The superhero movie genre has evolved significantly since Superman: The Movie first hit theaters in the summer of 1978. Once thought of as nothing more than a doomed enterprise, comic book-inspired movies about caped crusaders have taken over Hollywood and monopolized the future of the Hollywood entertainment industry.
Modern superhero movies often snatch up truly talented actors to star in the future of their franchises; in fact, there’s an increasingly select group of actors that have yet to appear in a comic book movie at some point within their career. These are the greatest superhero movie performances of all-time, ranked.
20 Gal Gadot, 'Wonder Woman' (2017)
To put it simply, Wonder Woman is more of a collection of fun moments than it is a great movie, but Gal Gadot’s performance as Diana Prince is what strings it all together. It’s not a performance that has much depth to it, but Gadot has a lot of charisma in the moments where Diana is being exposed to the world outside her secluded island for the first time.
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It’s fairly indicative of what was working in the DCEU at the time that the idea of a superhero actually being “heroic” actually felt like a breath of fresh air.
19 Antonio Banderas, 'The Mask of Zorro' (1998)
While Logan is often acknowledged as the peak version of a superhero western, Martin Campbell’s 1998 swashbuckling adventure revamped the iconic hero Zorro with two great actors stepping into the role; while it was Sir Anthony Hopkins who played the senior version of the character, a young Antonio Banderas got one of his early action-adventure roles in the part of the elder Zorro’s protege.
Banderas had already proven himself as a capable dramatic lead through his work with Pedro Almodovar and Robert Rodriguez, but The Mask of Zorro proved that he was just as charismatic as any action star of the era.
18 Doug Jones, 'Hellboy II: The Golden Army' (2008)
Long before he took on the role of the enigmatic “fishman” in Guillermo del Toro’s Best Picture winner The Shape of Water, Doug Jones donned an impressive amount of makeup to play Abe Sapien. He serves as the skeptical, occasionally wisecracking sidekick to Ron Perlman’s Hellboy in del Toro’s two highly underrated hybrids between the monster movie and the superhero flick.
While the incredible makeup team deserves credit for bringing a creature as eccentric looking as Abe to life, it’s Jones who made their efforts worthwhile, as his personality is able to come out from underneath the prosthetics.
17 Natalie Portman, 'V for Vendetta' (2005)
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The Wachowski sisters’ radical reinvention of Alan Moore’s graphic novel V for Vendetta is among the most politically confrontational superhero movies of all-time; while the film was released in 2005, the anti-authoritatrian themes that attack government-sponsored censorship are relevant to conversations held today about resistance culture.
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At the center of a rebel movement is the masked vigilante simply known as “V” (Hugo Weaving), but it’s Natalie Portman’s role as his protege “Eve” that shows the transformative power of standing up for your beliefs. After escaping her government job, Eve goes from victim to victor.
16 Dane DeHaan, 'Chronicle' (2012)
Chronicle is one of the more unique original superhero movies, as it does not draw direct inspiration from any previously existing Marvel or DC comic books. Director Josh Trank used the found footage format to tell a creative story about three teenage boys that discover a mysterious crashed object that grants them superpowers.
While Chronicle may have been marketed as a secret superhero movie, it is in fact a stealth origin story for a great supervillain. Dane DeHaan gives a genuinely terrifying performance as the bullied teenage boy Andrew, who uses his new abilities to take vengeance on the classmates, former friends, abusers, and society that he feels like have wronged him.
15 Jim Carrey, 'The Mask' (1994)
Jim Carrey’s streak of success in the 1990s was a nearly unparalleled run of creativity for a comedic performer; in 1994 alone, he starred in Dumb & Dumber, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, and The Mask. The last of which proved that Carrey also could be a surprisingly compelling masked vigilante.
Stanley Ipkiss may be a goofball, but he has a genuinely sweet spirit that showed a more empathetic side to Carrey. The role required an extensive amount of prosthetic effects, but Carrey deserves credit for still bringing out his personality beneath the layers of makeup and performing Buster Keaton levels of impressive physical comedy.
