ComingSoon's IF YOU LIKE THIS... Superhero Edition

This Christmas movie season sees the launch of both DC’s Aquaman and Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, both worthy entries into the superhero pantheon. With that in mind, we present the latest installment in ComingSoon.net’s new regular feature IF YOU LIKE THIS… and this edition focuses on Superhero films. Check out our selections in the gallery below!

So what is IF YOU LIKE THIS… anyway? It gives us a chance to provide movie lovers sick of the same old perennial favorites by comparing popular or classic films with movies you may not have seen or even heard of. It’s a chance to do a deep dive into obscure cinema and maybe discover a new favorite based on your love of an old one! Think of it as a wine pairing but with movies, and a break from the usual.

In this Superhero Edition we take popular cape flicks like Batman and Deadpool and pair them up with some delightful recommendations that, in many cases, have genuinely cool connections with these fan favs.

Which pairing from our IF YOU LIKE THIS… Superhero Edition will you check out? Let us know in the comments below!

IF YOU LIKE THIS... Superhero Edition

IF YOU LIKE... Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

The Russo Brothers' first entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe took inspiration from 70's paranoid thrillers like...
YOU'LL LOVE... Three Days of the Condor (1975)

...the spy-on-the-run classic Three Days of the Condor, which incidentally also featured Robert Redford!
IF YOU LIKE... Blade II (2002)

If you loved the vampiric Blood Pack in Guillermo del Toro's entry into the Blade franchise then you will probably also enjoy...
YOU'LL LOVE... Full Eclipse (1993)

...the HBO original movie Full Eclipse, which starred Mario Van Peebles as the leader of a special squad of police officers that can turn into werewolves.
IF YOU LIKE... Ant-Man and The Wasp (2018)

If Hank Pym's journey to the Quantum Realm in a miniaturized pod looked familiar that's because it took its visual cues from...
YOU'LL LOVE... Innerspace (1987)

... Joe Dante's underappreciated 80's gem Innerspace, which featured Dennis Quaid shrunk down and injected into an unsuspecting Martin Short. Of course both films owe a thing or two to Fantastic Voyage!
IF YOU LIKE... The Dark Knight (2008)

Christopher Nolan's vision of a homicidal, potentially suicidal Joker with no known origin who plays diabolical games with Batman hails from...
YOU'LL LOVE... The Hitcher (1986)

...his acknowledged fandom of Rutger Hauer's similar character in The Hitcher, which Nolan called, "Hauer in his finest and most influential Euro-psycho performance."
IF YOU LIKE... Hellboy

Another Guillermo del Toro entry featured a Lovecraft-inspired supernatural detective in the form of Ron Perlman's Hellboy, but before the comics character was even created there existed...
YOU'LL LOVE... Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)

...this 1991 HBO TV movie starring Fred Ward as a 40's detective named Lovecraft who lives in a noir world where monsters and magic exist. Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Green Lantern) directed.
IF YOU LIKE... Deadpool (2016)

If you thought Deadpool invented the whole action hero breaking the fourth wall concept...
YOU'LL LOVE... Kuffs (1992)

...then clearly you forgot about the, admittedly, mostly forgotten 90's Christian Slater vehicle Kuffs, where he plays a young hotshot cop who is rude and mocking and constantly talking to the audience.
IF YOU LIKE... X-Men (2000)

Although the idea of human mutants gifted with special psychokinetic powers has existed in science fiction for a long time, the closest movie equivalent to X-Men before Bryan Singer's 2000 film was...
YOU'LL LOVE... Scanners (1981)

...David Cronenberg's Scanners, which featured Patrick McGoohan's Professor X-esque Dr. Paul Ruth, who helps train a good scanner (Stephen Lack) to take down a group of evil scanners led by the Magneto-like Revok (Michael Ironside).
IF YOU LIKE... Doctor Strange (2016)

While the movie iteration of Stephen Strange starring Benedict Cumberbatch was a major success, it was technically not the first time the character graced the screen. That honor goes to...
YOU'LL LOVE... Doctor Mordrid (1992)

...the Full Moon direct-to-video knockoff Doctor Mordrid, starring Jeffrey Combs as the title master of the mystic arts. The project actually began life as an official adaptation until the rights to the Marvel character lapsed.
IF YOU LIKE... The Rocketeer (1991)

Director Joe Johnston's take on Dave Stevens' 1940's serial pastiche character owes much of its visual world to...
YOU'LL LOVE... Radar Men From the Moon (1952)

... the Commando Cody serials such as Radar Men From the Moon, all twelve chapter Republic offerings featuring a lot of jet pack flying and sci-fi coolness.
IF YOU LIKE... Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

James Gunn's version of the Marvel sci-fi team is loaded with color and humor in much the same vein as...
YOU'LL LOVE... Battle Beyond the Stars (1980)

...Battle Beyond the Stars, a Roger Corman Star Wars knockoff featuring gloriously fun production design by none other than James Cameron, including a spaceship with breasts!
IF YOU LIKE... Aquaman (2018)

If you enjoy the Jules Verne-inspired underwater worlds of James Wan's Aquaman then you might also appreciate...
YOU'LL LOVE... War Gods of the Deep (1965)

...this Verne-inspired film from Jacques Tourneur featuring Vincent Price that takes place in a city on the ocean floor inhabited by gill men.
IF YOU LIKE... Batman (1989)

Tim Burton has frequently acknowledged the influence of Italian genre director Mario Bava on his original Batman, specifically...
YOU'LL LOVE... Danger: Diabolik (1968)

...the director's own comic book adaptation Danger: Diabolik, which features a Batman-esque vigilante with a massive underground lair.
IF YOU LIKE... Kick-Ass (2010)

While Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of Mark Millar's violent vigilante comic Kick-Ass may have been a more realistic take on superheroes, it seems downright silly compared to...
YOU'LL LOVE... Super (2010)

...James Gunn's ultra-grounded Super, which follows a mentally-ill cook and his homicidal comic book fangirl partner.