The Best Superhero Movie Of Every Year In The 21st-Century

The landscape of mainstream 21st-century blockbusters has been defined by superhero movies. While major superhero titles like "Batman" and "Superman" existed long before the year 2000 rolled around, projects like "Spider-Man," "The Dark Knight," and "Avengers: Endgame" have all taken the superhero feature to new heights in ubiquity and popularity. Across the deluge of superhero motion pictures chasing audience love and box office stardom, there have been plenty of duds reinforcing troubling and frustrating recurring shortcomings in this genre. However, there have also been several incredible entries into the superhero movie canon that have reaffirmed why people love superheroes so much in the first place.

Throughout each year of the 21st century, one superhero movie has managed to emerge as the best of the year. Occasionally, these titles earn that distinction only by the lack of other notable superhero titles in that year, but more often than not, the best superhero movie of a given year reflects something profound about the genre. Perhaps they encapsulate a unique way of approaching these stories or the dawning of a gifted filmmaker into this space of cinema. Whatever the reason, the best superhero movies of each year in the 21st century are well worth recognizing, if only because of how inescapably omnipresent these blockbusters have become in the modern world.

2001 was a shockingly barren year for superhero movies. No new adaptations of either Marvel or DC characters lit up the silver screen while original superheroes and figures from third-party comics publishers were also M.I.A. In a pre-"Spider-Man" world, there was still a lot of risk in doing superhero cinema, and that resulted in a total absence of superhero movies in 2001 that would be unimaginable today. There was only one feature that qualifies as a superhero movie that was released in 2001: the video game adaptation "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." An adventurer who travels the globe and hunts down ancient treasures, Lara Croft is a character that's constantly endured as a favorite in the world of gaming.

Her first feature film adaptation, though, was a forgettable exercise that, unsurprisingly, hasn't developed anywhere near the long-lasting fanbase of its video game source material. "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider's" biggest problem was simply being incredibly boring. Not even talented actors like Angelina Jolie or Daniel Craig (the former performer tackling the titular role of Lara Croft) would liven up this monotonous knock-off of "Indiana Jones" and "The Mummy." However, with no other new superhero films around, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider" gets to be the best superhero movie of 2001.

In 2003, the annual number of superhero movies began to creep upward. The success of projects like "X-Men" and "Blade" had already inspired Hollywood to embrace more costumed crime fighters, while the preceding year's smash hit "Spider-Man" had only increased confidence in titles like "Daredevil" and "Hulk." Among 2003's entries into the superhero movie canon was "X2," a follow-up to "X-Men" — which emerged as the best superhero motion picture released in 2003. Most of the first film's mutants, including Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, were back for this adventure that saw these superpowered beings contend with a figure from Wolverine's past, General Stryker (Brian Cox).

With all the business of establishing mutants to general moviegoers out of the way in the initial "X-Men," "X2" could lean into all the possibilities of realizing these characters on the big screen from the get-go. This ensured that the movie delivered a steady stream of imaginative set pieces really leaning into unique mutant superpowers while this feature also expanded its emphasis on mutant powers as being an allegory for LGBTQIA+ individuals through a scene where Bobby Drake aka Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) "comes out" to this parents. The "X-Men" have had some impressive highs and incredibly tumultuous lows in their big-screen exploits. "X2" represented one of the franchise's earliest creative peaks and left other 2003 superhero fare like "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" in the dust.

Much of the conversation around superhero movies in the early 2000s focused on adaptations of Marvel characters, such as "Spider-Man" or "X2." But DC Comics movies made a big return to form with "Batman Begins" in 2005. The first live-action movie starring Batman in eight years, "Batman Begins" was a radical reimagining of what the caped crusader could look like on the big screen. The expressionistic production design of the Tim Burton takes on the character or Joel Schumacher's maximalist camp sensibilities were both eschewed in favor of Nolan's stripped-down gritty realism. Though it's an approach that's been mimicked to death in the years since "Batman Begins" premiered, that vision still worked like gangbusters on this first installment with Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne aka Batman.

What especially worked here wasn't the muted color palette or dour tone, but rather the insistence on lending real gravitas to Bruce Wayne's struggles and exploring his psychology. The chilling approach to adversaries like Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow further solidified "Batman Begins" as something special in the pantheon of Batman movies. "Batman Begins" was a remarkable achievement that would've been a noteworthy superhero movie in any year. However, given that 2005 was populated by superhero titles like "Elektra" and "Fantastic Four," there's no question Christopher Nolan also delivered that year's greatest superhero feature with "Batman Begins."

Much like 2006, 2007 wasn't a glorious moment for superhero cinema. In a year dominated by big blockbusters, boy wizards and alien robots were the primary focus of studios and big-budget filmmakers in this year. Those craving superhero cinema would have to settle for titles like "Ghost Rider" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," both of which featured derivative adaptations of vintage comic characters. In this year devoid of all-time masterpieces like "Spider-Man 2" or "The Incredibles," "Spider-Man 3" emerged as the high point of 2007's superhero movie output.

