Best performances in a super hero movie
by hkakatsakis | created - 09 Dec 2011 | updated - 12 Dec 2011 | Public1. Heath Ledger
Actor | Brokeback Mountain
When hunky, twenty-year-old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of little depth. He spent several years trying desperately to sway this image, but this was a double-edged sword. His work comprised ...
The Joker - The Dark Knight
No brainer. Number 1.
2. Gene Hackman
Actor | The French Connection
Eugene Allen Hackman was born in San Bernardino, California, the son of Anna Lyda Elizabeth (Gray) and Eugene Ezra Hackman, who operated a newspaper printing press. He is of Pennsylvania Dutch (German), English, and Scottish ancestry, partly by way of Canada, where his mother was born. After ...
Lex Luthor - Superman, The Movie
An all time great performance.
3. Michael Fassbender
Actor | Shame
Michael Fassbender is an Irish actor who was born in Heidelberg, Germany, to a German father, Josef, and an Irish mother, Adele (originally from Larne, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland). Michael was raised in the town of Killarney, Co. Kerry, in south-west Ireland, where his family moved to when ...
Magneto - X-men: First Class
The scene in Brazil with the ex-nazis just kicks ass.
4. Christian Bale
Actor | The Dark Knight
Christian Charles Philip Bale was born in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK on January 30, 1974, to English parents Jennifer "Jenny" (James) and David Bale. His mother was a circus performer and his father, who was born in South Africa, was a commercial pilot. The family lived in different countries ...
Batman - Batman Begins
He brought a sense of humor to Bruce Wayne that made him immediately human and relatable.
5. Hugh Jackman
Actor | Les Misérables
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor, singer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer and producer. Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as superhero, period, and romance characters. He is best known for his long-running role as Wolverine in the X-Men film ...
Wolverine - X-men 2
He's huge.
6. Michelle Pfeiffer
Actress | The Fabulous Baker Boys
Michelle Pfeiffer was born in Santa Ana, California to Dick and Donna Pfeiffer. She has an older brother and two younger sisters - Dedee Pfeiffer, and Lori Pfeiffer, who both dabbled in acting and modeling but decided against making it their lives' work. She graduated from Fountain Valley High ...
Cat Woman - Batman Returns
Easily the best Catwoman. She was a major sex pot, but not cartoonish.
7. Christopher Reeve
Actor | Superman
Christopher D'Olier Reeve was born September 25, 1952, in New York City, to journalist Barbara Johnson (née Barbara Pitney Lamb) and writer/professor F.D. Reeve (Franklin D'Olier Reeve). He came from an upper-class family; his paternal grandfather was CEO of Prudential Financial, and one of his ...
Superman - Superman, The Movie
The original. Talk about humanizing a character that was bigger than any of them.
8. James McAvoy
Actor | Filth
McAvoy was born on 21 April 1979 in Glasgow, Scotland, to James, a bus driver, and Elizabeth (née Johnstone), a nurse. He was raised on a housing estate in Drumchapel, Glasgow by his maternal grandparents (James, a butcher, and Mary), after his parents divorced when James was 11. He went to St ...
Charles Xavier - X-man:First Class
I loved how he kept hitting on 60s chicks.
9. Jack Nicholson
Actor | Chinatown
Jack Nicholson, an American actor, producer, director and screenwriter, is a three-time Academy Award winner and twelve-time nominee. Nicholson is also notable for being one of two actors - the other being Michael Caine - who have received an Oscar nomination in every decade from the '60s through ...
Joker - Batman
How can I not put him in the top ten.
10. Terence Stamp
Actor | The Limey
Terence was born in London and spent his early years watching American films and dreamed of being like the stars on the screen, He was awarded a scholarship for the Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art. In his second year, during an audition, Peter Ustinov signed him for the title role in Billy ...
General Zod - Superman II
Kneel before Zod!
11. Jackie Earle Haley
Actor | Little Children
Jackie Earle Haley is an American actor who started his career with The Bad News Bears. He had more adult roles in Little Children, the cult classic Zack Snyder film Watchmen, Alita: Battle Angel, and Freddy Krueger from a remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. He has been married three times and has...
Rorschach - Watchmen
Easily the best thing in an otherwise boring movie.
12. Robert Downey Jr.
Actor | Iron Man
Robert Downey Jr. has evolved into one of the most respected actors in Hollywood. With an amazing list of credits to his name, he has managed to stay new and fresh even after over four decades in the business.
Downey was born April 4, 1965 in Manhattan, New York, the son of writer, director and ...
Tony Stark - Iron Man
An ego as big as an Atom bomb.
13. Chloë Grace Moretz
Actress | Kick-Ass
Moretz is best known for her work in the sci-fi thriller series The Peripheral, created by Scott B. Smith; the Mattson Tomlin-directed sci-fi thriller Mother/Android; Neil Jordan's thriller Greta; Roseanne Liang's Shadow in the Cloud, which claimed the Midnight Madness People's Choice Award at the ...
