The Most Memorable Superhero Movie Kisses
In the world of superheroes, everything is larger than life. The action takes place on an inhuman scale, with fistfights that can level skyscrapers and determine the fates of entire worlds. The inner emotional lives of the characters are similarly awe-inspiring, be they uplifting comedies or heartbreaking tragedies that are Shakespearean in scope. In this melodramatic mode of storytelling, if properly constructed, even the small moments can feel epic. For example, a touching romance can be just as world-shaking as an alien invasion, and when our superpowered hero kisses their love before the final battle — unsure if they'll survive to do so again — for a moment, time stands still.
Today, we'll be looking the most iconic kisses in superhero movie history. Some will be touching and wholesome. Others will be tawdry and steamy. Still others will be played for comedy. And when you bring superpowers into the mix, that's when things get really interesting. Let's just say that, logistically speaking, some of these kisses could never happen in a more mundane film genre. We'll be drawing from a mixture of current superhero flicks and older favorites, as well. Hopefully, by the end, you'll agree with us that in the greatest of these modern mythological movies, even a kiss can be, well, super.
Spidey's upside-down kiss was an instant classic
In the 2002 movie Spider-Man, there are multiple times when Spider-Man saves Mary Jane Watson from danger. The first time, he saves her from falling off a balcony when the Green Goblin attacks. Sparks fly during their brief conversation, but the moment is cut short. The second time they cross paths, however, the two finally get a chance to talk ... and do a little bit more.
One rainy night in an alleyway, Mary Jane is accosted by a group of thugs. Spider-Man intervenes and easily incapacitates her assailants, but this time, he decides to stay for a bit, talking to Mary Jane as he hangs upside down. MJ asks, "Do I get to say thank you this time?" and prepares to peel off Spider-Man's mask. Spidey stops her, not wanting to reveal his identity to her, so instead, she opts to just pull the mask down a little bit, revealing his mouth. Peter Parker puckers up, and the two lock lips as our hero hangs upside down.
The scene was an instant classic, becoming one of the most iconic kisses ever, not just in superhero movies, but in film generally. It's been parodied everywhere from Saturday Night Live to Shrek 2. Even later Spider-Man films like Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse contain allusions to this iconic smooch.
Rogue and Iceman redefine 'Netflix and chill'
Midway through X2, Xavier's mansion is raided by government agents, and the X-Men are forced to flee. Wolverine, Rogue, Iceman, and Pyro decide to hide out in Iceman's childhood home, which he hasn't been back to for quite some time. Though much of the time that our heroes spend there is fairly unpleasant, dealing with Iceman's close-minded parents, Rogue and her cool boyfriend do get some alone time in the latter's bedroom, which leads to one of the most iconic moments from the original X-Men trilogy.
Up until now, Rogue's mutant power has prevented the two from having a physical relationship. Whenever she touches someone, she drains them of their life force. A brief touch can cause them to lose consciousness, but a prolonged touch can be fatal. Additionally, whenever she does this to a mutant, she temporarily gains their powers. However, in this moment, Marie and Bobby decide to risk it, and they chance a brief kiss. They do so, and a moment later, as Rogue is pulling away, we learn that she's temporarily gained Iceman's ice control powers in the coolest way possible. As Rogue exhales, her breath is visible, like she's in a '90s Dentyne Ice commercial. Though the first kiss leaves Iceman relatively unharmed, they can't resist going back for seconds, and this second kiss almost knocks Iceman unconscious before he pulls away at the last moment. It's a good thing he did, too, or else Bobby Drake could've ended up, well, iced.
Things get hot between Hellboy and Liz
Throughout the 2004 film Hellboy, one of the major sources of conflict in the film — apart from the end of the world — is the love triangle between Hellboy, his pyrokinetic ex-girlfriend, Liz, and Liz's new friend, FBI agent John Myers. Though the three bicker for much of the movie, in the end, our heroes set aside their differences to defeat the villainous Rasputin and save the day.
However, after the battle, Hellboy and Myers discover that Liz has been killed. Hellboy kneels by her side and whispers something. A moment later, Liz miraculously awakens, returned to life. She asks Hellboy what he said to save her, and he replies that he said, "Hey, you on the other side, let her go, because for her, I'll cross over, and then you'll be sorry." Liz smiles and kisses him, and as she does so, her pyrokinesis activates, bathing the couple in blue fire. Hellboy, being a demon, is unaffected.
Seeing Hellboy reunite with his old flame is certainly a beautiful image to end the film on, but an unintentionally funny aspect of the scene is the fact that Myers is just stuck there the entire time, awkwardly watching his crush makes out with her ex, surrounded by literal flames that symbolize their rekindled love. Perhaps this is why Myers, despite being a major character in the first film, doesn't return for the sequel. This one moment third-wheeled him so badly that, seconds after the film ended, he died of shame.
