55 Best Superhero Movies Of All Time, Ranked

If you took a time machine to the late 1980s and revealed to any Wizard Magazine-reading nerd that the coming decades would introduce the public to characters like Groot, that nerd would certainly call you a liar. But indeed, superhero movies have evolved from being a genre Hollywood didn't quite know how to approach into basically the only type of blockbuster films that consistently make a ton of money. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe can still claim dominance over superheroes on film, it's far from the only game in town. Fans can enjoy icons like Wonder Woman, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Wolverine in a wide variety of movies, with more coming out every year.

But with so many cape-and-cowl movies available, a significant question emerges: Which flicks stand above the rest? We're here to answer that question by ranking the 55 best superhero movies of all time, from the merely amazing to the absolutely stupendous. How does your favorite superhero movie stack up? Let's dig in and find out.

The '90s produced as many superhero spoofs as earnest entries into the genre, but "Orgazmo" — an early feature by "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker — is not interested in making fun of superheroes exclusively. It also skewers the rigidity of organized religion and the adult film industry. In "Orgazmo," a devout Mormon becomes an adult film star who never actually engages in intercourse on camera. However, he does fight crime with his unmatched martial arts expertise and the "Orgazmorator" ray gun. We're not allowed to say what this device does, but we bet you can guess. Did we mention this movie is NC-17? Because it's NC-17. 

• Starring: Trey Parker, Dian Bachar, Robyn Lynne Raab
• Director: Trey Parker
• Year: 1997
• Runtime: 90 minutes 
• Rating: NC-17
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 47%

A quintessential childhood film for a swath of the millennial generation, the inaugural cinematic journey of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles draws heavily from the original graphic novels by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. A mysterious crime wave is engulfing New York City, and only the Turtles can stop it. But when Master Splinter, their wise mentor, is captured, what are they supposed to do? Team up with new allies like news reporter April O'Neil, of course. Considering its technical innovations and kid-friendly metaphors for grown-up subject matter, this movie could be discussed alongside puppetry-based fantasy staples like 1982's "The Dark Crystal" and 1986's "Labyrinth," except it made too much money to qualify as a cult classic.   

• Starring: Judith Hoag, Elias Koteas, Josh Pais
• Director: Steve Barron
• Year: 1990
• Runtime: 93 minutes
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 41%

While the 1960s "Batman" series doesn't take itself seriously, its version of the Dynamic Duo are not messing around with their quest to make Gotham a safe and prosperous city. You might even say this Batman and Robin are serious men in an unserious world. In this movie, which spins out from the program, the Bright Knight's most devious foes form an organization known as the United Underworld, whose plot involves turning diplomats into powder with a dehydration gun. On a separate occasion, their plot involves an exploding shark. Yes, it's goofy — and fun as all get-out.

• Starring: Adam West, Burt Ward, Cesar Romero
• Director: Leslie H. Martinson
• Year: 1966
• Runtime: 105 minutes
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Immortal enemies Charles Xavier and Magneto are friends and allies in this movie, which explores the X-Men's early '60s origins. Brought together by ideals and experience, the two men head up what will become Marvel's most famous band of mutants. But as the world changes, so do they. Which future should mutants pursue: Xavier's vision of coexistence, or Magneto's dream of "homo superior" supremacy? The fact that this film has barely any Wolverine in it, yet still manages to entertain, is a testament to its originality and verve.

• Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence
• Director: Matthew Vaughn
• Year: 2011
• Runtime: 126 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

A reverent depiction of one of the most enduring origin stories in comics, "Wonder Woman" stands apart from the pack on two major counts. For one thing, it's a World War I period piece; for another, its leads have shockingly vivid romantic chemistry. After pilot Steve Trevor crash-lands on Themyscira, island of the Amazons, Princess Diana must join the fight ravaging the planet. But Ares, immortal enemy of peace, is ready for her and her allegedly god-killing sword. A sweeping story packed with engaging performances, "Wonder Woman" does right by a comic book icon.

• Starring: Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen
• Director: Patty Jenkins
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 141 minutes 
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Batman headlines a lot of terrific movies, but this is the only one that ends with every denizen of Gotham City — even the evil ones – dancing and singing along to an upbeat tune extolling the virtues of friendship. This refreshingly offbeat spin on The Dark Knight pits him against the Joker, but also his own irascibility. People — especially eager young Robin — want to be part of his life, but he insists on solitude. Can Batman learn the value of friendship before it's too late? As acerbic as it is endearing, "The Lego Batman Movie" is a celebration of comic book tropes, found families, and, of course, little plastic building blocks.

