Cinemazoa-Top Superhero Teams

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In the immortal musings of a Tyrannosaurus rex ridden by a Viking Warrior Woman:

“teamwork is very important.” -Kung Fury, 2015

I myself love teamwork. And I love superheroes. So in the spirit of this sentiment I’ve decided to etch my feelings on the subject in the everlasting ethers of the internet for all the world to see. I shall do this by listing my top 10 favorite Superhero teams. Countdown begins…NOW.

Property of Saban Entertainment We’ll begin with an inclusion that pretty much defined my childhood in a number of ways. As an avid lover of monster movies like Godzilla from a very young age, my first foray into superhero shenanigans that I can remember would probably be the Power Rangers. I watched all the shows and movies. I harassed my parents into buying me the toys. I recently started getting into the comics. I eagerly await the Netflix reboot (and even liked the recent film adaptation). 5 teenagers with attitude become drafted into a spaceborn war between the ancient witch Rita Repulsa and a disembodied wizard named Zordon. Masters of martial arts, The Rangers also harness the power of the morphing grid and wield high tech weapons and giant robot dinosaurs called Zords (that combine into a mech called the MegaZord) in order to fight Rita’s army of size changing monsters and goons. Splicing preexisting footage from a Japanese show called Super Sentai with original American footage, the Frankenstein’s monster of culture and genres was an explosion of camp and action.

Property of WB

Next is the Suicide Squad, recently brought to life with vibrant energy and wit by James Gunn in the eponymous blockbuster that quickly became one of my favorites of the year. The premise is simple, a black ops unit with a revolving roster of convicted super criminals commit war crimes at the behest of shady Government figure Amanda Waller…all in the name of freedom. What ensues is pure adrenaline-fueled chaos perpetuated by a cast of worst charming psychopaths, thieves and murderers the DC universe has to offer. Some members have included King Shark, Deadshot, Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Bronze Tiger and the queen of chaos herself: Harley Quinn.

Property of New Line Cinema

Next up are the heroes in a half shell, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Among the ranks are Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo, aptly named and under the tutelage of their adopted father Splinter (a mutant rat sensei). The four brothers grow into an elite squad of heroes, bickering and fighting amongst themselves and against the forces evil ninja Clan known as the foot, led by the nefarious warlord: Shredder. Also thrown in the mix are a menagerie of mutants, inter-blob creatures and alien triceratops. Originally envisioned as a parody of Daredevil and other Frank Millerian gritty comics of the era, the turtles blur the lines between science fiction, martial arts, crime drama and creature feature with a delightful comedic twist to keep things from being too self serious. The first movie remains the peak in terms of adaptation, at least for me, though I am curious about the animated reboot being produced by Seth Rogen. Rogen himself seems to be carving quite a niche for himself as he ushers in a wave of alternative superhero content with preacher, the boys, invincible and now the TMNT.

Property of WB

Now we come to my early introduction to world of DC comics: The Teen Titans. I started with the classic cartoon and graduated to justice league from there. But it all started with that rocking J-Rock theme by Puffy AmiUmi. Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy going toe to toe with a cavalcade of villains ranging the hilarious Mad Mod to the terrifying Slade. Slade taught me lil me what a scary badass villain really looked like, voiced to perfection by Ron Perlman. I’m not a total noob, mind you. I’ve read some of the comics too, like the classic Judas Contract high informed the heartbreaking Terra arc in the cartoon. Nowadays we have the HBOMax shows Young Justice which is pretty awesome in it’s own right and the live action Titans which is…a thing. But we won’t get into that.

Property of the Marvel Comics

We come to the halfway point with Marvel’s first family: the Fantastic Four! Mister Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and The Thing take superheroics to the stars and beyond as the team of adventurers on a quest to better the human race and expand our understanding of the natural and unnatural worlds. Frequent enemies of a number of classic marvel villains like the megalomaniacal dictator Doctor Doom, lord of the negative zone Annhilus and the eater of worlds Galactus, the Fantastic Four blaze trails across space, time and the multiverse. Leaping off the pages from the electric visuals of Jack Kirby, they have been a staple of the marvel universe since their inception in 1961, remaining a fixed point in a journey of exploration and wonder. I cannot wait to see what John Watts has to offer with the MCU reboot.

