Read update
- 2023 has shown that superhero movies aren't going anywhere any time soon. Some of the greatest superhero movies of all time have come out in the last year or so, and reports of superhero fatigue may well be slightly exaggerated at this stage. The best superhero movies have aged well and will continue to age well in the years to come, meaning that with a little luck, viewers may well be yet to see the best of the best superhero movies of all time. Fingers crossed, at least.
There's no doubt about it: superhero movies have been all the rage within the last couple of decades, and don't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. By no means was the genre invented in the 21st century, as there were plenty of iconic superhero films to be released during the previous century. However, the genre's seemed to click with modern-day viewers more than generations in the past, with many of the highest-grossing movies of the century so far being superhero movies.
There might not be as many superhero movies out there as movies in other, broader genres (like action movies, comedies, Westerns, etc.), but trying to pick the best of the best is still a daunting task. What follows is a ranking of some of the most exceptional, representing the various ways larger-than-life heroes can be depicted on screen, whether in live-action or animation. These are some of the best in an ever-growing genre, and are ranked below from great to greatest.
Updated August 6, 2023, by Jeremy Urquhart:
2023 has shown that superhero movies aren't going anywhere any time soon. Some of the greatest superhero movies of all time have come out in the last year or so, and reports of superhero fatigue may well be slightly exaggerated at this stage. The best superhero movies have aged well and will continue to age well in the years to come, meaning that with a little luck, viewers may well be yet to see the best of the best superhero movies of all time. Fingers crossed, at least.
35 'Captain America: Civil War' (2016)
The third movie within one of the most compelling trilogies in the MCU, Captain America: Civil War is a huge film featuring many of the characters who appeared throughout the first three phases of the MCU. As the title suggests, the heroes are at odds, and are torn apart by a series of conflicts that may have been orchestrated by a mastermind who wants to see Earth's mightiest heroes implode.
It was a movie that did a good job of shaking up the status quo, with the effects of the film's ending ultimately having an influence on several years worth of movies that followed. Additionally, this movie's also home to one of the biggest and most celebrated action sequences in the entire MCU: that of the airport battle.
34 'X2: X-Men United' (2003)
The original X-Men series got off to a decent enough start with the original film in 2000, which was one of the first truly successful superhero blockbusters. Despite that, it's hard to argue against its 2003 sequel - X2: X-Men United - being even better.
It's a more confident film with more satisfying action, and balances an even larger cast of characters exceptionally well. The icing on the cake of it all is that it's also home to a Brian Cox performance, where he plays the lead antagonist, Col. William Stryker. Anyone who's seen the excellent HBO series Succession will be well aware of how much Cox can bring to a villainous role.
33 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' (2008)
After a solid original Hellboy movie in 2004, Guillermo del Toro really let loose with its sequel, 2008's The Golden Army, by combining superhero action with wonderfully dark fantasy. Hellboy II: The Golden Army also ups the stakes considerably, forcing the titular hero and his team to take on an elvish prince who's threatening to take over the world with his mechanical army.
Some could accuse the first Hellboy of being style over substance, but those people might be ignoring just how good the style is. And when it comes to the second movie, the style's even more stylish, and there is some genuine substance and emotion to its compelling story, making it a remarkably improved sequel and one of the most underrated superhero movies in recent memory.
32 'Batman Begins' (2005)
Batman Begins may well be the most comprehensible and least overwhelming movie Christopher Nolan's ever directed. As the title suggests, it's an origin story for the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman, showing his tragic past and how he came to take on the responsibility of being a vigilante who fights wrongdoers in the crime-ridden city of Gotham.
The best was yet to come, when it came to Nolan's trilogy, but Batman Begins got things off to an undeniably compelling start. It was a breath of fresh air back in 2005 to have a superhero movie take itself so seriously, and generally carry itself well, making this film a historically significant one for how people viewed the superhero genre going forward.
31 'The Suicide Squad' (2021)
After a 2016 movie that really didn't work, The Suicide Squad proved to be a reboot/sequel of sorts to Suicide Squad that was an overall much stronger film. Both had similar premises, having criminal characters given dangerous missions to take part in with the promise of reduced sentences if the missions were successful, but the execution made all the difference here.
The Suicide Squad is a blast to watch, and combines violent action, crude humor, and some genuinely emotional moments together to great effect. It's a strange superhero movie, somehow feeling both risky and accessible at once, and thankfully exists to at least in part redeem the franchise after the 2016 movie.
30 'Blade II' (2002)
The first Blade, released in 1998, was a significant superhero movie in numerous ways, as it pushed boundaries in terms of violence, felt a little more hard-edged than the superhero movies that had come before it, and also was one of the first comic book movies with a Black lead. It is a solid movie, but its sequel, 2002's Blade II, is even better.