• Starring: Will Arnett, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson
• Director: Chris McKay
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 106 minutes
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn — the only thing everyone seems to agree works in 2016's "Suicide Squad" — breaks up with the Joker and embarks upon a crime spree of her own in "Birds Of Prey." Members of Gotham's supporting cast previously unseen in the DC Extended Universe — Huntress, Renee Montoya, Cassandra Cain, and Black Canary — make their first appearances here, as Harley's unlikely band of butt-kickers. They're out to take down underworld boss Roman Sionis — but can they truly tackle his empire of cruelty? The energy of this movie is "Deadpool" meets "Heathers" on literal roller skates.

• Starring: Margot Robbie, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
• Director: Cathy Yan
• Year: 2020
• Runtime: 109 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%

Ryan Reynolds spun a career-defining triumph out of total humiliation with "Deadpool." While he technically plays Wade Wilson in 2009's "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," that movie's version of Deadpool has functionally nothing in common with Marvel's beloved absurdist antihero. Reynolds and director Tim Miller made darn sure to get Wade right on the second try. After he's left permanently disfigured (but also unkillable) by brutal experimentation, Wade Wilson becomes Deadpool, a fourth-wall-breaking maniac out for revenge and the cure for his condition. What results is loaded with stunningly gratuitous violence, gut-busting hilarity, and one of the greatest X-Men team-ups ever.

• Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein
• Director: Tim Miller
• Year: 2016
• Runtime: 108 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Loosely inspired by a 1982 miniseries by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, "The Wolverine" rehabs Hugh Jackman's Logan by sending him on a self-contained adventure in Japan — literally the other side of the world from any physical reminder of the other X-Men. There, he's stripped of his healing ability, confronted with the ghosts of his past, and forced to battle high-tech samurai. "The Wolverine" feels like the first cinematic X-Men tale in which Logan's virtual immortality meaningfully informs the story, which proves to be a memorable hook.

• Starring: Hugh Jackman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Famke Janssen
• Director: James Mangold
• Year: 2013
• Runtime: 126 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 71%

While the inaugural pair of DCEU movies — "Man of Steel" and "Batman v. Superman" — are known for their polarizing grimness, "Shazam!" offers a much brighter take on its source material that still manages to keep its feet on the ground. During an otherwise normal subway ride, young Billy Batson comes into contact with an ancient wizard, who names Billy as his champion. Empowered to become the grown-up superhero Shazam whenever he speaks that magical name aloud, Billy gains new abilities that help him fight Dr. Sivana. But more importantly, they allow him to bond with his foster family.

• Starring: Zachary Levi, Mark Strong, Asher Angel
• Director: David F. Sandberg
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 132 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Eventual prestige filmmaker Guillermo del Toro guides what could've been a rote supernatural martial arts caper into an achievement of campy B-movie blood 'n guts in this killer film. Evil vampires recruit human-vampire hybrid Blade to help them fight even evil-er vampires. Can this unlikely team-up prevail before the planet is scoured of all life? "Blade II" is exciting, bizarre, and entertaining as heck. It's only flaw: It might also leave you with an inflated notion of techno music's popularity during the early '00s.    

• Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman
• Director: Guillermo del Toro
• Year: 2002
• Runtime: 116 minutes
• Rating: 2002
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 58%

Tom Holland's second solo Spider-Man sojourn sends the gang from the Midtown School of Science and Technology on a European fieldtrip. Peter hopes to take a break from doing Spider-Man stuff and spend some time with MJ, but inexplicable attacks from building-sized elemental monsters screw that plan up entirely. Good thing the evidently benign Quentin Beck is here to help ... right? All the while, Peter (and the world) grieves Tony Stark, who seems to have left an unfillable chasm at the heart of the superheroic world.

• Starring: Tom Holland, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal
• Director: Jon Watts
• Year: 2019
• Runtime: 129 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

The launch of a whole new Batman begins as an obsessive, grim iteration of Bruce Wayne prowls a particularly dark Gotham City. "The Batman" places extra emphasis on the Caped Crusader's reputation as a detective, as he hunts a flamboyant serial killer version of the Riddler and unravels a criminal conspiracy that ties together many of Gotham's business and political elites. To his shock, this includes Thomas Wayne.      

