In the early 2010s, superhero movies occupied a middle ground they might never find again. The early, promising days of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man and Bryan Singer X-Men movies were over, while the Marvel Cinematic Universe was still in its infancy, having produced two blockbuster Iron Man movies and one already forgotten, less-than-incredible Hulk. In the summer of 2011, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger would lay more groundwork for a bigger team-up, while X-Men: First Class would soft-reboot the mutants for another decade’s worth of films. In the meantime, the studio behind Spider-Man tried its luck with reviving the Green Hornet, a non-superpowered vigilante character who hadn’t been a big-screen attraction since the era of movie serials. The big-budget film was released on Jan. 14, 2011. It did not go as planned.
