Plot: Against his father Odin’s will, The Mighty Thor – a powerful but arrogant warrior god – recklessly reignites an ancient war. Thor is cast down to Earth and forced to live among humans as punishment. Once here, Thor learns what it takes to be a true hero when the most dangerous villain of his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

KBZ’s Take: We were tempted to slot Thor: Ragnarok (2017) here as many would consider it the best of the four Thor films. However, we decided to stick with the original film given its overall impact on both the Superhero Film subgenre and the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).

With respect to Superhero films, Thor was a unique film with it’s blend of Norse Mythology and Shakesperean Tragedy. Marvel made an excellent call hiring Kenneth Branagh (who wasn’t an Action, Sci-Fi or Fantasy Director) to bring the world and mythos of Thor to life.

And as for the MCU, even though Iron Man (2008) was first out of the gate for the lead up to The Avengers (2012), Chris Hemsworth’s performance as Thor helped elevate this B-level Marvel Superhero to A-list status.

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Plot: Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a super-hero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.

KBZ’s Take: Kick-Ass is a film that could be considered lightning in a bottle. If the film had been released a decade earlier, it might not have had as much success. But the film was released in 2010 after a flood of Superhero films in the 2000’s and came at the perfect time with its unique blend of Parody and Dark Comedy.

Though the film mocked the Superhero Film Tropes of the time period, it forged its own path with cartoonish and over-the-top violence. This wasn’t a film geared towards a younger audience that had been groomed on the Boy Scout demeanor of Clark Kent or Peter Parker’s code of no killing. It decided it wasn’t only going to break the rules of Superhero films but have a blast doing it.

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Plot: The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being the clownishly homicidal Joker, who has seized control of Gotham’s underworld.

KBZ’s Take: If you grew up in the 1980’s, you likely remember the anticipation for this film. Walking through the mall you stopped dead in your tracks when you saw this poster outside the cinema. The stylized Batman logo with simple text – June 23.

This was a time when Superman (1978) was still considered the best Superhero film – even a decade later. And the Batman most kids had grown up with, was the Adam West comedic version and not this new darker direction permeating from a simple logo. Unless you were around at the time, you couldn’t fathom how big of a deal this was.

And did Batman ever deliver. It set a new darker tone for Superhero Films in 1989 which was only eclipsed by the film’s own darker sequel Batman Returns (1992). Michael Keaton was perfect in the role as the caped crusader and even though Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the Joker has been bested by both Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix, his performance was a perfect foil to this new, grittier and brooding version of Batman.

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Plot: After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.

KBZ’s Take: Like Thor, Iron Man was considered a B-tier Marvel Superhero. Marvel had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996 and sold off the rights to their most popular A-tier properties. Sony bought the rights to Spider-Man, Universal had the rights to Hulk and Fox owned the rights to The Fantastic Four and X-Men. So, it’s not hyperbole to say Marvel bet the farm on Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr.

15 years and billions of dollars later, Marvel’s bet obviously paid off. It’s hard not to think of anyone else but Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. He is Iron Man and this first film not only set the stage for The Avengers films, but also paved the way for the origin story films of Thor and Captain America that allowed them to level up to the A-tier Superheroes as we know them today. All we’re still hoping for is that at some point they’ll get a film version of the Incredible Hulk origin story right.

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Plot: A rare mutation has occurred within the vampire community – The Reaper. A vampire so consumed with an insatiable bloodlust that they prey on vampires as well as humans, transforming victims who are unlucky enough to survive into Reapers themselves. Blade is asked by the Vampire Nation for his help in preventing a nightmare plague that would wipe out both humans and vampires.

KBZ’s Take: This will likely be considered our controversial pick of the list. Yes, we could have gone with the original Blade (1998) here or any of our picks from #11 – #20. But we’re standing by this pick for a few reasons.

First, even though The Crow (1994), Spawn (1997) and the first Blade could be considered the first great Horror-oriented Superhero films, Blade II is the perfect combination of actual Horror and Action. The Reapers are arguably the scariest vampires to make an appearance in a Superhero film.

Second, it’s a Guillermo del Toro film and his unique brand of Dark Fantasy, Horror and Action is evident from the first action-packed encounter with Nyssa and other ‘ninja’ vampires to the nightclub hunt with the Bloodpack.

Third, we won’t go into specifics, but the film has a tragic storyline that has more depth than is usually found in a film of its type. It’s a tragedy that is more horrific than the actual Reapers.

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Plot: During the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.

