Now that R-rated superhero movies are starting to make blockbuster money – after last year’s surprise hit Deadpool and the critically acclaimed Logan – it should come as no surprise that studios would start scooping up more “mature” power fantasy comics. Paramount has already made their movie, acquiring the rights to The Pro, a superhero comedy about a prostitute with powers, originally published by Image Comics in 2002.
The Pro tells the story of the title character, who gets superpowers but has no interest in super heroics, preferring to use her newfound abilities to be the most successful prostitute in town. Superhero analogues based on Superman and Batman try to get The Pro to reform herself, but her keen awareness of their sexual desires usually takes them down a peg, and cuts right to the heart of the moral hypocrisy of individuals who hold themselves to impossibly high standards.
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The original one-shot comic book was written by Garth Ennis (Preacher), penciled and lettered by Amanda Conner (Harley Quinn) and inked by Jimmy Palmiotti (Painkiller Jane). Deadline reports that the screenplay to the feature film version of The Pro will be written by Zoe McCarthy, who has three upcoming screenplays in development called Heart You, Cut and Run and Bitches on a Boat.
The Pro became a celebrated comic book upon its initial release, and even though the character hasn’t made many appearances since her debut, the one-shot frequently pops up on lists of Garth Ennis’s greatest stories and beloved superhero parodies. It is also graphic and cynical entertainment, the sort of story that could only ever be produced with an R-rating (or higher) in mind. So even though Paramount has not explicitly said that they plan to produce an R-rated feature, we can only assume they aren’t trying to downplay the material they’ve just paid good money for.
Let’s see if any other studios start picking up the gauntlet and green lighting more R-rated superhero stories, and let’s see if audiences really are eager to get raunchy while wearing tights!
The 15 Funniest Superhero Movies:
Top Photo: Image
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
The 15 Funniest Superhero Comedies
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15. Sky High (2015)
The son of a successful superhero winds up in shameful sidekick school in this surprisingly funny family comedy, which features tons of great roles for geek icons like Kurt Russell, Linda Carter and Bruce Campbell.
Funniest Moment: Campbell, in just about any scene as the gym teacher, "Coach Boomer."
Photo: Buena Vista Pictures
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14. Tank Girl (1995)
The Australian post-apocalyptic hero (and fashion renegade) got her own, highly underrated movie starring Lori Petty and Naomi Watts, who romance kangaroo people and wage war against douchebags of all kinds.
Funniest Moment: If you're going to do a musical number in a superhero movie, it might as well be "Let's Do It" by Cole Porter.
Photo: United Artists
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13. Super (2010)
James Gunn's dark, dark, dark comedy stars Rainn Wilson as the superhero answer to Taxi Driver; the satire is brutal, and the violence even more so.
Funniest Moment: "Shut up, crime!"
Photo: IFC Films
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12. Mystery Men (1999)
Z-list superheroes like Mister Furious, The Shoveler and The Bowler (played by an all-star cast of great comedians) get their chance at the big time when the city's "real" superhero, Captain Amazing, gets kidnapped. An endearing and quirky ode to the working class.
Funniest Moment: "Lance Hunt wears glasses, Captain Amazing DOESN'T wear glasses. [...] It doesn't make sense. He wouldn't be able to see!"
Photo: Universal Pictures
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11. Flash Gordon (1980)
The classic comic strip hero came to the big screen with a kickass Queen soundtrack, an amazing cast and a campy sense of humor that was probably ahead of its time. Brian Blessed is (weirdly enough) perfectly cast as a half-man, half-hawk warrior.
Funniest Moment: "Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!"
Photo: Universal Pictures
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10. Iron Man (2008)
In the first (proper) Marvel Studios film, the action often takes a backseat to watching Robert Downey Jr. play a charismatic a-hole who learns a valuable lesson about why he's an a-hole.
Funniest Moment: Tony Stark's last line before the credits, which flies right in the face of superhero movie tradition.
Photo: Marvel Studios
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9. Big Hero 6 (2014)
The Oscar-winning animated feature, about a brilliant young scientist who puts together a superhero team to cope with his brother's death, would have been pretty melancholy were it not for the lovable, inflatable robot Baymax, who's WAY too adorable to kick butt.
Funniest Moment: Baymax's sound effect whenever he "blows it up."
Photo: Walt Disney Studios
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8. The Avengers (2012)
Joss Whedon's first superhero team-up movie is still the best, in large part because he lets all the strange personalities of the Marvel heroes and villains conflict with witty dialogue and deadpan snark. Bonus points for Galaga.
Funniest Moment: "Puny god."
Photo: Marvel Studios
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7. Iron Man 3 (2013)
Shane Black's superhero sequel has a controversial storyline that ticked some fans off, but it also has some of the funniest dialogue and unexpected set pieces of any superhero movie.
Funniest Moment: Iron Man finally meets The Mandarin, and (once again) this franchise flies right in the face of superhero movie tradition.
Photo: Marvel Studios
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6. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Sam Raimi's second Spider-Man movie understands what makes this hero work: the world keeps hitting him in the face, but he keeps getting up. Watching Peter Parker take a beating, from both Doctor Octopus and life in general, is one of superhero cinema's greatest pleasures.
Funniest Moment: "I'm back! I'm back! [Smash.] My back... my back..."
Photo: Columbia Pictures
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5. The Incredibles (2004)
Pixar presents their superheroes as a sitcom family, with stifled powers representing midlife crises and pubescent angst. Every member of The Incredibles is funny, but let them bicker at each other and you've got comedy gold.
Funniest Photo: A rapid-fire montage of innocent superheroes, all of them killed by their own capes.
Photo: Pixar
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4. The Specials (2000)
James Gunn wrote the script to this clever, low-budget superhero comedy, about a crappy superhero team on one of their days off. Almost no action to speak of, but tons of insightful satire and a great cast make The Specials one of the best unsung superhero films.
Funniest Moment: It's too profane to write down here, but Rob Lowe misunderstands a fellow superhero, and accidentally comes up with a whole new kind of weevil.
Photo: Anchor Bay
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3. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
A group of morally ambiguous jerks team up in space (when they're not trying to kill each other) and take on a genocidal madman in James Gunn's bigger budget superhero film, full of memorable characters, wonderful music and endlessly quotable dialogue.
Funniest Moment: "They got my dick message!"
Photo: Marvel Studios
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2. Batman: The Movie (1966)
The campy, silly Batman TV series was a pop culture sensation in the 1960s, and leapt onto the big screen with a hilarious all-star supervillain team-up, and iconic moments like shark repellant and a sequence where Batman is trying to throw a bomb away, but keeps running into innocent bystanders like nuns and baby ducks.
Funniest Moment: "Some days, you just can't get rid of a bomb."
Photo: 20th Century Fox
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1. Deadpool (2016)
Not just hilarious, not just emotionally satisfying, but outright subversive. Deadpool takes superhero movies down a peg, and adds a healthy dose of pegging for an R-rated, self-aware satire that also ranks among the better superhero movies (even the ones that don't have a sense of humor).
Funniest Moment: "Happy Lent."
Photo: 20th Century Fox
