Top 10 Superhero Movies That Aren’t Based On Comics

#6 Unbreakable

This is the feeling-man’s comic book movie, and for good reason. Unbreakable takes the best storytelling and filmmaking flair of M. Night Shyamalan’s early career (specifically, Sixth Sense) and infuses a true sense of purpose into these oft-mocked sensibilities. Centering around the sole survivor of a train wreck who has to come to grips with his destiny, Unbreakable‘s biggest twist is probably the fact that this is, in fact, a superhero movie, albeit one that’s far more grounded in reality years before Christopher Nolan would get his hands on Batman.

The real trick of the movie is deceiving viewers into thinking this is a conventional origin story, especially if you’re watching Unbreakable for the first time years later. It’s not a story about a hero learning how to use his powers, but rather a man who tries to solve the mystery of his supposed powers, if he has any at all. And the film is a meta-journey informed by the idea of comics themselves in order to build up a worthwhile “villain” for our protagonist.

Unbreakable makes the list for its deft filmmaking, to be certain, but also for its innovative narrative and willingness to go further into a genre that, at the time, was still undeveloped for the most part.