When you think of superhero movies, the imagination can run wild. However, as filmmaking has evolved and some directors have started taking new approaches, the genre has gone through some major changes: why not try telling a story like this in a more realistic way? This has led to some features with ideas and tones that are quite different from the usual, such as heroes without flashy costumes, more violent scenes, limited use of powers, among others. But that’s not exactly the point here, because a movie can very well have a mutant or a super-soldier and still feel closer to reality than most blockbusters in the genre. What really makes a difference is how these elements are used and how willing the movie is to deal with their consequences.
Can you think of any? On this list, you’ll find 4 examples from the genre that really leaned into this much more realistic approach. Maybe one or two won’t surprise you, but how grounded they are might still catch you off guard.
Of all the movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: The Winter Soldier has one of the most mature tones, and that’s because it is genuinely grounded. Take Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) out of the equation for a moment, and what you have left is a spy thriller that could work outside the franchise with barely any changes. The story follows Steve as he tries to adjust to the 21st century and ends up discovering that S.H.I.E.L.D. has been infiltrated by HYDRA, putting millions of people at risk through nationwide surveillance and control. And this is where the movie really gets things right, which is one of the reasons so many people consider it one of their favorite MCU movies.
In the story, the threat isn’t an alien or a villain building a weapon that could blow up the planet, for example, but a massive institution being manipulated from within. The film deals with data collection, abuse of power, secret operations, and how easily an organization created to protect people can be used against them — and these are problems that don’t need any superpowers to feel possible. Even the action follows this logic, with chases, shootouts, and hand-to-hand fights taking up much more space than a battle that requires CGI. So, the world of Captain America: The Winter Soldier feels completely real; it feels more like a ’70s spy movie than a typical superhero adventure.
There is a reason The Dark Knight is still an icon and a modern classic to this day, as the entire tone of the film is pretty much a reinvention of the genre and a major influence on everything that came after it. The idea here is to take the harshness of Gotham and make Batman feel much more real. The second installment in the famous trilogy still has Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) as a billionaire who puts on a bat suit and goes around beating up criminals, but everything around him is basically a crime thriller. The plot follows the hero as he tries to finally put an end to organized crime, but the arrival of the Joker (Heath Ledger) completely changes the game. The villain realizes he can tear everything apart by exploiting the city’s fear, corruption, and institutions themselves.
This approach makes the entire movie feel very close to a crime thriller, because the police matter, the legal system matters, the mob matters, and the characters’ decisions have serious consequences. And most importantly, Gotham isn’t presented as a fantasy city either: it feels like a real American city, with real problems and ordinary people. Obviously, one man couldn’t do everything Batman does without getting himself killed, but The Dark Knight comes as close as possible to making you forget that for a few hours. It’s easy to notice that the whole feature is realistic, but if you take a closer look at the details, you’ll understand just how realistic it really is.
Logan is a film that makes you realize the problem with so many superhero productions isn’t necessarily the powers, but the way those powers eliminate consequences. Wolverine can heal from pretty much anything, so for years it was easy to watch the character get shot, stabbed, and beaten without thinking too much about what any of that actually meant — but this movie completely changes that logic. In the story, which takes place in 2029, we find an old, tired Logan (Hugh Jackman) who is clearly at the end of the road, working as a driver while taking care of a Professor X (Patrick Stewart) who is also dealing with his own deterioration. Then he has to protect Laura (Dafne Keen), a young mutant connected to his past, and the three of them end up being hunted down by those who want to capture her.
It’s true that the plot still involves mutants, genetic experiments, and powers, but the setting is the strongest part of it all: roads, motels, farms, small towns, and people trying to survive. Plus, the protagonist is no longer the practically indestructible Wolverine, as he gets hurt and takes longer to heal, feels the effects of age, and has to think twice before getting into a fight since he knows his body won’t keep working forever. The experience of watching Logan is much closer to following a man growing old, losing people, and trying to protect someone who depends on him, which is deeply human.
Nobody talks much about Unbreakable since it’s pretty overlooked, but out of all the movies on this list, it’s the only one where the word “realistic” truly feels like part of the concept from the very beginning, as it follows a man who doesn’t even know he could be a superhero. The story revolves around David Dunn (Bruce Willis), an ordinary security guard who survives a train crash without a single injury, which catches the attention of Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), another man who suffers from a condition that makes his bones extremely fragile. He then starts to believe that David has some extraordinary abilities and, little by little, convinces him to consider an idea that sounds absurd: perhaps he’s Elijah’s opposite, someone who just can’t be hurt in the same way as an ordinary person.
But even knowing all of this, David keeps going to work, dealing with his family, and trying to understand what’s happening to his body. And his powers are treated in a very limited way, with him being totally resilient, possessing above-average strength, and being able to sense when someone has violent intentions — all without being able to fly, shoot lightning, ot destroy buildings, for example. That’s a huge difference from the superhero genre. Unbreakable seems interested in showing how an ordinary person would react if they discovered there was something extraordinary about them; it treats this discovery as something that could happen to a normal person’s life, with all the doubts and personal problems that would come along with it.
