The 8 best superhero movies of all time
A genre that now dominates studio filmmaking once struggled to get anyone to take it seriously
Superhero movies aren’t for everyone, but a core of dedicated fans that seems to replenish itself when each new generation reaches adolescence keeps the genre at the top of Hollywood’s box office hierarchy. It certainly wasn’t always that way, but these eight smashes helped put the superpowered on top.
‘Superman: The Movie’ (1978)
While its pacing feels positively laconic by modern standards, the original “Superman” was a groundbreaking feature, giving the superhero genre its patina of seriousness and Hollywood credibility. Superman’s status as the most recognizable character from the superhero canon — with new iterations to this day — has much to do with the success of director Richard Donner’s gamble.
One bold decision included casting coups like nabbing Gene Hackman to play Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor, who plans to destroy the West Coast with missile strikes, a plot that Superman (Christopher Reeve) must disrupt while maintaining his alternate identity as Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent. “Superman” is an effective, effects-driven film that “pointed the way for a B picture genre of earlier decades to transform itself into the ruling genre of today,” said Roger Ebert in 2010. (HBO Max)
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‘Spider-Man 2’ (2004)
Marvel’s “Spider Man” has been through many adaptations, including the live-action late-70s television series “The Amazing Spider Man.” But the best regarded remains director Sam Raimi’s early aughts trilogy starring Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider Man.
In the second installment, the overcommitted and stressed Peter gives up on his superhero side gig, in part to pursue his love interest, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). But he is roped back into the game when Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) botches a fusion power experiment and turns himself into a kind of mutant, AI-operated octopus. Raimi’s film “not only outstrips its predecessor but has a perversity and quick-wittedness that hardly seem to belong in a comic-book movie,” said Anthony Quinn at The Independent. (Disney+)
‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
Director Christopher Nolan’s second installment in the gloomy, atmospheric reboot trilogy based on the iconic DC Comics character remains justifiably beloved today, thrilling both ardent fans of the franchise as well as critics wowed by the intricate plot mechanics and powerhouse performances, particularly from the late Heath Ledger, who died tragically before the film’s release.
Christian Bale reprises his role as Batman, locked in a power struggle along with District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) against the Gotham mafia that worsens when The Joker (Ledger) — depicted in the film as a darkly funny and bloodthirsty sociopath — threatens to destroy the city if Batman doesn’t reveal his true identity. Nolan’s masterpiece “embeds symbolic drama worthy of Greek tragedy into an erupting crime story, tinged with a burning shower of distrust toward the absoluteness and simplicity of good and evil,” said Brian Eggert at Deep Focus Review. (HBO Max)
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‘Iron Man’ (2008)
The culmination of Robert Downey Jr.’s return to stardom after years of substance abuse and personal struggles, “Iron Man” cemented his Hollywood superstar status and turned the films into his own vehicle. He plays Tony Stark, the head of defense contractor Stark Industries, who is gravely wounded and then captured by terrorists in Afghanistan.
Fellow captive Yinsen (Shaun Toub) implants an electromagnet in his chest to prevent shrapnel from killing him, eventually building a small “arc reactor” and powered suit to help them escape, thus creating the Iron Man character. Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges also shine in supporting roles. But Downey’s performance is the “beating heart that makes the whole movie tick, mixing humor and a slightly desperate edge and scuzzy charm all up in a cocktail of character psychology that is rarely seen in a comic book movie and never as much fun as it is here,” said Tim Brayton at Alternate Ending. (Disney+)
‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ (2014)
Many films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe take themselves far too seriously, which is what makes director James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” such a refreshing and often hilarious spectacle. Quill (Chris Pratt) is an Earthling raised by aliens who by happenstance unearths a sphere capable of destroying the universe. He ends up working with bounty hunters, including a cybernetically altered racoon named Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) and a humanoid tree named Groot (Vin Diesel) to prevent the sphere from falling into the hands of Ronan the Accuser (Lee Pace), a genocidal maniac.
Gunn’s “palpable directorial” brilliance gives the film a “pulse, wit, beauty and a real sensibility” that separates this “latest Marvel cash grab from a lot of off-the-rack movie cartoons,” said Manohla Dargis at The New York Times. (Disney+)
‘Deadpool’ (2016)
Years before Prime Video hit it big with the antihero superhero series “The Boys,” director Tim Miller explored similar terrain in this mordantly funny Marvel adaptation. Ryan Reynolds is the titular Deadpool, a mutant with a disfigured face who has the ability to heal any injuries and is bent on hunting down the people, including Ajax (Ed Skrein), who turned him into what he is.
“Deadpool” features a lot of delirious fourth-wall breaking, like when Deadpool turns to the camera and says, “And yeah, technically this is a murder. But some of the best love stories start with a murder” after dispatching one of Ajax’s henchmen. A “scabrously funny big-screen showcase for the snarkiest of Marvel’s comic-book creations,” the film “pulls off that very postmodern trick of getting away with formulas and cliches simply by pointing them out,” said Justin Chang at Variety. (Disney+)
‘Black Panther’ (2018)
One of a handful of superhero movies to break genre containment and influence the broader culture, director Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther” was a genuine sensation when it came out in 2018. When his father dies, T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) becomes the King of Wakanda, an African country that projects an image of underdevelopment to the outside world but is secretly a technologically advanced society powered by an alien element called Vibranium.
Wakandan exile Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan) wants to dethrone T’Challa and export Wakanda’s technology — and dominance — to oppressed Black societies around the world. Its vision of a “Black utopia, a place at the root of all Blackness, self-sufficient and untouched by slavery or colonialism,” is part of what made it an international sensation, but it was also “Marvel’s first genuine masterpiece,” said K. Austin Collins at The Ringer. (Disney+)
‘The Avengers: Endgame’ (2019)
In “Avengers: Endgame,” directors Anthony and Joe Russo were working with a “weight of expectations” that was “fairly unprecedented” in the superhero genre, said Rosie Fletcher and Richard Jordan at Den of Geek. That’s because Marvel’s “Avengers: Endgame,” a “bravura piece of filmmaking” set five years after the events of 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” ”was the final piece in a 22-movie sequence known as the “Infinity Saga.”
You would need to be deeply steeped in the plot mechanics of the earlier films for any kind of summary to make sense, so suffice it to say that this is the film that provides closure on a number of character arcs, including Iron Man, Captain America and Ant-Man after the Red Wedding-like “Infinity War” saw the plot armor of several beloved characters fatally pierced. After “Black Panther,” it is the highest-rated film of the saga, according to Rotten Tomatoes. (Disney+)
David Faris is a professor of political science at Roosevelt University and the author of "It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics." He's a frequent contributor to Newsweek and Slate, and his work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Republic and The Nation, among others.