I’ve seen a lot of superhero movies, to put it mildly. A lot a lot. I love superheroes as a concept, and so the focus on them in the last twenty years or so has been like catnip to me. Some of them, I’ve loved (on this list, duh). Some of them I’ve scratched my head at (All the X-men). Some of them I loved at the time but had second thoughts about later (Looking at you, Snyderverse). This genre is probably my favorite, though I do admit to having superhero fatigue once in a while. So, whittling this list down to five favorites was kind of a challenge, but I put in the work and got there. I write this list as a fan, not as a film critic. I am not here to tell you what a good superhero movie should include/not include, I’m just talking about the ones that I love.
Five – Blue Beetle (2023)
This movie is a joy. The origin story of a legacy hero, also a brilliant look at an immigrant family. The lead character is in over his head and full of charisma. The stakes are as personal as they are world-changing, and there’s even a cute romance that doesn’t feel shoehorned in. The cast is stacked on all sides, though unknowns take the lead. I’m really hoping they follow-up on this one, though it seems kind of orphaned since the DCU has come to be.
Four -Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
I hesitated to include this one because though it is a marvel movie, I’m not sure the characters, as presented in the film, really qualify as superheroes per se, but its an adaptation of the comics and the action is heroic, so I decided it belonged here. I loved the found family aspect of this, as well as the worlds-shattering plotline. It’s funny where it means to be and heartfelt in some of the same places. I love this band of reprobates and cheered when they finally got their shit together (it was close). I enjoyed the later movies as well, though kind of wish they had just done their own things and had not gotten caught up in the MCU crossover nonsense, which kind of hijacked some of the characters. But this first movie, before all of that happened, was just about perfect.
Three – Thunderbolts (2025)
Another band of lovable losers. Similar in vibes to the Guardians of the Galaxy, but much more focused on their own trauma. This movie manages to put them through their paces while being psychologically real. They’re much more damaged than the Guardians were. But the story of how they come together to be heroes despite all of that was really moving, and I’m hoping for more from this team (given box office results, it’s not likely, I know). Also, they made a whole-ass superhero movie about shadow work, and that is an amazing accomplishment.
Two – Black Panther (2018)
This one sat on my top spot for years. Love the epic scope, and the way the character was wrapped in layers of legacy, while still having to fight for his birthright. Chadwick Boseman inhabited the role like no one else could have, and it gave us a pretty great moral quandary along with the epic super-heroics. What if the villain was right? This movie felt as much like an Afrofuturist sci-fi novel as a marvel movie, adding some much-needed gravitas to the universe
One – Superman
I have a love/hate relationship with James Gunn. In that, I either love his movies, or absolutely hate them. I am never lukewarm. I Loved Guardians (obvs), I hated his Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, and Creature Commandos. And I love this. Gunn understands the character of Superman better than any other filmmaker I’ve seen. Supes is a boy scout, who tries to do the right thing, and that is his strength. He has a moral code he lives by. The character does not need to be deconstructed (ahem, Snyder, ahem). He’s not perfect, he makes mistakes, but he is well-intentioned, and he is not trying to lord his power over the rest of us. Gunn understood that and made it the core of the movie, while ably using the rest of the usual cast of superman characters, and giving us a look at the wider universe. His Lois Lane is brilliant and aids the plot through her own efforts, not through contrivance. The love story is sweet and somewhat complicated. And Krypto as a chaos goblin rescue dog was a delight. I loved this movie so much and was thrilled by nearly every scene. I hope Gunn can keep it up.
Those are my top 5. What are yours?