Bob and Helen share an Incredible kiss
Although they certainly have their ups and downs, without a doubt, one of our favorite superhero couples of all time is Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. Across the two Incredibles movies, there are several times when Bob and Helen Parr share a heartwarming smooch, but our favorite comes towards the end of the first film.
The family has just returned to the city after surviving a truly hellish ordeal on Syndrome's island. During their time there, Bob suffered a devastating emotional blow when he believed, for a time, that his family was killed by Syndrome's forces. Since reuniting, the Parrs have been working together as a near perfect superhero team, but the shadow of that moment still hangs over Bob.
Before our heroes confront Syndrome, Mr. Incredible tries to convince the others that they should stay behind, offering the enigmatic explanation that he's "not strong enough." At first, Helen starts to criticize Bob and rightfully so. Bob keeping the rest of the family at arm's reach was what caused most of their problems in the first place. Bob then clarifies his statement, saying, "I can't lose you again. I'm not strong enough."
Helen kisses him and says, "If we work together, you won't have to be." In doing so, she offers the normally solitary Bob an emotional lifeline, and he takes it. In this moment, Bob learns that he doesn't always have to be the strongest person in the world because now he has a family to help him share the weight.
Ivy and Robin's make-out fake-out
No list of famous superhero movie kisses would be complete without a mention of 1997's Batman and Robin, which features the deadliest kisser in all of superhero fiction — Poison Ivy. See, in addition to her primary superpower, an ability to control plants, Ivy also possesses the ability to kill people with deadly poison smooches.
Throughout much of the film, Ivy is attempting to drive a wedge between Batman and Robin by seducing the latter. Midway through the story, it seems as if this has worked. Robin arrives in Ivy's lair and climbs into bed alongside her. He asks her what she's scheming, and she agrees to tell him, in exchange for a kiss. Robin agrees, and Ivy lays out her and Mr. Freeze's villainous master plan. But before Robin can leave to try to stop this plot, Ivy plants a kiss right on the Boy Wonder's lips.
A tense moment passes, but nothing happens. Ivy was clearly expecting Robin to drop dead, but he hasn't. Robin then peels off a set of fake rubber lips that he was wearing over his normal lips as protection against Ivy's toxins. Ivy is furious and attacks Robin, but Robin's allies — Batman and Batgirl — arrive on the scene to support him. Ivy thought she was the one seducing Robin, she was the one setting the trap, but in truth, she played into Robin's hands. It's a twist that's, like everything else in this movie, extremely silly and yet utterly delightful in its unapologetic campiness.
Tony and Pepper's first kiss was worth the wait
Though the romantic relationship between Tony Stark and Pepper Potts eventually comes to be one of central emotional anchors of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it takes a while before the couple actually has their first kiss. There are few near misses in the first Iron Man, such as their steamy balcony conversation during the charity ball, but by the end of that first film, Tony and Pepper still haven't told each other how they really feel.
It isn't until the end of Iron Man 2 that Tony and Pepper finally get together. After narrowly escaping a frightening series of near-death experiences, the two regroup and catch their breath on a nearby rooftop, and in this moment, the silence between them finally breaks. Pepper confesses to Tony that being the CEO of Stark Industries is seriously stressing her out, and she wants to quit, but the revelations don't stop there. Hopped up on adrenaline and no longer keeping secrets from one another, the two lean in and begin to kiss.
In some ways, the moment comes out of nowhere. Even Tony and Pepper seemed surprised that it's happening. At the same time, after making us wait for two whole movies, it's surprising that it took this long. Best of all, the shot itself is truly beautiful — mostly dark except for the twinkling city lights in the background and the underlighting on their faces from Tony's arc reactor. A moment this breathtaking was certainly worth the wait.
Peter and Gamora have a hilarious close call
The Guardians of the Galaxy films feature one of the best "will they, won't they" relationships of all time with Peter Quill and Gamora. Though the pair eventually do kiss in later films, none are as memorable as the close call they share towards the end of the first movie.
During their escape from the interstellar prison known as the Kyln, Peter risked his life to retrieve his Walkman, an action that none of his companions could understand. Later, the normally aloof and violent Gamora asks the Earthling why this device is so important to him. Peter explains that it was a gift from his mother, and that she instilled a love of music and dancing in him. He puts his headphones on Gamora's head to show her what he means and starts playing Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love." Unable to resist, Gamora starts to sway. Peter takes her by the hand and leans in for a kiss.
The moment their lips touch, Gamora instantly reverts to her old self, raising a knife to Peter's throat and saying, "I know who you are, Peter Quill. And I am not some starry-eyed waif here to succumb to your ... your pelvic sorcery!" It's a beautifully constructed scene with a hilarious twist, and it ends with one of our favorite lines of dialogue in MCU history. Despite faking us out, this almost kiss is still one of the most memorable kisses ever.