Property of Sony pictures

This next entry might be controversial, depending on what your definition of superhero is…but hell, if the Ghostbusters aren’t superheroes I don’t know what is. They wear specialized suits that brandish a cool iconic symbol. They save lives while fighting the supernatural. They tool around in a suped up car. It’s awesome and I love it. Venkman, Spengler, Stanz and Zedmore merge science, business and heroics as they bust ghouls and spirits all over the city of Manhattan. They go head to head with gods, demons, and giant marshmallow monsters. I think it’s the best time to be s lover of the ghostbusters with the epic revitalization of the franchise that’s hit theaters in the form of Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

Property of Marvel Comics

Next is a rather obscure team of misfits within the marvel canon: Nextwave. A hilarious satirical blend of superheroics and misanthropic cynicism, Nextwave stars former avenger Monica Rambeau, monster hunter Elsa Bloodstone, Machine Man, mutant explosives expert Boom Boom and The Captain. Not that one, you probably haven’t heard of him. Anyway it’s hilarious. Sure writer Warren Ellis is in the doghouse at the moment after getting canceled, but Nextwave is just brilliant and I love it. They fight monsters, dodge rabid koalas, and occasionally kick cops. What’s not to love. Are there plans for a movie? Probably not. Should there be? Absolutely.

Property of Marvel Comics

Here we go, top 3. Now we come to the Heroes for Hire. Originally a duo comprised of Luke Cage/ Power Man and The Immortal Iron Fist in 1978, the heroes for hire merged the blaxploitation roots of Cage with the Martial Arts aesthetic of iron fist. This New York based business/ super team has since hosted a number of heroes ranging from Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, the various iterations white Tiger, Shang Chi, and even Hulk and Ghost Rider. Backed by the Rand corporation, they collect a steady salary while saving the day one bank heist or supervillain at a time. What I love about them is how grounded and relatable a team they are, comprised mostly of street level heroes while blending a number cool genres and aesthetics.

Now We’ll wind things down with a top tier property that has stood the test of time decade upon decade. The ever timely allegory for minorities being othered by prejudice: the X-Men. A community of Mutants born with powers, they front their social justice operation with the Xavier Institute of Higher Learning. Professor X, Cyclops, Wolverine, storm, rogue, shadow cat, Psylocke (a personal favorite), just rattle off a few of the hundreds of classic characters that have made formed the premier marvel team within the sociopolitical zeitgeist. The avengers fight off alien invasions. The X-Men fight for their right to simply live, and that right there makes for tremendously powerful storytelling that has endured since 1963. Countless runs of comics, spin-offs, tv shows, and films have spawned from this phenomenon. Even the films, though limited by studio mandates and zero attention to continuity, have produced such classics as Logan, the Deadpool films , first class and Days of Future Past.

Property of Darkhorse Entertainment

And now for the my number one choice for too superhero team: The Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, or the BPRD for short. The government agency founded in WWII by Trevor Bruttenholm after the discovery a demon human hybrid he would go on to raise as the premier occult detective: Hellboy. It’s roster has hosted a revolving door of agents and monsters over the decades. The pyroknietic Liz Sherman, the fish man Abe Sapian, the Ectoplasmic Mass in a containment suit Johann Kraus, Roger the Humonculus. Werepanther Ben Daimio and much more. They police and monitor the strange spooky happenings the world over and have a daunting, decade spanning mythology of stories curated by hellboy creator Mike Mignola. Much like the power rangers, the BPRD marry my childhood love cryptids, kaiju and other assorted strange beasts with the the swashbuckling superheroic I’ve come to love over the years. But in opposition to camp and schlock of power rangers, BPRD handles its universe with wit, sophistication artistry and sense of horror that harkens back to the universal monster days, the works of HP Lovecraft and the mythologies and folklore of countless cultures and creeds. They feature brilliantly in the lavishly crafted Guillermo Del Toro directed Hellboy films, as well as the less beloved reboot starring David Harbour. I wait quite impatiently for some studio to give another crack at the property and really flesh out what could be the next MCU if done properly.

And so we draw my countdown to a close. I hope you enjoyed me waxing poetic about men in spandex and rubber monster suits, because there will be lots more in the coming months! So prepare yourselves. The Fowl is afoot.