The conclusion to Sam Raimi's trilogy of "Spider-Man" movies, "Spider-Man 3" was a step down from its predecessors in terms of overall quality, but that didn't mean Spidey had entirely forgotten how to dish out memorable entertainment. This installment still had its fair share of exciting action sequences while Raimi's continued dedication to balancing out campy material (like "evil" Peter Parker delivering the line "Now dig on this!") with sincere attempts at pathos remains commendable. Unfortunately, "Spider-Man 3" is too jam-packed for its own good, with its overstuffed nature really coming home to roost in a climax that eschews the humanity of characters like Flint Marko aka Sandman (Thomas Haden Church) in favor of hollow spectacle. "Spider-Man 3" was an undeniable mess, but nothing in fellow 2007 superhero movies like "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" could hope to compete with its best moments.

There's no better way to illustrate how vacant 2009 was for superhero movies than the fact that this would be the last year until 2020 (when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted all theatrical releases) when no new Marvel Cinematic Universe titles graced theaters. With the Marvel Cinematic Universe and other superhero movie franchises like the "Spider-Man" saga taking a breather, 2009 had slim options for those craving a fix of superhero mayhem. Among the scant few superhero titles released that year was the dreadful "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" and 2009's best entry in the genre: "Watchmen."

An adaptation of the seminal Alan Moore graphic novel by director Zack Snyder, "Watchmen" is a strange creation. It's slavishly devoted to its source material, yet also misinterprets key aspects of the original "Watchmen" text (namely in how the movie glorifies rather than underlines the horrors of violence). It's unwieldy and Snyder's long-running difficulty with making emotionally-engaging characters means that the extensive runtime of "Watchmen" can become a slog. But the sequences that work here, like Doctor Manhattan (Billy Crudup) recalling his origin, are beautifully realized and actors like Jackie Earle Haley give 110% in their respective performances. As an adaptation, "Watchmen" doesn't really work. As a standalone endeavor, "Watchmen" is still heavily flawed and never quite as subversive as it wants to be. However, its ambitious impulses and well-executed elements make it an incredibly audacious and admirable part of the superhero movie canon.

2011 was a crowded year for superhero fare. In addition to indie films like "Super" making their general release debuts, the summer of 2011 saw a quartet of massive superhero blockbusters premiering over just 12 weeks. Among this crop of superhero features was the legendary dud "Green Lantern" and a pair of Marvel Cinematic Universe entries, "Thor" and "Captain America: The First Avenger." The inaugural "Captain America" installment was a terrific film, but it wasn't quite the best superhero movie to drop in 2011. That honor goes to "X-Men: First Class," which managed to revive a superhero saga that seemed to be circling the drain.

Shifting the action back to the 1960s and handing the reins to filmmaker Matthew Vaughn, ended up giving "First Class" an extra pep in its step. It didn't hurt that the film was anchored by a murderer's row of young talent, including star-making turns from the likes of James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. Plus, this particular "X-Men" installment functioned much more like an ensemble effort than preceding "X-Men" adventures while the decision to lean into more ridiculous visuals and concepts, namely those yellow super-suits, was delightful. "X-Men: First Class" still succumbed to certain problems that plague both many Vaughn directorial efforts and "X-Men" films (namely women and non-white characters getting little of substance to do) but it was still a rollicking ride that stood out even in the crowded superhero movie landscape of 2011.

The various superhero movies of 2013 each inspired plenty of conversation in the years following their respective theatrical runs. "Thor: The Dark World," for one, has become a go-to when describing the nadir of MCU storytelling, while "Man of Steel" garnered lots of controversy for its dark reimagining of Superman. As for "Iron Man 3," countless aspects of the production, including the radical reinterpretation of the comic book villain The Mandarin, ended up being immensely divisive. Years after its release, "Iron Man 3" is without a doubt a flawed movie, particularly with its weirdly awkward handling of the supporting character Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall).

However, it's also an "Iron Man" adventure buoyed by incredibly sharp dialogue from writer-director Shane Black, the gold-plated Iron Man armor looked great, while the decision to take Tony Stark out of the super-suit and into surprising locations like Oklahoma was ingenious. Plus, Ben Kingsley's Trevor Slattery was an incredibly amusing creation that took the concept of "The Mandarin" into exciting and unexpected places. Compare all of that to "Man of Steel," a movie with a great Hans Zimmer score and Michael Shannon performance but sags way too much in its elongated runtime, or "Thor: The Dark World," which was just littered with dreary shortcomings. None of 2013's superhero movies were perfect or total crowdpleasers, but among these films, "Iron Man 3" took the biggest swings and scored the most entertaining wins.

