In the age of the superhero blockbuster, visual effects have become the lifeblood of the genre. Over the decades, they've let us believe a man can fly, a Green Goliath can smash cities, and reality itself can bend at the whim of stretchy geniuses or speedsters.
When VFX are done right, they disappear, enhancing the spectacle and pulling us deeper into the story. When they go wrong, however, they shatter immersion and can even ruin a movie or TV series.
Following the recent backlash to The Punisher: One Last Kill, we're looking back at eight of the most glaring, meme-worthy, and downright nightmarish visual effects moments in big-budget Marvel and DC Comics adaptations.
You can see our countdown of the worst offenders by clicking the "Next"/"View List" buttons below.
8. Bruce Banner's Hulkbuster Head
Avengers: Infinity War is a masterpiece in so many ways. The scope, the stakes, the cameos...it's truly the MCU firing on all cylinders.
However, when we get to the moment where Smart Hulk is piloting the Hulkbuster armour, Mark Ruffalo’s very human, very much not-Hulk head is just...there. It looks like they pasted his face onto an admittedly very good video game cutscene.
The suit itself holds up, but that floating head? Pure nightmare fuel. How did this make it through the final review? It may have something to do with The Hulk's role changing in reshoots. The original plan was for Banner to burst out of the armour as the rampaging Jade Giant.
7. Mister Fantastic's Stretchy Limbs
Tim Story's Fantastic Four gave us Ioan Gruffudd's Mister Fantastic with arms that looked like they were made of rubber bands from the dollar store. It was the mid-2000s, so there was only so much that could be done, of course.
Still, Josh Trank's reboot in 2015 didn’t fare much better, as those elongated limbs had all the texture and realism of a balloon animal at a kid’s party. Elasticity is tough to pull off, sure, but how did we end up with something that made us nostalgic for the practical effects of the '90s?
Marvel Studios made up for this with last summer's The Fantastic Four: First Steps. Still, the limited use of Reed Richards' stretchy powers suggests there was still some nervousness about making them look convincing.
6. She-Hulk Gets Her Groove On
Marvel’s Disney+ shows have pushed the boundaries of what VFX can do on a TV budget, but She-Hulk: Attorney at Law tested fans' patience.
Tatiana Maslany's performance was great, but the green giantess often looked out of place, especially in that fourth-wall-breaking dance sequence or courtroom scenes where the lighting just never quite matched. Marvel Studios cut corners here, and it shows.
It's not all bad, though. There are times when She-Hulk looks flawless, particularly when she's interacting with Bruce Banner during her training scenes. The ball was dropped in a big way at times, and the series would have benefited from a little more time in post.
5. Daredevil Battles Bullseye
The 2003 Daredevil movie had a lot going for it on paper: Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, Colin Farrell hamming it up as a gleefully psychotic Bullseye, and a gritty street-level vibe that felt right in line with Frank Miller's comics.
However, a movie already full of bizarre tonal shifts goes off the rails when Daredevil and Bullseye swing around massive organ pipes like they’re in a deranged Cirque du Soleil routine. The CGI sticks out like a sore thumb as we go from real actors to blatant CG doppelgangers.
Even Daredevil: Born Again star Charlie Cox has roasted the movie's premature love affair with digital effects, and this showdown doesn't hold up in any way, shape, or form.
4. M.O.D.O.K.'s MCU Debut
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania had the unenviable task of introducing Kang and finally exploring the Quantum Realm. However, as bad as that subatomic universe looked—you can blame The Volume—M.O.D.O.K. takes the cake for baffling VFX choices.
Corey Stoll’s Darren Cross was turned into a giant floating head with tiny limbs in a design that looked simultaneously overdesigned and under-rendered. It tried to be comic-accurate, and was to some extent, but quickly went into uncanny valley territory.
In a threequel already struggling with its visual identity in the shockingly bland Quantum Realm, M.O.D.O.K. has become the poster boy for "style over substance" in CGI character creation. Concept art has proven that there were better options, too.
3. Superman's Infamous Facial Hair Fail
Perhaps the most relevant example of post-production VFX disasters, reshoots for Justice League with Henry Cavill—who was required to keep his Mission: Impossible – Fallout moustache—meant Warner Bros. had to later try to erase it digitally.
The result? A waxy, uncanny lip region that doesn’t move naturally, with distorted cheeks and inconsistent lighting across multiple scenes. What should have been inspiring Superman moments instead became unintentional comedy, symbolising the film’s troubled production.
Even casual viewers noticed immediately, and it remains one of the most mocked digital fixes in blockbuster history. Next time, just push the release date back, folks.
2. A "Comic-Accurate" Rhino
Sony’s slate of Spider-Man spin-offs was already on life support by the time Kraven the Hunter arrived in theaters. However, the potential was there for the movie to deliver a brutal, R-rated take on the man who once buried Peter Parker alive.
Kraven the Hunter has few redeeming qualities, and when Rhino finally transforms and charges into the climactic brawl, the CGI is rough, to say the least. The proportions are bizarre, and Kraven's ill-defined powers mean he throws the baddie all over the place as if he's weightless.
Choppy editing tries to hide these shortcomings, but you can’t miss the rubbery compositing and moments where the characters feel like they’re battling on separate visual layers. This should have been great, but it deserves the clichéd "PS3 cutscene" comparisons.
1. The Flash's Speed Force Cameos
With a hefty budget and years of development, The Flash had every opportunity to be a Multiversal masterpiece. Instead, the final act, with its array of Superman variants, awkward digital doubles, and blurry Speed Force effects, looked shockingly bad.
What should have been a celebratory love letter to DC history became one of the most widely criticised VFX showcases in recent memory. Even Nicolas Cage was horrified that his long-awaited debut as Superman had seen him turned into a CG monstrosity.
The Flash did a solid job with the superspeed scenes and Supergirl, making it all the more surprising when these scenes crashed and burned.