The 30 Greatest Superhero Movies of All Time

16 min readLast year, my editors gave me an assignment: “Rank the greatest superhero movies of all time.” That was it. No restrictions, no parameters. Total freedom. They basically gave a bored teenager the keys to dad’s Mustang, and I was determined to burn through the entire tank.It was the eve of James Gunn’s Superman, and the relaunch of the blueprint of all superheroes felt like the right occasion for Esquire to look back on superhero cinema. If you ask the Internet, this was apparently a bad idea. After our original story was published in late July 2025, superhero fans lost their minds.Reddit and gaming forums had a field day picking us apart. Twitter trolls flooded my mentions for days. Smarmy YouTube creators, many with the same microphones, expressed bewilderment that Avengers: Infinity War wasn’t mentioned while they also Googled “Kamen Rider.” Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld accused me of being on crack. I am not on crack, Rob Liefeld.Allow me, Eric Francisco, to clarify one more time what this is about: the greatest superhero movies of all time.But what makes a superhero movie “great,” really? What actually warrants the recognition? Is it artistic achievement? Is it the progression and evolution of craft? Is it when a superhero movie can still tell a real story—about ourselves, about our values, about who we are—that pays no mind to the endless merchandising, egos, and demands of shareholders? Is it how just one movie can open the doors a little wider for marginalized voices? Is it all of the above? Or is it something else entirely?The superhero genre takes root in the plights of Jewish immigrants living in early 20th-century America; it is now the source behind a billion-dollar business that exports American influence around the world. In crafting the list of the “greatest superhero movies ever made,” I tried to split the difference between impact on art, culture, and commerce, and a sense of authorship in a structure that so often cares little about whose names adorn the credits.For as much as we romanticize superhero stories, the comic book industry has long discounted the writers and illustrators who fill out the pages. We’ve seen generations of all-time great comic artists crowdsource for health care. When the production of the first Superman was underway in the late seventies, Jerry Siegel was working at a post office with almost no savings despite his creation raking in millions for DC Comics. Comics are a work-for-hire job, but the disproportion of their creative impact and how they are rewarded often feels like an injustice.When I was assigned the story, my colleagues trusted my instincts and expertise. Because I’ve spent the majority of my twelve-year career writing about superhero entertainment. Business and art are so tangled in this specific space, where corporate mascots become avatars for the artists’ aspirations and anxieties. In coming up with a list of great superhero films, I strove to highlight that particular tension: What superhero movies, however made by committee by default, still feel like the perspective of an individual? They’re abstract criteria, I admit. It isn’t a hard science; evaluating the worth of art shouldn’t ever be. Maybe I didn’t get it right. Maybe I still don’t. But ultimately I strove to curate a list that showcases all that we love about superhero movies—a list of films you can hand to someone who doesn’t know a thing or two about this magical genre, and you can say, “This is it.” These movies, and the comics they’re adapted from, permit us to imagine ourselves with power, and what responsibilities may come along with it. The following list retains the same list from 2025, along with five more that, I hope, prove what I’ve been trying to say all along.These are the 30 greatest superhero movies ever made. If you want to talk, don’t subtweet me. Put me on your YouTube show or podcast. Let’s talk. You know where to find me.30. Punisher: War Zone (2008)2008 was a busy year for superheroes. The Marvel Cinematic Universe launched with Iron Man, The Dark Knight raised the bar, Hancock had a flying Will Smith, and Edward Norton was (briefly) the Hulk. But tucked between was Lexi Alexander’s R-rated, underappreciated shoot-‘em-up Punisher: War Zone.A stand-alone reboot and the third Punisher film after the 1989 Dolph Lundgren disaster and less-than-stellar 2004 The Punisher, War Zone lives up to its comic roots to feel like a John Romita Jr. cover given flesh. Until Jon Bernthal came along, the late Ray Stevenson was the best live-action Punisher and anchored this moody yet maximalist gem that nodded to Hong Kong’s heroic bloodshed period. Lexi Alexander made genre history as the first female director of a superhero movie (if we don’t split hairs over Tank Girl), and her execution on Punisher: War Zone strikes the balance between the gaudy and the sublime.Prime Video Roku29. Guyver: Dark Hero (1994)When Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was the biggest thing on Saturday mornings, video store