14 Michael Keaton, 'Batman' (1989)
While the Adam West Batman television series and movie of the same name were important in introducing Bob Kane’s characters to a wider audience than just comic book fans, for all intents and purposes, Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman was the beginning of the film industry’s obsession with the Dark Knight.
RELATED: 'Unbreakable' & 9 More Superhero Movies That Aren't Actually Action MoviesDespite being best known for his goofier work in comedy classics like Night Shift and Mr. Mom at the time, Michael Keaton gives a menacing, nearly impenetrable performance as Bruce Wayne. While Keaton isn’t necessarily that physically imposing on his own, he managed to capture a version of the “World’s Greatest Detective” that could strike fear into the hearts of criminals.
13 Michael Fassbender, 'X-Men: First Class' (2011)
An X-Men prequel sounded like a risky idea at the time of X-Men: First Class’ release, as the mutant franchise had been guilty of incorporating confusing (and often contradictory) flashback sequences. More importantly, it didn’t seem like anyone could live up to Sir Ian McKellen’s powerful turn as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto.
Yet by learning more about Magneto’s backstory, the iconic supervillain actually became more sympathetic. Michael Fassbender treated Erik’s rise from empowered victim of fascism into a ruthless force of terror determined to take down everyone he sees as his oppressor.
12 Joaquin Phoenix, 'Joker' (2019)
Todd Phillips’ Joker is no masterpiece, and feels like an increasingly peculiar selection for eleven Academy Award nominations considering that much more worthy comic book movies that were shut out entirely. While the film itself is a near note for note retelling of Martin Scorsese’s 1983 dark comedy classic The King of Comedy, the one aspect holding it all together is Joaquin Phoenix’s extraordinary performance as the titular Clown Prince of Crime.
Sympathetic yet terrifying, Phoenix’s depiction of the Joker as an abused mental health patient neglected by Gotham’s infrastructure proved once again why he’s one of the best actors of his generation.
11 Alfred Molina, 'Spider-Man 2' (2004)
The best Spider-Man movie villains have been the ones that also serve as a mentor to Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire), and the best antagonists in general are those that can invoke the audience’s sympathy. Alfred Molina’s performance as Doctor Otto Octavius checks off both of those boxes; he’s Peter’s mentor who turns to a life of villainy after his life is impacted by a devastating tragedy.
While Octavius is a character with a compelling dramatic backstory, Molina was still able to add some of the comically absurd one-liners that director Sam Raimi used to harken back to his days making the Evil Dead horror comedies.
10 Angela Bassett, 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' (2022)
Angela Bassett is one of the best actresses alive, and the fact that she has never won a competitive Oscar shows how deeply neglectful award shows have been in honoring her work. First nominated for What’s Love Got To Do With It back in 1996, Bassett received a second nomination later on in her career for her second performance as Queen Ramonda in 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
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While Wakanda Forever is a bit of a mixed bag that spends a lot of time fulfilling connections to the larger Marvel universe, Bassett becoming the first Marvel actor nominated is a significant achievement.
9 Brandon Lee, 'The Crow' (1994)
Brandon Lee’s performance as the titular masked vigilante The Crow is a role steeped in tragedy; Lee was tragically killed during the making of the R-Rated superhero film due to an on-set accident, and as a result, the film itself serves as a haunted swan song to his unique career.
Eric Draven himself is also a hero haunted by personal tragedy, and Lee brings out the empathetic side of the character in the earlier scenes. That didn’t make him any less terrifying when Draven turned his wrath on the men who brutalized his wife.
8 Mark Hamill, 'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm' (1993)
Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, reinvented his career in the 1990s when he stepped away from science fiction blockbusters to begin voicing animated characters. While Hamill’s resume of voice over performances is more than impressive, there was no character in his filmography that was quite as significant as the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series.
Hamill reprised his role as the Crown Prince of Crime in 1993’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, the first animated Batman movie to actually be released in theaters. His performance was just as anarchic, malevolent, and hilarious as ever.