Hit Girl - Kick Ass
She truly did kick ass.
14. Hugo Weaving
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Hugo Wallace Weaving was born on April 4, 1960 in Nigeria, to English parents Anne (Lennard), a tour guide and teacher, and Wallace Weaving, a seismologist. Hugo has an older brother, Simon, and a younger sister, Anna, who both also live and work in Australia. During his early childhood, the ...
V - V for Vendetta
All under a mask. Righteous. Like Greek theater.
15. Kevin Bacon
Actor | Footloose
Kevin Norwood Bacon was born on July 8, 1958 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Ruth Hilda (Holmes), an elementary school teacher, and Edmund Norwood Bacon, a prominent architect who was on the cover of Time Magazine in November 1964.
Kevin's early training as an actor came from The Manning Street. ...
Sebastian Shaw - X-men: First Class
One of the best super villain performances.
16. Liam Neeson
Actor | Kinsey
Liam Neeson was born on June 7, 1952 in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, to Katherine (Brown), a cook, and Bernard Neeson, a school caretaker. He was raised in a Catholic household. During his early years, Liam worked as a forklift operator for Guinness, a truck driver, an assistant architect and an ...
Ra's Al Ghul - Batman Begins
Ra's Al Ghul is dead.
17. Alfred Molina
Actor | Spider-Man 2
Alfred Molina was born in 1953 in London, England. His mother, Giovanna (Bonelli), was an Italian-born cook and cleaner, and his father, Esteban Molina, was a Spanish-born waiter and chauffeur. He studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. His stage work includes two major Royal ...
Doctor Octopus - Spiderman 2
A performance that could have easily gone over the top.
18. Ian McKellen
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Widely regarded as one of greatest stage and screen actors both in his native Great Britain and internationally, twice nominated for the Oscar and recipient of every major theatrical award in the UK and US, Ian Murray McKellen was born on May 25, 1939 in Burnley, Lancashire, England, to Margery ...
Magneto - X-men
Sir Ian knows how to do angry outcast.
19. Anthony Hopkins
Actor | The Silence of the Lambs
Anthony Hopkins was born on December 31, 1937, in Margam, Wales, to Muriel Anne (Yeats) and Richard Arthur Hopkins, a baker. His parents were both of half Welsh and half English descent. Influenced by Richard Burton, he decided to study at College of Music and Drama and graduated in 1957. In 1965, ...
Odin - Thor
Best thing in Thor. Made Odin as 3 dimensional is that character could possibly be.
20. Brandon Lee
Actor | The Crow
Born on February 1, 1965 to Bruce Lee (Martial Arts idol) and Linda Lee Cadwell. Brother to Shannon Lee. In 1970-71, they moved to Hong Kong, where Brandon lived until age eight, becoming fluent in Cantonese. By the time he was able to walk, he was already involved in learning about martial arts ...
Eric Draven - The Crow
Makes you wonder what he could have done if he had live.
21. Hugo Weaving
Actor | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Hugo Wallace Weaving was born on April 4, 1960 in Nigeria, to English parents Anne (Lennard), a tour guide and teacher, and Wallace Weaving, a seismologist. Hugo has an older brother, Simon, and a younger sister, Anna, who both also live and work in Australia. During his early childhood, the ...
The Red Skull - Captain America
Only actor on the list twice. Great acting under heavy make up.
22. Peter Sarsgaard
Actor | Shattered Glass
Boyish-looking Peter Sarsgaard was born on March 7, 1971, at Scott Air Force Base, in Bellville, Illinois, to Judy Lea (Reinhardt) and John Dale Sarsgaard, an engineer who worked for the Air Force and later Monsanto and IBM. He is a graduate of St. Louis' Washington University, where he majored in ...
Hector Hammond - The Green Lantern
A layered performance in a not so layered movie.
23. Edward Norton
Actor | Fight Club
American actor, filmmaker and activist Edward Harrison Norton was born on August 18, 1969, in Boston, Massachusetts, and was raised in Columbia, Maryland.
His mother, Lydia Robinson "Robin" (Rouse), was a foundation executive and teacher of English, and a daughter of famed real estate developer ...
Bruce Banner - The Incredible Hulk
Him, I bought as Bruce Banner.
24. Samuel L. Jackson
Actor | Pulp Fiction
Samuel L. Jackson is an American producer and highly prolific actor, having appeared in over 100 films, including Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995), Unbreakable (2000), Shaft (2000), Formula 51 (2001), Black Snake Moan (2006), Snakes on a Plane (2006), and the Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999-2005), ...
Elijah Price - Unbreakable
An unorthodox villain in an unorthodox super hero movie.
25. Patrick Stewart
Actor | Logan
Sir Patrick Stewart was born in Mirfield, Yorkshire, England, to Gladys (Barrowclough), a textile worker and weaver, and Alfred Stewart, who was in the army. He was a member of various local drama groups from about age 12. He left school at age 15 to work as a junior reporter on a local paper; he ...