regulars got their fix for gritty tokusatsu violence with Guyver, a duology based on Yoshiki Takaya’s manga series. While the 1991 film starring Mark Hamill (who, despite its deceptive poster, was not the hero) is noteworthy, the direct-to-video sequel Guyver: Dark Hero from 1994 has become a badass cult classic of its own. With Steve Wang alone at the helm, and David Hayter in the lead role, Dark Hero’s creature effects and grimier atmosphere elevate it above its predecessor and level up American tokusatsu filmmaking. If the Power Rangers weren’t held back by TV-Y7 broadcast restrictions, they would probably kick as much ass as Guyver: Dark Hero.Prime Video28. Blade II (2002)For as much as X-Men (2000) gets credit for popularizing superhero movies, it ran in the shadow of 1998’s Blade. When Wesley Snipes’ attempts to get a Black Panther film in the nineties failed, he pivoted to Blade and morphed the semi-obscure Marvel antihero from “gothic Shaft” to the swaggering Daywalker we know him now. The first Blade is good, great even, but Blade II—with future Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro as its director—actually did justice to the character with a stronger story, impressive monster effects, and the legendary Donnie Yen as choreographer. (Though Yen has confessed he hated his time on the film due to a lack of respect for his craft by the producers.) Blade II only suffers because in 2002, no one knew how great these movies could really be.Prime Video27. Iron Man (2008)In a way, the Marvel Cinematic Universe was built out of boxes of scraps. In the late 2000s, the fledgling Marvel Studios couldn’t access characters like Spider-Man and X-Men, and was left with “obscure” rejects to make into movies. Among the benchwarmers? Iron Man. And it’s because of Iron Man in 2008 that that factoid is hard to fathom now.The MCU launched in earnest in 2008, with a redemptive Robert Downey Jr. anchoring the screen as a hedonist genius with a God complex in Jon Favreau’s first summer tentpole. While Marvel movies have since delivered bigger and better than Iron Man, this popcorn crowd-pleaser is hard to ignore as the warning shot that told audiences, in no uncertain terms, that superheroes would never be the same again.Prime Video Disney+26. The Heroic Trio (1993)Any superhero ranking looking to include Hong Kong cinema may be quick to include The Super Inframan, the Ultraman-like oddity from the Shaw Brothers, or Black Mask, a Jet Li joint from 1996. But Johnnie To’s The Heroic Trio outclasses them all. Released in 1993, when Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, and Maggie Cheung were sitting pretty as Hong Kong’s biggest superstars, they assembled for this mashup of comic book heroics and high-flying wuxia. The three star as masked vigilantes with powers and abilities who team up to stop a magical villain from carrying out a cursed ritual.Those unfamiliar with wuxia may be left cold by The Heroic Trio’s premium on style over substance. But Yeoh, Mui, and Cheung’s combined presence and magnetism are almost too much for one movie to contain. Good thing there’s a sequel.Prime Video HBO Max25. Thunderbolts* (2025)Thunderbolts* reinvigorated the once-dominant Marvel franchise, even if only for a little while. Anchored by Florence Pugh, who reprises her role as Yelena Belova from 2021's Black Widow, Thunderbolts* follows an ensemble of B-tier antiheroes (and one Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan) who form a new team to stop the one person who got them together in the first place. Time will ultimately tell what legacy Thunderbolts* leaves behind, but this found family picture is not just shockingly good—it's great.Prime Video Disney+24. Shazam! (2019)Once upon a time, Shazam comics were even more popular than Superman. Decades later, the Big Red Cheese finally got his big budget movie in David F. Sandberg's Shazam!—and to the surprise of everyone, it was truly superb.Essentially a comic book riff on Big with Tom Hanks, Shazam! tells the story of an orphaned teen named Billy Batson (Asher Angel) who is gifted godlike powers by a wizard (Djimon Hounsou). With just one word, Billy transforms into the adult superhero, Shazam (Zachary Levi). Hilarious, heartfelt, and surprisingly mature without sacrificing any boyhood whimsy, Shazam! feels like a bolt of lightning that hits you right on the chest. It's one hell of a Christmas movie, too.Prime Video HBO Max23. Super (2010)Before James Gunn made his mark on both the Marvel and DC universes, he unleashed his own masked punisher in Super. Released in 2010, this pitch-black dark comedy follows a fry cook (Rainn Wilson) who tries to rescue his estranged wife (Liv Tyler) from a charismatic criminal (Kevin Bacon). His plan? Don the mask and wield the scarlet tools of the Crimson Bolt! A portrait of doomed marriages and men in crisis, Super foreshadows Gunn's capacity to tell stories of deeply flawed people whose costumes can't hide their open wounds.Prime Video Paramount+ Tubi22. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)During the apex of Marvel's dominance, arguably the least interesting of the MCU's character roster—Chris Hemsworth's Thor—took on a new tone in Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok. The movie sees Hemsworth's Strongest Avenger reunite with the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Together, they must stop an ancient menace from Asgard: Hela (Cate Blanchett).Both a loving homage to Thor's cosmic comics from the 1980s and an inventive buddy action with deadpan Waititi humor, Thor: Ragnarok electrifies with an onslaught of color, comedy, and sick Led Zeppelin needle-drops.Prime Video Disney+21. Watchmen (2009)Arguing that Watchmen is a great superhero movie feels like saying Rorschach is your favorite superhero. There's just something misguided about calling it a “superhero movie” that feels like it's missing the point. Even so, there's no denying that Zack Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' saga is a sight to behold.A mostly faithful retelling of the award-winning graphic novel, Watchmen takes place in an alternate 1986 when superhero activities are outlawed by a fifth-term Nixon presidency. Meanwhile, the disparate members of the Watchmen race to track down who's killing other superheroes before they're killed too. Much like looking into Rorschach's mask, everyone has a different opinion about what they saw in Watchmen.Prime Video HBO Max20. Superman II (1980)Kneel before Superman II! In the canon of sequels that are maybe better than the original, Superman II stands tall. While Christopher Reeve still shines as the Man of Steel, his showdown against a trio of Kryptonian criminals—led by General Zod (Terence Stamp)—is either pretty good or excellent, depending on which version you're watching. For most people, 2006's Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut reigns supreme over its 1980 theatrical release, which was completed by Richard Lester after original director Richard Donner left production.Prime Video HBO Max19. Avengers: Endgame (2019)One year before the COVID-19 pandemic, audiences everywhere jammed into theaters to witness history in Avengers: Endgame. The culmination of Marvel's years-long Infinity Saga, Avengers: Endgame sees the fallen heroes pick themselves up five years after their battle with Thanos. Their plan? Travel back in time and retrieve the scattered Infinity Stones. Avengers: Endgame might not make a lick of sense to anyone who didn't follow its saga from the start, but the film was a rewarding finale for the truest of Marvel's believers. It was the end of the beginning for the MCU—and, perhaps, the beginning of the end.Prime Video Disney+18. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)In 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy got everyone hooked on a feeling. James Gunn's first big-budget tentpole for Marvel Studios made everyone fall for Chris Pratt's abs and a talking tree voiced by Vin Diesel. But as good as Guardians was, the 2017 sequel was even better. Picking up with the Guardians entrenched in their roles as heroes for hire, the group begins to fracture when they meet the strange being Ego (Kurt Russell), who turns out to be Star-Lord's genetic father.Brimming with color on its slick sci-fi surface, Vol. 2 packs a harder punch than its predecessor with a comparatively darker story about the real meaning of family—never mind the adorable Baby Groot paving the way for Grogu in The Mandalorian.Prime Video Disney+17. Shin Kamen Rider (2023)Imagine if David Cronenberg directed Spider-Man. That's the vibe of Shin Kamen Rider, written and directed by Neon Genesis Evangelion creator Hideaki Anno.A reboot of the 1971 television series from Japan, Shin Kamen Rider follows college student and motorcyclist Takeshi Hongo (The Last Samurai's Sosuke Ikematsu) after he's kidnapped by a terrorist group named SHOCKER and transformed into a half-dead cyborg with superhuman powers. Aided by SHOCKER defectors, Takeshi uses his powers to stop his creators from world domination.Shin Kamen Rider was part of Anno’s “Shin” reboots, alongside Shin Godzilla in 2016 and Shin Ultraman in 2022. Shin Kamen Rider comes off like a genuine love letter to tokusatsu superheroes from a filmmaker who really grew up with them. Anyone fatigued by Marvel and DC’s hegemonic tentpoles can find a worthy introduction to Japan’s own rich tradition of superheroes in Shin Kamen Rider.Prime Video16. Hellboy (2004)Hellboy was not Guillermo del Toro's first dance with superhero movies. But his 2004 film adaptation of the Dark Horse comic book series Hellboy is on another level, better suiting del Toro's gothic voice and storybook vision.Based on the comics by Mike Mignola, Hellboy stars Ron Perlman as a demon from Hell adopted by a kind scientist (John Hurt) during World War II. Decades later, he grows into "Hellboy," a swole government agent whose work investigating the paranormal gets personal when a sorcerer tries to trigger the apocalypse. Hellboy is a sinfully great superhero movie—one that survives the test of time thanks to its practical effects and the eye of a true auteur.Prime Video Tubi15. