Superhero origin stories are ten-a-penny these days. They’re Hollywood’s bread and butter. And we’re so used to seeing origin stories on-screen now (more than once, in the case of some characters – looking at you, Spider-Man), that it seems we’ve simply come to accept whatever origin myths they’re peddling, no matter how illogical.
Bitten by a spider, become a super-strong part human, part arachnid? Sure, makes perfect sense. Get exposed to high levels of radiation, become a giant green humanoid whenever you’re pissed off? Why not. Lose parents and have phobia of bats, become a virtually invincible crime fighter? Of course.
But what if we were to actually apply logic to some of these origin stories? What if some of these tales, when scrutinized, turned out to be – for lack of a better word – complete bullshit? Here are eight well-known cinematic superhero origin stories, and their much more dire real-world consequences.