The popularity of superhero movies shows no signs of abating, as the current anticipation over the release of Marvel’s “Black Panther” movie illustrates. Furthermore, as shown by critics’ advance praise for the film, the genre has become downright respectable.
While superhero movies are now released with unprecedented frequency, entries to the genre have been released for decades. 24/7 Wall St. has determined the 30 best superhero movies of all time by creating an index based on user ratings from the Internet Movie Database and Rotten Tomatoes.
Click here to see the best superhero movies.
Click here to see the worst superhero movies.
With the arrival of so many of these films in recent years, it is perhaps not surprising that two-thirds of the movies on this list came out in 2010 or later. Six of these debuted in 2017: “Logan,” “Thor: Ragnarok,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” “Wonder Woman,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” and “The LEGO Batman Movie.”
Superhero movies don’t have to be new to be good, however. This list also includes classic films such as 1978’s “Superman,” which stars Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder.
Unfortunately for any moviegoers who might wish for the spate of films featuring caped crusaders and other avengers to dissipate, that is unlikely. There’s simply too much money to be madet. Seven of the 25 highest-grossing films ever made are superhero movies. Only three of the films on our list failed to gross more than $100 million at the domestic box office. Two of the movies – “The Dark Knight” and “The Avengers” – grossed more than $500 million apiece in the U.S. alone.
Studios are also cashing in on sequels. This list of 30 movies includes five X-Men titles, four Batman films and four Iron Man flicks, including “The Avengers” titles.
Studios are eager to hire the directors expected to deliver box office gold. Christopher Nolan’s Batman films were huge successes; all three appear on this list. Other directors with multiple superhero wins include Joss Whedon, Bryan Singer, and James Gunn.
To be considered for this ranking, a film had to have attracted a total of at least 10,000 user ratings from either IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, 10 Tomatometer critic reviews and an action classification from IMDb. Our index tallied an average for each film using its average audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes and average user rating on Internet Movie Database, all weighted by the number of votes. We then averaged the combined user rating with the film’s Rotten Tomatoes’ average critic rating. The box office data, taken from IMDb, has not been adjusted for inflation over the years.
30. “Ant-Man” (2015)
> Director: Peyton Reed
> Starring: Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Corey Stoll
> Domestic box office: $180.20 million
> Super power: Ability to shrink
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29. “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)
> Director: Joss Whedon
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo
> Domestic box office: $459.01 million
> Super powers: Various skills
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28. “X-Men” (2000)
> Director: Bryan Singer
> Starring: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen
> Domestic box office: $157.30 million
> Super powers: Various skills
27. “RoboCop” (1987)
> Director: Paul Verhoeven
> Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy
> Domestic box office: $53.42 million
> Super power: Cyborg body
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26. “Iron Man Three” (2013)
> Director: Shane Black
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Guy Pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow
> Domestic box office: $409.01 million
> Super powers: Super strength, flying ability
25. “The Crow” (1994)
> Director: Alex Proyas
> Starring: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Rochelle Davis
> Domestic box office: $50.69 million
> Super powers: Super strength, ability to be undead
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24.”Kick-Ass” (2010)
> Director: Matthew Vaughn
> Starring: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz
> Domestic box office: $48.07 million
> Super power: Enhanced durability
23. “X2” (2003)
> Director: Bryan Singer
> Starring: Patrick Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry
> Domestic box office: $214.95 million
> Super powers: Various skills
22. “The Incredibles” (2004)
> Director: Brad Bird
> Starring: Craig T. Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson, Holly Hunter
> Domestic box office: $261.44 million
> Super powers: Various skills
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21. “The LEGO Batman Movie” (2017)
> Director: Chris McKay
> Starring: Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson
> Domestic box office: $175.75 million
> Super power: Advanced intellectual skill
20. “Doctor Strange” (2016)
> Director: Scott Derrickson
> Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams
> Domestic box office: $232.64 million
> Super power: Sorcery skill
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19. “Superman” (1978)
> Director: Richard Donner
> Starring: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman
> Domestic box office: $134.22 million
> Super powers: Flying ability, super strength, enhanced sensory acuity
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18. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (2017)
> Director: James Gunn
> Starring: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista
> Domestic box office: $389.81 million
> Super powers: Various skills
17. “Deadpool” (2016)
> Director: Tim Miller
> Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller
> Domestic box office: $363.07 million
> Super power: Healing skill
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16. “X: First Class” (2011)
> Director: Matthew Vaughn
> Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
> Domestic box office: $146.41 million
> Super powers: Various skills
15. “Spider-Man 2” (2004)
> Director: Sam Raimi
> Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina
> Domestic box office: $373.59 million
> Super powers: Enhanced strength, wall-crawling skill, “spider sense”
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14. “Big Hero 6” (2014)
> Director: Don Hall, Chris Williams
> Starring: Ryan Potter, Scott Adsit, Jamie Chung
> Domestic box office: $222.53 million
> Super power: Robotic maneuvering
13. “Wonder Woman” (2017)
> Director: Patty Jenkins
> Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Robin Wright
> Domestic box office: $412.56 million
> Super powers: Super strength, great athletic skill
12. “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017)
> Director: Jon Watts
> Starring: Tom Holland, Michael Keaton, Robert Downey Jr.
> Domestic box office: $334.20 million
> Super powers: Super strength, wall-crawling skill, “spider sense”
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11. “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017)
> Director: Taika Waititi
> Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett
> Domestic box office: $314.07 million
> Super powers: Super strength, ability to live a long time
10. “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014)
> Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
> Starring: Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson
> Domestic box office: $259.77 million
> Super powers: Heightened agility, strength, and speed
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9. “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014)
> Director: Bryan Singer
> Starring: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman
> Domestic box office: $233.92 million
> Super powers: Various skills
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8. “Batman Begins” (2005)
> Director: Christopher Nolan
> Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Ken Watanabe
> Domestic box office: $206.85 million
> Super powers: Exceptional intellectual skill
7. “Captain America: Civil War” (2016)
> Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
> Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson
> Domestic box office: $408.08 million
> Super powers: Heightened agility, strength, and speed
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6. “Iron Man” (2008)
> Director: Jon Favreau
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard
> Domestic box office: $318.41 million
> Super powers: Super strength, flying ability
5. “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014)
> Director: James Gunn
> Starring: Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper
> Domestic box office: $333.18 million
> Super powers: Various skills
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4. “Logan” (2017)
> Director: James Mangold
> Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen
> Domestic box office: $226.28 million
> Super powers: Logan’s healing power, Wolverine’s fighting agility via retractable claws (Wolverine)
3. “The Avengers” (2012)
> Director: Joss Whedon
> Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson
> Domestic box office: $623.36 million
> Super powers: Various skills
2. “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012)
> Director: Christopher Nolan
> Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway
> Domestic box office: $448.14 million
> Super power: Enhanced intellectual skill
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1. “The Dark Knight” (2008)
> Director: Christopher Nolan
> Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart
> Domestic box office: $534.86 million
> Super power: Heightened intellectual skill
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