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)The Russo brothers' first outing with Marvel Studios set a high bar. A direct sequel to the 2011 hit Captain America: The First Avenger and a follow-up to The Avengers, The Winter Soldier marks the return of Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) to the screen. America's hero goes on the run after his S.H.I.E.L.D. organization is unmasked as a puppet group for the evil HYDRA. Along the way, Steve confronts an old face: Bucky (Sebastian Stan), now weaponized as the brainwashed Winter Soldier.Easily one of the best movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America: The Winter Soldier wears its seventies political thriller cosplay with gusto, right down to Robert Redford as the villainous Alexander Pierce.Prime Video Disney+14. The Crow (1995)While haunted by the loss of Brandon Lee, who died during its production, The Crow endures as a gothic tour de force that feels unlike any superhero flick before.Based on the James O'Barr comic books, The Crow sees the resurrection of a rock star (Lee) who is afforded a shot at revenge against the men who killed him and his wife on Halloween night. Dimly lit but bright in its heart and soul—with a magnetic lead tragically taken too soon—The Crow is a superhero for all the lost and lonely. Even for them, it can't rain all the time.Prime Video13. Logan (2017)20th Century Fox billed Logan as a farewell to Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart's famous X-Men roles—and for a few beautiful years, it was. After helming 2013's The Wolverine, writer-director James Mangold returned to help Jackman walk into the sunset in Logan, a sci-fi neo-Western that took many of its cues from the comic book Old Man Logan and the 1953 classic Western Shane.Set in a distant future after the extinction of mutants, Jackman returns as the grizzled Wolverine—now dying from adamantium poisoning. Hoping to wither in obscurity, Logan is tasked with one last mission: escort his genetic "daughter" Laura (Dafne Keen) to safety. Even though Deadpool & Wolverine made a joke out of desecrating the corpse of Wolverine (and even brought back Dafne Keen), Logan stays pure. It's a true masterpiece of genre cinema for a generation practically raised on Jackman's scowling ferocity.Prime Video Disney+12. The Batman (2022)During a transitional moment for the DC franchise, filmmaker Matt Reeves proved that audiences don't need cameos and Easter eggs to flock to a good superhero movie. All viewers really want is vision, and The Batman has it in spades.A stand-alone movie set in a whole new universe, The Batman stars Robert Pattinson as the Caped Crusader in his early years as he is challenged by a criminal mastermind, Riddler (Paul Dano). In this grimy Gotham City teeming with nocturnal animals, the Batman is just as treacherous as the villains who stand in his way.Prime Video HBO Max11. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)“All right, let's do this one last time...” So begins Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a system shock to all our Spidey senses when it hit theaters in 2018. Co-directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse follows Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a Brooklyn teenager whose bite from a radioactive spider kicks off a dimension-spanning adventure under the tutelage of Spider-Man (Jake Johnson).A landmark release in animation, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse earned its place in the multiverse with its arresting comic book-inspired visuals, freewheeling sensibilities, and refreshing reinvention of an icon.Prime Video Netflix10. Batman (1989)Superman more or less birthed the superhero movie in 1978, but Tim Burton's 1989 take on Batman matured it. Michael Keaton (once a controversial choice) stars as billionaire Bruce Wayne, who leads a double life as the caped crusader. His war on crime heats up with the arrival of the Joker (Jack Nicholson), a crazed lunatic with a rictus grin. Stylistically inspired by Miller's The Dark Knight Returns with unexpected touches of the 1966 television series, Batman may not be a perfect movie, but Keaton's a downright perfect Batman.Prime Video HBO Max9. X2: X-Men United (2003)When X-Men struck box-office gold in 2000, Hollywood grew enamored by comic book IP. As studios got to scooping up whatever rights they could get, Fox wasted no time releasing X2: X-Men United in 2003, a sequel that only gets better with time. In this politically minded second outing, the X-Men are chased out of Professor Xavier's school by the genocidal Colonel William Stryker (Succession's Brian Cox). They reluctantly team up with their enemies, Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, for the survival of all their kind. Nightcrawler’s opening invasion of the White House is still breathtaking.Prime Video Disney+8. Unbreakable (2000)Before the cultural ascendancy of superheroes in the new millennium, horror director M. Night Shyamalan looked to comic books for his cerebral psychological