Before the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked into overdrive and made us all sick and tired of superhero movies, the early 2000s was awash with a wide array of charged-up vigilantes. Some were amazing. Some… mostly forgotten. These are the superhero flicks from that era nobody’s talking about today:

Hulk (2003)

From our review: “Hulk is not nearly as entertaining or engrossing as it should have been, and I’m sure not just a few people were disappointed that the mostly-mute Hulk was only given two words in the entire movie (and those in a dream sequence).”

Blade Trinity (2004)

From our review: “It is still good for a B-movie. It has everything you would want in a vampire action movie, and it’s filled with a lot of upcoming stars. It’s a solid action film and it’s mostly about killing vampires. On that level absolutely succeeds.”

The Punisher (2004)

From our review: “This isn’t the Punisher as he should be for 75% of the running time, and then when he seeks punishment (not revenge, mind you, that’s a human emotion) it’s strangely lacking in drama.”

Fantastic Four (2005)

From our review: “Fantastic Four is so full of weak spots that its use in any building construction would instantly condemn the site, but for me the problem begins right at this whole I’m-Gonna-Sob-About-Being-Super attitude that we’ve seen in past movies (to the same irritating effect) such as Spider-Man and The Hulk.”

Ghost Rider (2007)

From our review: “In this case that translates into a movie that’s genuinely pretty good at the beginning… but then sinks like a stone after Ghost Rider’s first transformation. It would not be inaccurate to describe it as thirty minutes of cool wrapped in an hour and a half of suck.”

The Spirit (2008)

From our review: “And then it would shift into a bizarre fantasy world, where absurd humor (a hopping foot with a human head on it?  Samuel L. Jackson as both a samurai and a Nazi?) reared up and garbled nonsense for a while.”