Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan in a scene from "Deadpool & Wolverine." 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios via Associated Press

So much for "superhero fatigue."

"Deadpool & Wolverine," Ryan Reynolds' third outing as Marvel Comics' ultra-violent, fourth wall-breaking, "merc with a mouth" sort-of superhero teamed up with aging X-Men stalwart Wolverine (Hugh Jackman, in what he swears will be his last time donning the adamantium claws). And it has made (checks notes) all the money in the world. It makes sense, as the movie is the perfect antidote for a moviegoing world seemingly tired of universe-spanning, spandex-clad superheroics.

"Deadpool & Wolverine" slyly has its cake and eats it. Reynolds' Deadpool, taking his cue from the actor's signature cheek and the comics' increasingly self-aware protagonist, can send up the superhero genre at the same time he's snuggling himself more and more comfortably into mountains of cash. For all Reynolds' (genuinely hilarious) riffing directly to us about the fact that he's a movie/comics character doing absurdly heroic (if disreputable) stuff, Deadpool (aka Wade Wilson, his terminal illness transformed into hideous deformity and impossible superpowers) goes through the same crowd-pleasing motions.

He loves, learns, even matures a little, all while shooting innumerable bad guys and amusingly getting under reluctant and more straightforwardly heroic Wolverine's quick-healing skin. And the fact that this second sequel to the surprise 2016 smash hit original serves as the bridge between Sony's perennially disappointing Marvel license and the world-conquering box office juggernaut of the MCU only serves as more fodder for the irreverent Deadpool to mock Marvel's ubiquitous box office reign - and the undeniable fact that people have gotten a little tired of burly super-types muscling every other kind of movie out of the multiplex.

And I get that. As much of a superhero geek as I am (you're shocked, I know), the glut of big-screen super-adventures has taken the edge of even my initial all-accepting enthusiasm. (I'm a lifelong DC Comics aficionado, honestly, but with DC entrusting my favorite characters to the not-getting-it likes of Zack Snyder, there's been zero competition.)

Still and all, we go to the movies to see heroes. What's "Casablanca's" Rick if not a super-cool Nazi-smasher who has to undergo his own hero's journey to get back in the fight? I'm not saying I needed to see Humphrey Bogart in form-clinging spandex, but I took from his underdog battle against evil and his own insecurities the same sort of epic, inspirational excitement.

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As with any genre, there's better stuff the deeper you dig into the back issues, the DVD discount bins or the least-traveled streaming channels. So here are some, dare I call them, indie superhero movies that might help you get your super-excitement back.

"The Specials" (2000)

You're going to hear James Gunn's name a fair amount, as the one-time outsider writer-director (he wrote for infamous schlock-masters Troma, for crying out loud) has conquered the superhero universe. He did all the "Guardians of the Galaxy" trilogy, resurrected DC's anti-hero franchise "The Suicide Squad" and has recently been put in charge of DC's hopefully reinvented and re-energized cinematic universe. But his super-journey started here, with this ultra-low-budget comic take on superhero team life as workplace comedy. A truly eclectic cast (Rob Lowe, Thomas Haden Church, Paget Brewster, Judy Greer, Gunn's brother Sean) are The Specials, "the sixth or seventh most popular superhero team in the world."

The team's underwhelming lineup includes Lowe's The Weevil, Church's Shatner-esque Mighty Strobe, Brewster's bored Mrs. Strobe, Ms. Indestructible, and others with less-than-world-shaking powers like Jordan Ladd's Nightbird, whose abilities are unnervingly literal. Not that we see any of these powers in action - Gunn's deadpan sensibility plus a complete lack of budget mean that these supers are more concerned with their personal lives and the dangling glory of an action figure marketing deal than with showing us their stuff. Decades before Deadpool, Gunn and director Craig Mazin's film upends the square-jawed image of the hero by asserting that no amount of super-strength, speed or laser hands can vanquish relatable human weakness. "The Specials'" tagline truly says it all: "Not as good as other superheroes, but slightly better than you."

"Super" (2010)

Gunn truly laid the groundwork for his future self's multi-universal takeover. Ten years after "The Specials," he wrote and directed Rainn Wilson as The Crimson Bolt, a thoroughly non-powered would-be superhero. In reality a downtrodden fry cook with a straying and troubled wife, Wilson's Frank Darbo finally snaps, dons an ungainly garish red super-suit and starts beating suspected evildoers with various blunt instruments, unexpectedly picking up an overenthusiastic sidekick (Elliot Page) along the way to storming the fortress-like mansion of the sneering drug dealer who is his wife's new boyfriend.

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"Super" is dark, weird and utterly unsparing in following the antisocial and egotistically violent roots of superhero vigilantism - and how obsession with the "lone avenger" stereotype can feed into our darkest impulses. Wilson channels a terrific streak of squirmy, thwarted masculinity miles darker than Dwight Schrute's, and it's fascinating to watch Gunn's wheels turning on the genre just a few years before mega-corporation Marvel handed him the keys.

"Defendor" (2009)

If you thought "Super" was dark ...

Woody Harrelson plays the titular hero, a non-powered guy in a homemade costume (emblazoned with a duct tape "D") who is, in actuality, another disturbed loner convinced that all the multifarious evils of the real world are the work of one criminal supervillain named "Captain Industry." If Gunn's darkly funny plot armor was on the side of Wilson's similarly deluded vigilante, nobody is there to help Harrelson's Arthur Poppington, an adult orphan with a stunted worldview and a homemade utility belt packed with marbles, lime juice and bottles of bees.

Harrelson is excellent, evoking our sympathies (Defendor has a much lower-rent version of Batman's tragic backstory) alongside a great supporting cast (Sandra Oh, Elias Koteas, Kat Dennings), while never letting us forget that, while heroism itself is a virtue, the comics' idea of heroism as obsessive solo violent justice is as seductive as it is dangerous.

"The Specials" isn't streaming, sadly, as The Specials continue to get no respect. "Super" comes with your Kanopy, AMC+ or Apple TV subscription. "Defendor" is available for rent on Apple and Prime. "Deadpool & Wolverine" is literally everywhere.

Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and cat.

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