Professor X - X-men
Hard not to put Patrick Stewart on this list even though he, like most of the X-men, were terribly underused.
26. Chris Evans
Actor | The Avengers
Christopher Robert Evans is an American actor, film producer, and director. Evans began his acting career in typical fashion: performing in school productions and community theatre.
He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Lisa (Capuano), who worked at the Concord Youth Theatre, and G. ...
Steve Rogers - Captain America: The First Avenger
Super earnest performance, especially when he was little scrawny Steve Rogers.
27. Jennifer Lawrence
Actress | The Hunger Games
As the highest-paid actress in the world in 2015 and 2016, and with her films grossing over $5.5 billion worldwide, Jennifer Lawrence is often cited as the most successful actress of her generation. She is also the first person born in the 1990s to have won an acting Oscar.
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence...
Mystique - X-men: First Class
A simple performance in a tough role. Awesome when she forced Charles to deal with her blue self, naked.
28. Tobey Maguire
Actor | Brothers
Tobias Vincent Maguire was born in Santa Monica, California. His parents were 18 and 20, and not yet married, when he was born. His mother, Wendy (Brown), did advertising, publicity, and acting in Hollywood for years as she coached and managed Tobey. His father, Vincent Maguire, was a cook and ...
Peter Parker - Spiderman 2
Really effective performance of a kid in way over his head.
29. Bruce Willis
Actor | Die Hard
Actor and musician Bruce Willis is well known for playing wisecracking or hard-edged characters, often in spectacular action films. Collectively, he has appeared in films that have grossed in excess of $2.5 billion USD.
Walter Bruce Willis was born on March 19, 1955, in Idar-Oberstein, West Germany,...
David Dunn - Unbreakable
One of Bruce Willis' best performances.
30. Brian Cox
Actor | Succession
Brian Cox is an Emmy Award-winning Scottish actor. He was born on June 1, 1946 in Dundee, Scotland, to Mary Ann Guillerline Cox, maiden surname McCann, a spinner, and Charles McArdle Campbell Cox, a shopkeeper and butcher. His father was of Irish ancestry and his mother was of Irish and Scottish ...
Striker - X-men 2
One of the reasons X-men 2 is the best one.
31. Kevin Spacey
Actor | L.A. Confidential
Kevin Spacey Fowler, better known by his stage name Kevin Spacey, is an American actor of screen and stage, film director, producer, screenwriter and singer. He began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s before obtaining supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in...
Lex Luthor - Superman Returns
Chews up the scenery, but still super entertaining.
32. Willem Dafoe
Actor | Spider-Man
Having made over one hundred films in his legendary career, Willem Dafoe is internationally respected for bringing versatility, boldness, and daring to some of the most iconic films of our time. His artistic curiosity in exploring the human condition leads him to projects all over the world, large ...
Green Goblin - Spiderman
Good at playing crazy, but still real.
33. Michael Keaton
Actor | Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Quirky, inventive and handsome American actor Michael Keaton first achieved major fame with his door-busting performance as fast-talking ideas man Bill Blazejowski, alongside a nerdish morgue attendant (Henry Winkler), in Night Shift (1982). He played further comedic roles in Mr. Mom (1983), Johnny...
Batman - Batman
Lots of great moments in that first film.
34. Michael Wincott
Actor | Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Widely respected among peers for his fearless commitment, Michael Anthony Claudio Wincott was born to an English father and Italian mother in Scarborough, a working class suburb of Toronto. His career began fortuitously in 1976 at the CBC, cast by Deidre Bowen, Clare Walker and director Mike Newell...
Top Dollar - The Crow
Best goth gangster in film.
35. Ryan Reynolds
Actor | Deadpool 2
Ryan Rodney Reynolds was born on October 23, 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the youngest of four children. His father, James Chester Reynolds, was a food wholesaler, and his mother, Tamara Lee "Tammy" (Stewart), worked as a retail-store saleswoman. He has Irish and Scottish ancestry. ...
Hal Jordan - The Green Lantern
Charming and funny, like most of Ryan Reynolds' roles.
36. Mark Strong
Actor | 1917
British actor Mark Strong, who played Jim Prideaux in the 2011 remake of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), is often cast as cold, calculating villains. But before he became a famous actor, he intended to pursue a career in law.
Strong was born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia in London, England, to an ...
Sinestro - The Green Lantern
Perfect casting.
37. Chris Hemsworth
Actor | Snow White and the Huntsman
Christopher "Chris" Hemsworth was born on August 11, 1983 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to Leonie Hemsworth (née van Os), an English teacher & Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counselor. His brothers are actors, Liam Hemsworth & Luke Hemsworth; he is of Dutch (from his immigrant maternal ...
Thor - Thor
Did very well in kind of a thankless role.
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