Nick Nadel's Tuesday column examines the increasingly busy intersection between comic books and the movies.

Were you thrilled by Wanted's "Fight Club for ADD-addled 13-year-olds" storyline? Did you rush to the comic book store to pick up the collection only to find... a story about supervillains. (One of whom is composed entirely of human excrement.) Did it leave you more than a little confused? You aren't the only one. Comic book fans were also surprised when the Wanted team decided to jettison the entire supervillain fraternity angle -- not to mention the transformation of African-American character, Fox, into Angelina Jolie. It certainly isn't the first time filmmakers have tailored comic book storylines for mainstream consumption. (And it won't be the last.) Let's take a look at some of the more egregious changes made in the jump from comic book page-to-screen.

Batman
Tim Burton's first Batman outing gets so much right that it's easy to excuse its flaws. But fans can't forgive one glaring error: Joker killing Batman's parents. Sure, the purple one has done a lot of bad things in his time, but let's not saddle him with this much baggage. Batman Begins corrected this misstep by crediting the creation of Batman to the real culprit (random thug Joe Chill) and also set up Joker as Batman's game-changing rival.

Spider-Man
Spidey fans are still reeling from the film's most fundamental change -- organic web-shooters. In the comics, Peter Parker built his web shooters with good old fashioned science geek know-how. The first film jettisoned this element of Spidey's origin, allowing him to project webs from his skin in order to make the character more "realistic." Unfortunately, the comics followed suit, making Peter's webbing organic for a time. Lately Spidey's web-shooters have gone old school, though the subject is still a matter of intense debate in geek circles.

Wanted
Besides the aforementioned lack of supervillains, Wanted also made major changes to the comic book's cast. Creators Mark Millar and J.G. Jones patterned Wesley Gibson and Fox after Eminem and Halle Berry, respectively, in order to attract the stars to a film adaptation. (Unsurprisingly, this move only served to anger Eminem.) Though the film did retain the comic's audience-alienating tone, it dropped fundamental leads Mr. Rictus (a parody of The Joker), Professor Solomon (Dr. Sivana meets Lex Luthor), and several other characters patterned after famous comic book baddies. Rumor has it Millar is penning a sequel and considering (SPOILER ALERT!) pretty much every character gets killed off by the end, its safe to say we'll be seeing a brand new cast for the next outing. And maybe supervillians this time?

Hulk
Producer Kenneth Johnson claimed that the change from "Bruce" to "David" Banner in the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno TV series was made in order to distance the show from the comics. Hulk co-creator Stan Lee later revealed that the name change occurred because the network didn't think the name "Bruce" was manly enough. As for changes in the Ang Lee film? Well, let's just say Hulk never tussled with mutant poodles.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
In order to make Alan Moore's (Watchmen, V for Vendetta) comic book more accessible to American audiences, the filmmakers added Tom Sawyer to the team of Victorian-era literary characters. (Sawyer makes only a brief cameo in the comics.) The end result caused Sean Connery to quit the movie business entirely -- and Alan Moore to distance himself from future adaptations of his work.

Punisher (1989 and 2004) 
For both Punisher outings, the filmmakers insisted on dropping the war vet angle, turning Frank Castle into a cop and FBI agent, respectively. Granted, his Vietnam-era origin could stand to be updated -- he's the only gun-toting vigilante currently eligible for Medicare -- but why must every Punisher film be a glorified Dirty Harry retread? If the team behind the upcoming Punisher: War Zone wants to please fans, they should at least make Castle a Desert Storm vet.

Constantine
Remember this one? Keanu fights demons? Sorta decent, right? Well, it's based on a ground-breaking comic book called Hellblazer. (John Constantine is the name of the lead character.) "Hellblazer" is an infinitely cooler title, don't you think? Also, another little difference between the comic and the film: Constantine is British and blond -- the character's look was inspired by Sting.

Judge Dredd
Finally, in the thousands of pages of Judge Dredd comics produced over the years, nowhere is there one single appearance by Rob Schneider.

When not writing, Nick Nadel is in line at the comic book store alongside the other geeks, er, fans of speculative fiction. His most prized possession is a 1960s Batman comic wherein the Dynamic Duo are trapped inside a fortune cookie factory. He lives in Brooklyn and updates his aptly named website (nicknadel.com) with comedy writing and videos.