• Starring: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright
• Director: Matt Reeves
• Year: 2022
• Runtime: 176 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

The third Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland is a culmination of almost two decades' worth of storytelling across two major film studios and three fictional universes. It's hard to even imagine such a scenario ever coming to pass — just as it's hard to imagine a more heartfelt celebration of the wall-crawler's legacy in movies. Peter Parker has accidentally ripped open the multiverse, which draws enemies from the Spidey-verses headed up by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. Add in some devastating losses and an unforgettable choice that will change Peter's life forever, and you have a truly great modern superhero movie.

• Starring: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch
• Director: Jon Watts
• Year: 2021
• Runtime: 148 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

Literally 20 years ahead of its time, "Mystery Men" clearly would've been a gargantuan hit in 2019: Its sensibilities run alongside superhero satires like "The Boys" and "Deadpool." Mr. Furious' power is that he gets really, really angry. The Shoveler shovels exceptionally well. Carol carries a bowling ball that's haunted by the poltergeist of her overbearing father. Captain Amazing is a big-name crimefighter far more obsessed with his image than saving the world. Together, they're out to save Champion City. While we didn't appreciate it during its debut, we can at least celebrate "Mystery Men" today as one of the first truly offbeat cape flicks.

• Starring: Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, Janeane Garofalo
• Director: Kinka Usher
• Year: 1999
• Runtime: 120 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 61%

Whether Scott Pilgrim himself deserves superhero status is certainly a debatable matter, however, "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" is certainly a comic book movie with superheroes in it. Michael Cera is at his all-time most Michael Cera-ish as the lead, who must fight mysterious Ramona Flowers' scariest one-time paramours if he wants to date her. Infused with video game and indie rock references, "Scott Pilgrim" plays out like a thought experiment: What if "Ready Player One" had more self-awareness? Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, and Brie Larson all throw down in the supporting cast. 

• Starring: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin
• Director: Edgar Wright
• Year: 2010
• Runtime: 112 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 82%

Tim Burton's "Batman" established the template for modern Batflicks. Whereas Adam West's Bruce of the '60s tells us to fasten our seatbelts and look both ways before crossing the street, Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne will get nuts if circumstances demand that he do so. And boy, do they demand it: He must face off against Jack Nicholson's Joker in this flick, who so ably performs the role, it took Heath Ledger's career-defining take on the Joker to eclipse him. This Gotham City is weird, mean, glamorous, and still one-of-a-kind.

• Starring: Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger
• Director: Tim Burton
• Year: 1989
• Runtime: 126 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72%

You can't have a real conversation about superhero movies without a lot of focus on Batman, and you can't have a real conversation about Batman in media without discussing "Batman: The Animated Series." The theatrically-released "Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" is basically a feature-length episode of the series. It's also one of the more effective deep dives into Batman's inner motivations and conflicts ever committed to celluloid. Here, the Caped Crusader must confront his past when a masked killer cuts a wide swath through Gotham City's underground. But the truth is even more intense than he ever could have imagined.

• Starring: Kevin Conroy, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Bob Hastings
• Director: Eric Radomski, Bruce Timm
• Year: 1993
• Runtime: 76 minutes
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

While its legacy is dominated by the on-set death of 28-year-old star Brandon Lee, "The Crow" successfully channeled the grim urban warfare and moral ambiguity of '80s comics years before the DCEU did. When musician Eric Draven rises from the dead, he discovers he has fantastic abilities. He uses these to seek revenge on the street gang that killed him and his one true love. "The Crow" is intensely dark and violent, but in a way that never feels mopey or gratuitous. It is, simply, a broken-hearted superhero film that embraces love and loss with open, black-feathered wings.

• Starring: Brandon Lee, Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott
• Director: Alex Proyas
• Year: 1994
• Runtime: 100 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Until the day  "Avengers vs. Justice League" enters production, "Avengers: Infinity War" will remain the most crowded and ambitious multi-franchise crossover movie in existence. Intergalactic tyrant Thanos arrives on Earth to collect the only two Infinity Stones he hasn't yet captured. With the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and so many other white hats pulling together to halt Thanos' malicious grandiosity, surely the good guys can't lose ... right? They'll have to try their hardest to stop the purple baddie from slaughtering half of all life in the universe — and even then, it might not be enough.

• Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin
• Director: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
• Year: 2018
• Runtime: 149 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%

Over the years, the deliciously dark "Batman Returns" has solidified its reputation as one of the Dark Knight's most enduring cinematic escapades, as well as the best Batflick of the '90s. Michelle Pfeiffer permanently etched her image into the superhero genre with a definitive turn as Selina Kyle, who becomes Catwoman under intense duress. Danny DeVito is uproariously savage and sociopathic as the Penguin. And then there's Michael Keaton's Batman, who's attempting to keep both of them from permanently harming Gotham City. It's manic, stylish, and strange — absolutely perfect, in other words.

• Starring: Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer
• Director: Tim Burton
• Year: 1992
• Runtime: 126 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80%

M. Night Shyamalan followed up his breakthrough "The Sixth Sense" with another Bruce Willis-led mind-bender. Elijah Price, an obsessed comic book nerd with a rare bone disease, has a theory: If he was born much weaker than the average person, someone out there must've been born much stronger than the average person. He thinks he's found his inverse when David Dunn miraculously survives a trainwreck that kills every other passenger — but David refuses to believe he's superhuman. Even if he is, there might be more to the story ...

• Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright
• Director: M. Night Shyamalan
• Year: 2000
• Runtime: 107 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 70%

After "Batman & Robin" sucked the dignity out of the Dynamic Duo, the franchise wisely defaulted back to Batman's broody formative years. Best known at the time of the movie's debut for 2002's disorienting nail-biter "Memento," director and co-writer Christopher Nolan presents a version of Gotham that feels truly unique. Bruce Wayne's origin story is on offer here, interpreted through an intensely gritty lens. He spends the first third of the film acquiring his de facto superhuman power of self-discipline — the rest, he devotes to weaponizing the shadows against the superstitious and cowardly. This might still not be enough to take down the terrifying Scarecrow, however.

• Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson
• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Year: 2005
• Runtime: 140 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%

Thor had multiple team-ups and solo movies under his belt by 2017, but the God of Thunder still hadn't found a clear cinematic identity ... until director Taika Waititi took the reins. Informed by the psychedelic sensibilities of 1970s Marvel comics, "Thor: Ragnarok" sends its hero through the intergalactic ringer. Stranded on the chaotic trash planet Sakaar, Thor is forced to engage in gladiatorial combat. Soon enough, he learns he's not alone — the Hulk and estranged Asgardian Valkyrie are here too. But they're not exactly jazzed about his plan for escape — or confronting Hela, his long lost sister, who's grinding Asgard beneath her boot.

• Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett
• Director: Taika Waititi
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 130 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

The original "Superman" happens to be the prototype for just about every other film on this list, but it's also a fantastic watch unto itself. The familiar origin of the Man of Steel plays out with spectacular sci-fi grandeur, which manages to feel retro-cool, rather than dated. Lex Luthor plans to kill Superman with a real estate scam, because it was the late 1970s and CGI tech capable of depicting a Brainiac or a Starro was not yet available. This doesn't hurt the movie, though — to modern eyes, it makes it downright refreshing. It helps that Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder are frickin' adorable as Lois and Clark.

• Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando
• Director: Richard Donner
• Year: 1978
• Runtime: 143 minutes 
• Rating: PG
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%

The follow-up to 2002's highly encouraging "Spider-Man" doubles down on Peter Parker as a sad-sack overburdened 20-something, while channeling director Sam Raimi's "Evil Dead"-honed horror sensibilities into Alfred Molina's tragic Dr. Otto Octavius. Peter just can't seem to handle being Spider-Man in this film: His powers are on the fritz, his grades are slacking, and his love life is frayed. Is fighting crime really worth it? Meanwhile, Dr. Octavius, transformed into the villainous Doc Ock, threatens to destroy the city with this scientific experiments — but in truth, he's suffering an identity crisis of his own. Not unlike a man with extra mechanical arms, "Spider-Man 2" expertly juggles multiple themes and plotlines.

• Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Alfred Molina
• Director: Sam Raimi
• Year: 2004
• Runtime: 122 minutes
• Rating: PG-13
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%

The end of Hugh Jackman's 17-year, nine-film run as the anchor of the X-Men movie franchise is one-part hyper-violent dystopian adventure, one-part metacommentary on the modern superhero boom, and one-part touching father-daughter bonding story. In a brutal future, the man known as Wolverine must shepherd mutantkind's future to safety in the form of Laura, a young girl with a mysterious past. Their journey is a tragic one, yet also spiked with hope. "Logan," which practically drips gravitas out of its many stab wounds, is the rare superhero film that might make you cry.

• Starring: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Dafne Keen
• Director: James Mangold
• Year: 2017
• Runtime: 137 minutes
• Rating: R
• Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94%