see it right now.

2. Spider-Man 2

I do not hesitate to call Spider-Man 2 a masterpiece. Not only is it one of the best comic book movies of all time, it is also by far one of the best sequels. Like any good sequel, it expands upon the original and doesn’t just repeat all of the best parts of it. With Spider-Man 2, Sam Raimi proved that he was the perfect choice to direct a super hero movie, as he strikes the perfect balance between the silly and the sincere. Here is a super hero movie that asks the deep, dark existential questions behind being a super hero, and at the same time it is as fun as any summer blockbuster should be. It is a good thing that this was the last Spider-Man movie ever made, and that there were no future Spider-Man movies that might possibly have ruined the franchise’s reputation.

1. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Upon its initial release, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was a box office flop. Today, it’s the kind of movie that you will see on cable and then watch it until the end because you have no choice. Scott Pilgrim is not about a hero, but rather its about somebody who is selfish and sometimes a little insufferable. Scott Pilgrim might be the only movie based on a comic book I have seen where it literally looks like a comic book come to life. It is a visually arresting spin on everything from nostalgia to video games (the Pee Bar is one of the film’s funniest moments) to romantic comedy. It is clever when it could have so easily been snarky. Scott Pilgrim is a perfect display of Edgar Wright’s genius, and it makes me all the more sad that we will never get to see his version of Ant-Man.

Episode 9: In this week’s episode, Mike Rogers joins Ian and Cassie to review X-Men Days of Future Past. Plus, we talk about what Edgar Wright’s departure from Ant-Man means for writers everywhere, and then we play the True Detective game.

Professor X, or rejected member of Creedence Clearwater Revival? Image via Total Film

“Must be some kind of…hot tub time machine.”

Most prequels are not necessary, because a lot of stories are a lot better if you know a lot less about the characters and the world. As Patton Oswalt said, “I don’t want to know where the stuff I love comes from. I want to love the stuff that I love.”

Enter X-Men: Days of Future Past, a cross between a sequel and a prequel that justifies its existence by being the most consistently entertaining blockbuster released so far this summer. It succeeds in bringing back the feel of the original X-Men movies while expanding the universe greatly. I have always been a big fan of X-Men, partly because its built-in allegory works so well. It is one of the darkest of all superhero stories yet as a movie franchise, it does not try too hard to be gritty.

Days of Future Past is a prequel and a sequel that’s also a sequel to the prequel called First Class. That sums up just how wildly confusing franchise storytelling has become. Days of Future Past does right where First Class went wrong. By not truly introducing the most interesting conflict and character developments until the very end, First Class suffered from the same problems that plague most prequels. However, the whole of Days of Future Past, not just the last ten minutes, are interesting.

As the title might suggest, Days of Future Past is set in both the past and the future. In the future, mutants have been nearly completely wiped out thanks to Sentinels, which are robots that can compete with mutant powers. In the future, mutants don’t fight each other anymore, because everyone is just fighting to stay alive. Like humans, mutants will also put aside their differences in the face of a bigger problem. In the future, Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) is sent back into the past to stop the war from happening. Wolverine is sent back to the 1970s, where he has his past body, but his future consciousness. Basically, Wolverine has to follow the same rules that John Cusack has to follow in Hot Tub Time Machine.

Nobody gives the X-Men movies enough credit for gathering some incredibly solid ensembles. A movie that gives us both Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen playing the same character should be celebrated. Days of Future Past sees the return of some great X-Men from past movies, but also introduces some great new characters. Peter Dinklage steps out of Tyrion Lannister’s armor for long enough to portray Dr. Bolivar Trask, the scientist who designed the Sentinels.

Days of Future Past seems to have a really strong understanding of each mutant’s place in this universe. For instance, Days of Future Past pulls an Iron Man 3 by taking away one of its heroes’ powers. Here, it is Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) who is suddenly left without his ability to control people’s minds. Without this power, we see the terrible weight one must carry when they can read and control everybody’s thoughts. Meanwhile, we get more of a glimpse of Mystique’s (Jennifer Lawrence) backstory as well as her importance in the world of the X-Men. Days of Future Past proves its worth as a sort-of-prequel by giving backstory to characters we probably didn’t know could be so interesting.

The latest X-Men installment sees Bryan Singer reclaim the director’s chair from the likes of Matthew Vaughn and Brett Ratner. Some parts of Days of Future Past are so good that they made me feel like a kid again, wide-eyed and ready to become obsessed with X-Men and X2. The best scene in the movie shows the world through the eyes of Quicksilver (Evan Peters), who is known for his super speed. It is funny and even a little bit awe-inspiring. I will not spoil it much more, but I will say that it literally looks like a comic book come to life. More comic book movies should aspire to look exactly like this one scene.

Sure, Days of Future Past is not without its problems. While it does not take too much time explaining the rules of the world, the time travel becomes a little bit too convoluted in just a few instances. Sometimes, it relies a little too heavily on action movie cliches. If you don’t believe me, just look at the tracking shot of a bunch of guys sitting at a table and looking at a map in order to plan a heist. Sometimes, some cliches are needed though, and they just look kind of quaint just as long as the whole plot isn’t centered around them. Days of Future Past is the film I didn’t realize would cure my cynicism, because it gave me back at least some faith in big budget filmmaking. It might not be as smart as it thinks it is, but there’s no harm in encouraging more movies that at least have a single thought about topics as big as Civil Rights and the implications of time travel.

Brain Farts From The Edge (SPOILERS)

• If we are on the topic of Hot Tub Time Machine, I could just hear “Once in a Lifetime” by The Talking Heads playing as Wolverine walked back into Xavier Academy in the present day.
• Speaking of which, Hot Tub Time Machine is a great movie that deserves more respect than it gets.
• This movie made the 70s look cool.
• Some people don’t like it, but I enjoy alternate looks at well known historical events. I like how they fit Magneto into the JFK assassination.
• I loved the Zapruder-type footage they showed as onlookers filmed the events happening in Paris.
• Days of Future Past explores a lot of the same themes as First Class, yet somehow manages to explore them in a much more complicated and interesting way. It also carries a much bigger emotional impact. I will attribute that once again to character development that doesn’t just occur in the last ten minutes.
• Now, I think it’s time to go dust off those old X-Men comics hiding in my attic.