Ever since Avengers: Endgame, we have heard that Marvel has not produced anything good, which in my opinion is false. Those people either have only watched films during the MCU era of marvel films or choose to forget about the slew of Marvel films that came out before the MCU started. In 2005, the Sci Fi channel premiered a horror film that featured a marvel character that I really feel like may be the worst Marvel film ever made…. With Madame Web slightly beating it out.

Man-Thing was directed by The Lawnmower man Director Brett Leonard with a very small budget of $5 million. With that budget, expectations were pretty low entering this film. The only actor that I recognized was Rachel Taylor, who would go to play Trish Walker in the Marvel series Jessica Jones. But with the goal of watching every comic book based film, I figured let’s see if anything good can be found in 97 minute runtime.

The story is filled with cliches that makes it feel like a hallmark film sandwiched into a monster movie. Kyle (not me, he is played by Matthew Le Nevez) is a newly appointed sheriff in a swamp town in Louisiana that has seen random murders on the swamp. Kyle is not from the area, so he gets an unwelcome greeting from the townsfolk that are portrayed as racist and dumb. There are two people that Kyle deals with the socially conscious elementary teacher Teri and money hungry oil tycoon Schist. You may be asking yourself, where does man-thing come into the picture? Well, man-thing is picking off people in the swamp and is disturbed by the drilling in his swamp. Basically the film is not about Man-Thing, it’s about a town trying to survive Man-Thing.

If that quick summary of the story colors you intrigued? You know exactly what to expect from this film, it’s very much a film that we would watch on Sci- Fi channel. Questionable acting, poorly lit action sequences and shoestring budget special effects. Where a film like 2024’s Hellboy the Crooked man, was able to create a charm with this style of filmmaking, it hinders Man-Thing.

It’s difficult to find anything redeemable about Man-Thing, outside of a few gruesome scenes that show Man-Thing’s powers. The acting is questionable as the film is supposed to take place in Louisiana, the cast is filled with Australian actors whom cannot hide their accent. Despite Rachel Taylor being the most recognizable actor in the film, she cannot hide her accent in scenes.

If you love the character of Man-Thing, this film is pretty disappointing in filling the desire for Man-Thing media. His design and characterization is better in 2022’s Werewolf By Night and throughout the 97 minute runtime of this film, I found myself wanting to rewatch Werewolf by Night. In my opinion, this is Madame Web level of bad and definitely a comic book film that I wouldn’t revisit. I would never tell someone not to watch something as we are entitled to our own opinions, but this was rough for me and I cannot recommend it.