While the first laid the groundwork, Blade II is simply more fun, with a little more personality and better action sequences, at least partially thanks to it being directed by Guillermo del Toro. It is unabashedly cheesy and silly at points, but it feels self-aware and confident throughout, making it a blast to watch.
29 'Kick-Ass' (2010)
Nowadays, there are numerous darkly comedic superhero properties that take their characters to dark places while also being unafraid to show explicit violence (demonstrated by shows like The Boys and the Deadpool movies). Back in 2010, this kind of approach felt more novel, and was one reason why Kick-Ass felt like such a breath of fresh air.
It's a tad more grounded than many superhero movies, showing the inevitable struggles that a teenage boy would experience should he one day decide to become a superhero/vigilante. For those who want another violent and darkly funny deconstruction of the genre released in 2010, Super is also easy to recommend. What's difficult to recommend, on the other hand, is 2013's Kick-Ass 2. That one should be avoided, as it, unfortunately, kicks very little ass.
28 'The Crow' (1994)
The Crow absolutely screams 1990s in every way, and is all the more glorious for it. It's a dark and brooding gothic revenge movie, adding a supernatural twist to the superhero genre by having the plot revolve around a man who comes back from the dead, and seeks vengeance on the criminals who gunned him and his fiancée down.
It's an incredibly stylish movie, and does a remarkable job of capturing comic book visuals in a live-action format while telling a simple yet emotionally moving story. It's also regrettably one of the few films Brandon Lee ever starred in, as he tragically died at just 28 years old while filming The Crow, after an accident with a prop gun on set proved fatal.
27 'Zack Snyder's Justice League' (2021)
Do not watch the 2017 version of Justice League, as it's a complete mess, lacks both heart and logic, and overall serves as a textbook example of how not to do a superhero team-up movie. Thankfully, the director's cut - Zack Snyder's Justice League - is not a complete mess, and though it's a gigantic and imperfect film, it is an impressive one, and ultimately stands as a much stronger movie.
It runs for a staggering four hours, but uses that time to flesh out all the members of the titular team while ensuring their first mission together feels suitably grand. It suffers a bit towards the end, given it has a series of epilogue-type scenes setting up movies that'll probably never happen, but the rest of it works well, and to this day remains the longest superhero movie of all time.
26 'Big Hero 6' (2014)
Animation and superhero stories go together well, given the format can be used to depict heightened fantastical and/or futuristic worlds in ways that most live-action films would struggle to. Big Hero 6 is an example of how to do an animated superhero movie right, and holds up as a fun, emotional, and exciting family-friendly film.
It follows a young boy who befriends an inflatable robot called Baymax after a tragedy in his family, with the boy eventually forming a superhero team with said robot and his friends. It's a colorful and heartfelt movie, and one of those great kid's movies where it doesn't feel like it's only designed to appeal to children.
25 'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm' (1993)
While they might not be quite as well-known as the live-action movies, there's a surprisingly high number of animated Batman movies, with 1993's Mask of the Phantasm being the most acclaimed of them all. It pits Batman against a new foe who's been murdering various crime bosses in Gotham, which leads to Bruce Wayne having to go on the run after he's mistaken for this new killer.
It tells a compelling story within a very brief runtime, seeing as the whole thing clocks in at under 80 minutes. It's also memorable for focusing more on the crime-solving/mystery aspect of the Batman series, rather than being purely action-focused (though when it does pick up steam in the action department, Mask of the Phantasm also satisfies there).
24 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2014)
Time travel is always tricky to do well in a movie, and needing to balance a premise so dependent on it with superhero-heavy action/thrills is extra ambitious. Somehow, X-Men: Days of Future Past made it all work exceptionally well, and even more, it managed to bridge the gap between the 2000s X-Men trilogy and the 2010s movies, which began with 2011's X-Men: First Class.
The film juggles so many things at once, having a plot that sees various characters teaming with their younger selves so that they can collectively save the world. Fans of the earlier X-Men movies will be happy, fans of the newer ones will similarly be satisfied, and fans who enjoy both iterations/timelines will probably be in heaven watching Days of Future Past.
23 'Batman Returns' (1992)
With Batman Returns, Batman returned in a movie that proved even darker and less kid-friendly than the 1989 movie it was a sequel to. It's a wild and sometimes uncomfortable film, but admirable for how uncompromising and ambitious it is, pitting the titular superhero against numerous threats/new villains.
