Top 10 Movies You Didn’t Know Were Based on Comic Books
Hollywood’s long-standing love affair with comic books usually makes headlines when another superhero blockbuster hits theaters. But what many moviegoers don’t realize is that a surprising number of popular films were also shaped, expanded, or quietly continued through comic book storytelling — the kind of Movies You Didn’t Know Were Based on Comic Books that often surprise even longtime fans.
- The Best of Mel Brooks: A Definitive Top 10
- Top 20 Must-Watch Movies on Netflix (Rotten Tomatoes Certified) – Part 1
From cult classics to major action franchises, countless films have been reimagined under publishers like Dark Horse, IDW, Boom! Studios, Dynamite Entertainment, and even Marvel. Many of these comics flew under the radar—despite offering richer world-building, deeper origin stories, and sequels that arguably surpass the films themselves.
Here are some of the most fascinating movies secretly linked to comic books—titles that expanded beloved cinematic worlds in ways most fans never knew existed.
Die Hard: John McClane Finally Gets an Origin Story
Bruce Willis turned Die Hard (1988) into one of the most influential action movies of its era. But fans never got a real look at John McClane’s early life—until Boom! Studios stepped in.
Die Hard: Year One, written by comics legend Howard Chaykin, digs into McClane’s rookie years in New York. The miniseries sends him through gritty chapters of the city’s criminal past, including the “Summer of Sam.” With neo-Noir styling and sharp character work, it gave fans a far better continuation than the franchise’s troubled fifth film.
Escape From New York: Snake Plissken Becomes a True Fugitive Hero
John Carpenter and Kurt Russell created an unforgettable antihero in Snake Plissken. While the 1981 film ends on a cliffhanger, the movies never explored what happened next.
Boom! Studios did.
Their Escape From New York comic picks up immediately after the credits roll—completely ignoring the infamous Escape From L.A. sequel—and sends Snake across a crumbling America. He faces mercenaries, foreign armies, and a country slipping into chaos. For longtime fans, this comic is the true successor to Carpenter’s dystopian vision.
Hellraiser: Comics that Expand the Cenobite Mythology
Clive Barker’s Hellraiser (1987) introduced the world to Pinhead and the cenobites, but the film franchise is infamous for its uneven sequels. Surprisingly, the best expansions of the Hellraiser universe happened in the comics.
These stories delve into the lore of Hell, the origins of the cenobites, their rituals, and the dark logic that powers their dimension. Horror fans who haven’t explored the print continuity will be shocked by how rich—and terrifying—the comic mythology becomes.
Django Unchained x Zorro: A Comic Book Crossover You Never Saw Coming
After the success of Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino teamed up with Dynamite Entertainment to give Django a comic-book sequel unlike anything on screen: a crossover with the legendary Zorro.
The Django/Zorro miniseries follows the pair as they work to free Indigenous people from brutal slavers. Mixing Spaghetti Western flair with classic pulp adventure, the comic casts Diego de la Vega as Django’s unlikely mentor—a brilliant twist fans didn’t know they needed.
Mad Max: George Miller Builds an Entire Comic Book Universe
Mad Max revolutionized action cinema, and Fury Road (2015) elevated it to mythic status. But even the most devoted fans might have missed George Miller’s official tie-in comics.
Published under DC’s Vertigo imprint, these titles provide essential backstory for fan-favorite characters like Furiosa and Immortan Joe. With striking art by Mark Sexton and Mico Lathouris, the comics deepen the world-building of Fury Road and are considered must-reads for anyone obsessed with the wasteland saga.
Event Horizon: Dark Descent Turns the Film Into Cosmic Horror
The original Event Horizon (1997) was a box-office failure that later became a cult classic thanks to its disturbing blend of sci-fi and supernatural terror.
Almost three decades later, fans finally received an official comic prequel: Event Horizon: Dark Descent (2025). Free from the movie’s budget limits, creators Christian Ward and Tristan Jones fully visualize the nightmare dimensions the ship encountered. The result is a chilling expansion that explores the horrors only hinted at in the film.
Big Trouble in Little China: The Saga of Old Man Jack
John Carpenter and Kurt Russell’s Big Trouble in Little China remains a cult favorite, blending supernatural action with pulpy humor. What many fans don’t know is that the adventure didn’t end with the movie.
Boom! Studios produced multiple comic continuations, most notably Old Man Jack, co-developed with Carpenter himself. The series follows an older, grumpier Jack Burton who joins forces with former villain Lo Pan to stop an even greater threat. It’s strange, heartfelt, and everything fans of the original could hope for.
John Wick: The Comic that Reveals His Secret Past
John Wick (2014) reshaped modern action films, but one mystery remained: Who was John before the events of the movie?
Dynamite Comics teamed with Greg Pak and Giovanni Valetta to answer that question. Their comic series explores Wick’s entry into the assassin underworld, his earliest missions, and the formative moments that shaped him into Baba Yaga. It’s essential reading for fans of the franchise’s expanding mythology.
Darkman: A Horror Antihero Made for Comics
Sam Raimi’s Darkman (1990) blends horror, sci-fi, and revenge cinema into a wild, genre-bending ride. Peyton Westlake—a scientist disfigured in an attack who uses synthetic masks to impersonate enemies—has always felt like a character born for comics.
Dark Horse delivered exactly that, with a solo series by Kurt Busiek and Javier Saltares and an unforgettable crossover Darkman vs. Army of Darkness, pairing the antihero with Raimi’s other icon, Ash Williams. These stories amplify everything that makes Darkman pure cult gold.
The Dollars Trilogy: The Man With No Name Rides Again
Sergio Leone’s Dollars Trilogy helped redefine the Western genre and cemented Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name as a cinematic legend. The story seemed complete after The Good, the Bad and the Ugly—until Dynamite Entertainment stepped in.
Their comic series The Man With No Name, by Christos Gage and Wellington Diaz, continues Blondie’s journey as he becomes a fugitive hunted by both Union and Confederate forces. It expands the trilogy’s mythology while remaining faithful to the tone of Leone’s classic films.