Summary
- Many successful comic book movie directors actually started out in the horror genre, showcasing their skills in creating dark and supernatural stories.
- Directors like Zack Snyder, James Gunn and Scott Derrickson transitioned from horror to comic book movies, proving that there are transferable skills between the two genres.
- The ability to effectively blend comedy and horror, as seen in the films of directors like Ruben Fleischer, can contribute to the success of comic book adaptations.
Many directors of comic book movies in the MCU, the DCU, and beyond actually started out by making much darker films in the horror genre. Since the beginning of the 21st Century, comic book movies have become one of cinema's most popular and successful genres. The movies of the MCU have thoroughly dominated the box office, establishing the most successful franchise in cinematic history with a large shared universe of movies and TV shows adapted from comic book source material. DC's own attempts at a movie franchise has struggled in comparison, but the superhero genre continues to thrive at the box office.
A number of the directors who have found success with superhero movies didn't actually start out in the genre. In fact, a remarkable number of these directors actually got their start making much darker fare, cutting their proverbial teeth in the horror genre instead. Though the overall hopeful tone and moral examinations of the comic book genre are a far cry from making the scariest movies in cinema, the directors behind the movies of the DCEU, the MCU, and other superhero films seem to prove that there are some transferrable skills. Here are 10 comic book movie directors who started out in horror.