After the crowded superhero movie field of 2014, 2015 was a much quieter time for the genre. With the still-brewing DC Extended Universe preparing to launch its first post-"Man of Steel" titles in 2016, 2015 was dominated by Marvel adaptations, including the cursed "FANT4STIC" feature from director Josh Trank. Given the dismal reputation of that boondoggle, that leaves the title of best superhero movie of 2014 as a competition between two Marvel Cinematic Universe projects: "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Ant-Man." Each of these titles represents a very specific brand of Marvel Studios filmmaking. "Age of Ultron" is Marvel doing big spectacle cinema, while "Ant-Man" is more in line with the low-key comedic antics of something like "Spider-Man: Homecoming."

Between the two titles, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" has the best overall moments, many of them coming from the various Avengers taking a detour to Clint Barton's (Jeremy Renner) farmhouse. However, it's also a film plagued by an overstuffed narrative and seriously ill-conceived moments, nearly all of them revolving around Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson). "Ant-Man" isn't as audacious as "Age of Ultron," and suffers from some of that movie's gender-based issues, but it's the best superhero movie of 2015 simply by being largely agreeable. Letting actors like Paul Rudd and Michael Pena be likable and funny goes a long way to mitigating other issues in your movie. Though not an all-time classic, "Ant-Man" was a pleasant bright spot in an otherwise disposable year for superhero cinema. 

If one were to pinpoint the single best year of the 21st century for superhero movies, 2017 would have to be a strong contender for that honor. This year's slate of superhero cinema kicked off with "The LEGO Batman Movie," a high note that set the tone for the kind of audacious and superb movies that were to follow. For the rest of the year, features like "Logan," "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," and "Thor: Ragnarok" all dominated movie theaters. There was such a wide difference in tone and thematic ambitions across these projects, with this overarching level of creativity even ensuring the umpteenth big-screen take on Spider-Man, "Spider-Man: Homecoming," was a delight rather than a slog.

Across this crop of terrific superhero films, it's difficult to pick just one. However, the champion among them all has to be "Wonder Woman." Though not without some narrative hiccups, "Wonder Woman" managed to deliver a story with a real heart that didn't feel like anything else in the crowded superhero movie landscape. From the choice to set the title in World War I to its welcome willingness to stand on its own in the DC Extended Universe, "Wonder Woman" was brimming with admirable creative choices while director Patty Jenkins executed the story with polished filmmaking. Just that stirring No Man's Land sequence alone would ensure that "Wonder Woman" was the best among 2017's impressive crop of superhero features.

Seven years after the original "Avengers," "Avengers: Endgame" entered a world where multiple superheroes crossing over into one movie was no longer something super special or unique. This fourth entry in the "Avengers" series couldn't just rely on the sight of Thor and Captain America fighting side-by-side to carry the day. Thus, "Endgame," building directly off the ending of "Avengers: Infinity War," opted for a strange paradox: a massive epic that, thanks to time travel, spanned multiple Marvel movies but also emphasized the intimate emotional experiences of the few surviving Avengers. Trying to pull off such a tricky mixture ended up working out fantastically, especially since "Endgame" uncovered interesting new avenues to explore characters like Tony Stark. Even after a decade of these figures looming large over pop culture, a good feature like "Endgame" could still take them to new and exciting places.

Of course, once the third act arrives, "Avengers: Endgame" delivers a sprawling set-piece for the ages crammed with every conceivable Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero under the sun. It's a joyous sight made all the more exciting by how hard the movies worked up to this point to get us to care about these people and their struggles. In 2019, the likes of "Shazam!" and "Spider-Man: Far From Home" delivered lots of excitement and fun, but when it comes to picking a champion of the year ... the only choice was ever going to be "Avengers: Endgame."

While Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn got off to an incredibly rocky start in her existence thanks to that dreadful 2016 "Suicide Squad" movie, this incarnation of the character has had much better luck in her cinematic exploits in recent years. For proof of this, just look at how Robbie's Quinn has headlined two of the best superhero movies of the last few years, including the 2021 motion picture "The Suicide Squad." Arriving in a year when the superhero movie made a major comeback to movie theaters, "The Suicide Squad" exploded past the rest largely thanks to its sheer sense of wild fun. Opening with the grisly demise of countless supervillains, "The Suicide Squad" quickly establishes an "anything goes" aura that's reinforced through a well-executed non-linear narrative and steady doses of graphic violence.

These qualities are paired with delightfully goofy and faithful interpretations of characters like King Shark or Starro, while new takes on obscure DC Comics staples like Ratcatcher and Polka-Dot Man show real creativity on the part of writer-director James Gunn. Committing to a third-act twist that implicates the American government as the real baddie behind everything that goes awry in "The Suicide Squad" only further cements this movie as something special in the modern superhero movie landscape. Plus, audiences got to experience more delightful antics from Robbie's Quinn, which is never ever a bad thing.