Deadpool unmasks for a kiss
At the end of 2016's Deadpool, after the villain has been defeated and our hero has reunited with his lost love, Vanessa, there's still one more challenge that awaits him. Ever since the procedure that gave Deadpool his powers but also covered his face in burn-like scars, he's wondered whether or not Vanessa would still be able to love him once she saw his face.
Because of this, once Deadpool finally removes his mask, we see that he's taken some precautions. Stapled to his face is a magazine cutout of Hugh Jackman's face, with the eyes removed. Undeterred by Wade's lame attempt at humor, Vanessa removes this makeshift disguise and looks for the first time at Wade's true face. After a moment of contemplation, she tells him, "After a brief adjustment period and a bunch of drinks, it's a face I'd be happy to sit on."
As the film ends, the two stand alone in the middle of a smoking battlefield. As they start to kiss, saxophone music begins to play. For a minute, it seems to just be the film's soundtrack, but then Vanessa pulls away, confused and apparently able to hear the music. Wade reveals that the song we've been hearing, "Careless Whisper" by Wham!, is actually a tune he's been playing on his smart phone to set the mood for the coming make-out session. Vanessa, for the second time this scene, laughs off another of Wade's dumb jokes, and the smooching resumes.
This Watchmen kiss is the bomb
Among the many iconic images from the original comics that the Watchmen film faithfully recreates is one of the most memorable kisses in superhero history. No, we're not talking about the unnecessarily long and awkward sex scene between Nite Owl and Silk Spectre inside the Owlship. We're talking about Nite Owl's dream sequence that follows it.
In this surreal vision, Dan Dreiberg and Laurie Jupiter are standing in a black void. They walk towards each other and begin to kiss. As they do so, an atomic bomb detonates in the background. And as the massive explosion approaches, the two continue to kiss, either not knowing what's coming or not caring. When the blast wave finally hits, they are instantly skeletonized, but they continue to hold each other as the world around them is engulfed in flame. It's just as stunning in the film as it is on the page.
Before we move on from Watchmen, we'd be remiss if we didn't give an honorable mention to another dynamite kiss from this film. The opening credits feature an array of alternate history versions of iconic 20th-century historical moments. One such moment that Watchmen twists is the iconic V-J Day Kiss, in which a U.S. Navy sailor returning from the war kisses a random stranger. However, in Watchmen, the hero returning home from the war is the superhero Silhouette, reunited with her girlfriend, whom she passionately embraces in a recreation of this famous image. Talk about alternate her-story.
Monica gives Mr. Furious a life-changing smooch
One of the subplots of the cult classic superhero comedy Mystery Men involves the wannabe superhero Mr. Furious trying extremely hard to impress a cute waitress named Monica. His usual tactic is to brag about his superheroic accomplishments and generally act as macho as possible, and this never works. However, in the few moments where he's genuinely honest with her and relates to her like a human being, he makes some progress, and she seems like she might actually be potentially interested in him.
One night, as Furious is walking Monica home from work, she asks his name. After considering for a moment, he tells her that his real name is "Phoenix Dark Dirk." Once again unimpressed by his bravado, Monica turns to enter her home, saying, "Forget about it. It's okay." As she goes, Furious calls out to her, telling her the full truth for the first time, saying, "It's Roy! That's, that's my name. My ... my real name is Roy." Monica returns and kisses him, and then tells him, "Just. Be. Roy. Okay?"
This interaction ends up being an important step on Mr. Furious' journey to better accept who he is and find harmony between his superhero persona and the person he is on the inside. Now that's one heck of a kiss.
The Infinity Saga is sealed with a kiss
Going into Avengers: Endgame, we weren't sure how things were going to turn out for our heroes, but it seemed like there was one thing we could say for certain — Steve Rogers had missed his once chance at love. Sure, Cap had managed to snag a couple of less-than-stellar kisses over the course of the franchise, like his undercover fake kiss with Black Widow in Winter Soldier and his "late" kiss with Sharon Carter in Civil War, but the love of his life, Peggy Carter, was gone forever, having died of old age.
However, when the team invents time travel as part of a plan to reverse Thanos' snap, death is suddenly no longer as big of an obstacle as it once seemed. And when the heroes have finally undone "the Snap" and defeated Thanos for good, Steve decides he's earned a little me time, seven decades of it to be exact. He travels back into the past to be with Peggy Carter, and the last we see of them, they're dancing together at some unspecified point in the past. They lean in, their lips touch, and we cut to black. The moment is brief, and though we could've stood to see a little more, we get it. Steve and Peggy are an old-fashioned couple, and we can respect their privacy.
Who would've guessed that after all the action, explosions, heartbreak, and death, Marvel's Infinity Saga would end with a kiss?