7 Robert Downey Jr., 'Iron Man' (2008)
There wouldn’t be a Marvel Cinematic Universe without Iron Man, and Jon Favreau’s superhero origin story wouldn’t have launched the most successful comic book franchise of all-time if it wasn’t for Robert Downey Jr.’s extraordinary performance as Tony Stark, a role he made his own by adding his own an authentic sense of personality.
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While his casting was a risk given his off-screen conflicts, Downey Jr. silenced his doubters and introduced a funnier, more modern type of hero that became incredibly unique within the comic book movie landscape.
6 Samuel L. Jackson, 'Unbreakable' (2000)
M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable may start off as a drama that happens to discuss concepts relevant to comic books and superheroes, but as is perusal for Shyamalan, a major third act twist forces the viewer to look back at the rest of the film from a whole new perspective.
Samuel L. Jackson may be best known for playing confident, authoritative characters like the MCU’s Nick Fury, but his performance as the insane conspiracy theorist Elijah Price (who takes on the moniker “Mr. Glass”) is a subtle examination of how trauma can lead to radicalism.
5 Hugh Jackman, 'X-Men' (2000)
While 1998’s Blade was an R-Rated hit, it was 2000’s X-Men that established the mix of action, humor, emotion, and an appropriate amount of world-building that became the formula for the future of the genre. At the center of Bryan Singer’s original film is Hugh Jackman’s debut as Logan, a character that he’s still playing over two decades later.
While the character is one he would deepen over the course of the franchise, Jackman’s performance in the first X-Men is a remarkable example of a movie star being born in an instant.
4 Michelle Pfeiffer, 'Batman Returns' (1992)
With all due respect to Anne Hathaway and Zoe Kravitz, Michelle Pfeiffer is Catwoman. No actress has been able to capture Selina Kyle’s transformation from a mousey secretary to a seductive, dangerous femme fatale quite like Pfeiffer did in Tim Burton’s all-time Christmas classic Batman Returns.
Pfeiffer’s version of Catwoman isn’t dissimilar from any of Burton’s other “monsters;” she’s an outcast, neglected by society who decides to take ownership over her life and reap vengeance on those that wronged her. If it was possible to be both empowering and blood-curdling, Pfeiffer pulled it off.
3 Patrick Stewart, 'Logan' (2017)
While Sir Patrick Stewart had been playing the character of Charles Xavier for just as long as Jackman had played Wolverine, he never brought the character down to Earth in such a haunting way like he did in James Mangold’s Logan. In a future where society has turned on mutants once again, Stewart brought to life a new version of “Professor X” that struggles with dementia and epilepsy.
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Xavier has always been a character whose greatest superpower is his mind, and Stewart showed how heartbreaking it would be for him to lose control of that.
2 Christopher Reeve, 'Superman' (1978)
Superhero movies exist today because of Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie. Christopher Reeve had the difficult task of bringing to life a character who already seemed corny and out-of-touch compared to the science fiction heroes of the time, but he transformed the Man of Tomorrow into a goofy, awkward, and cheekily self-serious sweetheart who was every bit as heroic as his name suggested.
What Reeves and Margot Kidder do as Clark Kent and Lois Lane feels lifted straight out of a 1930s screwball comedy; they’re perfect for each other, but circumstances prevent them from ever getting to adequately express that.
1 Heath Ledger, 'The Dark Knight' (2008)
Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker doesn’t just rank as the all-time greatest comic book villain, but one of the best movie villains period. The initial backlash that Ledger’s casting prompted from some comic book fans stands in pale comparison to the Oscar winning performance he gave; Ledger’s Joker looms over every subsequent adaptation of the character, and even tops the incredible work that both Hamill and Jack Nicholson did before him.
Like The Crow, Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight is also tragically his swan song in the genre (his final film appearance was in 2009's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus). There’s no better representation of one of the most unique actors of the generation’s talents than a character so wildly unpredictable.