thriller, Unbreakable. Bruce Willis plays a security guard in a failing marriage who discovers he wields near-superhuman strength and invincibility. He is mentored on his journey of self-discovery by the enigmatic yet untrustworthy fine art dealer, Elijah (Samuel L. Jackson).While Unbreakable eventually expanded into a trilogy alongside Split (2017) and Glass (2019), it’s a strong enough feature that stands on its own merits.Prime Video7. Wonder Woman (2017)Gal Gadot's first onscreen appearance as Wonder Woman sadly arrived in the oppressively dark Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Thankfully, her 2017 solo Wonder Woman film—which chronicles her origin story—is the true heart and soul of the DC trinity. Set in World War I, Wonder Woman sees Diana of Themyscira enter the world of men for the first time in an attempt to stop Ares, the god of war, from destroying the planet. Directed by Patty Jenkins, Wonder Woman proved at last that women can not only lead superhero movies, but also lead Hollywood to box office success.Prime Video HBO Max6. Black Panther (2018)Spinning off from 2016's Captain America: Civil War, the seismic Black Panther elevated Marvel Studios and superhero movies of all stripes to a new level of prominence. Written and directed by Ryan Coogler, the movie follows the new king of Wakanda, T'Challa (the late Chadwick Boseman), as he wrestles with his royal responsibilities in the face of a dangerous outsider (Michael B. Jordan). A seminal work of Afrofuturism in mainstream Hollywood, Black Panther was a game changer in every way possible.Prime Video Disney+5. The Incredibles (2004)Written and directed by Brad Bird, Pixar's The Incredibles chronicles the un-retirement of former superhero Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), who is invited by a mysterious entity to relive his glory days through secret missions. A playful metaphor of the uneven work-life balance of adulthood, The Incredibles is an affectionate pastiche of everything from the Fantastic Four to Watchmen, and is buoyed by a terrific spy-fi score by Michael Giacchino. The Incredibles is so refreshing, it makes the Silver Age look as good as new.Prime Video Disney+4. The Avengers (2012)A long time ago in Burbank, California, Marvel had an idea: Assemble a team of remarkable superheroes to see if they could become something more. In 2012, The Avengers accomplished that mission. After the successive hits of Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (2011), and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), the disparate heroes came together for The Avengers, a crossover extravaganza that broke through the billion-dollar benchmark and cemented Marvel's dominance for the rest of the decade. Though Marvel would find even greater box-office windfall and critical acclaim in the years to come, it's impossible to ignore the impact the Avengers made when they first teamed up.Prime Video Disney+3. The Dark Knight (2008)"Why so serious?" With just three words, the late Heath Ledger found immortality in his performance as the Joker in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. Still, a great villain is just the cherry on top of this cinematic sundae. Picking up from 2005's Batman Begins, Christian Bale returns as Batman, who, along with principled district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), gets caught up in a war between Gotham City's crime families and a lone wolf called the Joker. Nolan's superhero sequel is a crime epic in disguise, a synthesis of influences ranging from tales like The Long Halloween and The Killing Joke with Michael Mann’s Heat.Prime Video HBO Max2. Spider-Man 2 (2004)In 2004, it seemed impossible that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire could top what they accomplished with Spider-Man in 2002. But the sequel, Spider-Man 2, spun a miracle. Following the events of Spider-Man, Peter Parker (Maguire) questions if his efforts as Spider-Man are actually worth all that he's losing, chief among them Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). He springs to action when one of his idols, Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina), becomes the menacing "Doc Ock." Along with its now iconic set pieces, Spider-Man 2's shattering core about placing civic responsibilities above personal happiness is superhero storytelling at its absolute peak.Prime Video Disney+1. Superman (1978)The big bang of superhero cinema, Richard Donner's monumental Superman from 1978 truly made us all believe that a man could fly. The late Christopher Reeve memorably stars as Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, whose true identity as Superman is obscured behind his glasses. At once a revolutionary blockbuster and a sweeping workplace rom-com—with Margot Kidder as firecracker Lois Lane—Superman paved the way for the superhero movies thereafter; Marvel’s own Kevin Feige has said that Superman is the movie that Marvel studies from before every project. You simply don’t get anything like Avengers: Infinity War without Superman.Prime Video HBO Max