It's quite twisted for a mainstream superhero movie, and certainly pushes the PG-13 rating to its limits, feeling reminiscent of a horror movie at times. For those who like Batman dark, or those who enjoy the undeniably unique style of Tim Burton and his visual sensibilities, Batman Returns is one of the best in its franchise.
22 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' (2021)
Multiverse movies are all the rage nowadays, and though an abundance of them will likely fatigue audiences at a point, for now, people seem to like the opportunities afforded by the multiverse. Spider-Man: No Way Home demonstrated this well, as it used the idea of universe-hopping to combine the MCU's Spider-Man - played by Tom Holland - with the heroes and villains from previous big-screen iterations of the character.
The result was what might be one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the 2020s so far, with the film serving as a live-action celebration of the character's last two decades on screen. It is not the best Spider-Man movie by any means, but it's one of the most entertaining and exciting, and still deserves to be considered a great one.
21 'Unbreakable' (2000)
M. Night Shyamalan was ahead of his time when he made Unbreakable, as this feels like a grounded deconstruction of modern superhero movies, made just before the current wave of superhero movies really took off. It's a serious look at being blessed (or cursed) with superpowers, taking this realistic approach and playing it for drama, rather than laughs.
This makes Unbreakable a strange but also hard-to-forget take on superheroes, with it having a haunting quality that makes it one of Shyamalan's very best movies. It also ended up forming an unexpected trilogy with 2017's compelling Split and 2019's less-than-amazing Glass. Oh well, two out of three ain't bad...
20 'Deadpool' (2016)
Deadpool tells a dependable and somewhat familiar origin story in a remarkably snarky fashion, poking fun at superhero tropes in a super blunt way. After all, the title character breaks the fourth wall and consistently draws attention to the absurdity of things in a way that may be annoying for some while being funny for others.
But to an extent, Deadpool as a character is supposed to be annoying, and those who can get on board with the film's sense of humor and violent action should have a good time. Deadpool was one of the first (certainly not the very first) films in the genre to prove successful, even as a superhero movie with an R-rating, further demonstrating the genre's potential to present stories that are very much not suitable for all ages.
19 'Batman' (1989)
.jpg?q=50&fit=crop&w=1500&dpr=1.5)
Batman was a huge deal upon its release in 1989, and holds up to this day as a compelling live-action adaptation of a beloved comic book character. It was Michael Keaton's first time playing Bruce Wayne/Batman, with him knocking it out of the park alongside fellow park-knocker Jack Nicholson, who brought his typical intensity and strangely unnerving charm to the role of the Joker.
You've got great performances, a distinctly Tim Burton world that's stylishly presented, and a story that sees Batman clashing with his most infamous foe. It's a bold and confident superhero movie that proves incredibly hard to dislike or nitpick, and remains significant for being one of the very best pre-2000 superhero movies.
18 'Thor: Ragnarok' (2017)
Of all the comedy-heavy MCU movies, Thor: Ragnarok might be the best (and funniest) that doesn't feature a certain team of guardians who tend to save the galaxy. It revitalized Thor as a character, because while he'd been a good supporting character in the first two Avengers movies, his first two solo films had been a little lacking.
Ragnarok presented the character in a less serious and more enjoyable manner, though its frequent comedy existed alongside a fairly serious story, given Thor goes through a lot here, and is forced to deal with a huge amount of loss. It turns one of the MCU's most powerful characters into something of an underdog, making Ragnarok more exciting, more emotionally investing, and far funnier than the first two movies featuring the God of Thunder.
17 'The Batman' (2022)
The Batman went full-on neo-noir with its take on the titular character, and the movie was honestly pretty phenomenal as a result. The Batman has a fairly steady pace and a huge runtime that reaches almost three hours, but it never feels boring, managing to feel exciting and unique because it feels more like a crime/noir movie than an action one.
The titular character here is younger and more tortured than usual, with the intensity Robert Pattinson brings to the role making it feel like one of the most interesting versions of Batman in years. It's a moody, beautiful, and engrossing film, and makes the idea of seeing Pattinson return to the role an exceptionally exciting one.
16 'The Avengers' (2012)
The Avengers was not the first MCU movie by any means, but it was one of the most important for the franchise, which has proven to be one of the biggest in cinema history. It ended the MCU's first phase in style, bringing together six heroes for one giant mission: stopping an alien invasion led by Thor's (adopted) brother: Loki.
Of course, subsequent Avengers films have raised the stakes and scale considerably, making 2012's The Avengers look a little quaint by today's standards. But for the time, this team-up was phenomenal and surprisingly successful, helping to firmly establish that the MCU was here to stay, and that big-budget superhero movies had well and truly become box office catnip.