KBZ’s Take: Joker seemed to come out of nowhere and land Joaquin Phoenix the 2020 Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the clown prince of crime. The film also became a blockbuster even though the film has more in common with Taxi Driver (1976) than your typical Superhero film.

At its core, the film is a psychological study of how Arthur Flex (Phoenix) slowly turns insane on his way to becoming the Joker. Though there are elements of Batman’s world in the film, they are secondary to Fleck’s descent into madness. And the film was a revelation at the time as it was extremely different than a typical Superhero origin story. It was a realistic view of a troubled individual who is continually put down by society before he decides (in his own warped way) to fight back.

As for Phoenix’s performance as the Joker, it rivals that of Heath Ledger’s role in The Dark Knight (2008). They are both excellent performances that show two different sides to Batman’s arch-enemy and arguably the most well-known villain in the world of comics.

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Plot: Peter Parker is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

KBZ’s Take: The entire franchise of Spider-Man revolves around one saying (and theme): With great power comes great responsibility. In no other film of the franchise is that theme more apparent than in this Multiverse blockbuster.

The film is a greatest hits of the characters and themes of the entire Spider-man franchise all rolled into one exciting journey. Though there are likely few readers of this list who have not yet seen the film, we don’t want to ruin some of the Multiverse surprises in the film. You’ll already be able to tell from the film’s poster that the film includes Spider-man’s various enemies all brought together somehow by Doctor Strange.

What we can say is that of all the films on our list, no other film seamlessly integrates the emotional connection between parallel worlds in the Multiverse. The film is action-packed with amazing Multiverse sequences yet anchored by the simple code Peter Parker lives by.  But, like other great films, the films underlying theme traces back to that code that is universal even in the Multiverse.

Additional Lists: Best Multiverse Films #1

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Plot: After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store.

KBZ’s Take: You can’t really discuss Endgame without including Avengers: Infinity War (2018). Though we have Endgame listed here it’s actually for both films. These two films make up some of the best 5.5 hours you’ll ever watch in the subgenre.

As for Endgame, we feel it’s slightly better than Infinity War only because it focuses on various forms of emotional loss – inherited from the first film and as a result of actions in the second. Like other films of the subgenre, it has an abundance of action-packed fight sequences and battles between superheroes, but at its core it’s a film about loss.

It’s also a film that features one of the most unique Time Travel Heists found in any film. Though a few other films in the subgenre have utilized Time Travel – X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Superman (1978), Men in Black 3 (2010) – no film has done it better than Endgame.

Endgame is the culmination of origin stories that started with Iron Man, Thor and Captain America and continued over 18+ films to give us an emotional sendoff for some of these Marvel characters we have grown to know and love over the past two decades.

Additional Lists: Best Time Travel Films #7

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Plot: Mild-mannered Clark Kent works as a reporter at the Daily Planet alongside his crush, Lois Lane. Clark must summon his superhero alter-ego when the nefarious Lex Luthor launches a plan to take over the world.

KBZ’s Take: We really, really, really wanted to put this film as #1 but we couldn’t justify it over the #1 selection. The original Superman film will always have a special place in our hearts as it was the first truly great Superhero film adaptation.

To understand how groundbreaking Superman was at the time, you only have to go back into the YouTube time machine to see the trailers for The Amazing Spider-Man (1977), Dr. Strange (1978) and Captain America (1979). Now watch the Superman (1978) trailer. Granted the first three films were TV films with limited budgets, but we have seen all three of them and they are horrible. Nothing at the time (except Star Wars (1977)) remotely compared to Superman and its groundbreaking special effects and epic storyline.

It’s also the film that paved the way for proper origin stories for future Superhero films. You can see elements of the ‘origin story’ template Superman helped created in other great Superhero films that devote a significant amount of time to building their hero’s backstory – Spider-Man (2002) and Batman Begins (2005) are two of the best examples.

Though the film might seem dated given it’s 45 years old at this point, it’s still the best Superhero film about an alien that can never truly love in order to protect the world he now calls home.

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Plot: Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.

KBZ’s Take: As we just mentioned, we couldn’t put Superman above even The Dark Knight as it’s the best Superhero film hands down. In fact, this spot is not just for The Dark Knight but Christopher Nolan’s entire Dark Knight trilogy including Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Like Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), the success of the Dark Knight Trilogy is due to each film having an emotional foundation and theme. Batman Begins is about overcoming fear and loss to take responsibility, The Dark Knight is about the battle between chaos vs. order and The Dark Knight Rises entails a theme of rising back up no matter the cost (i.e. heroism).

It’s the middle film’s theme that is the most fleshed out with the Joker (Heath Ledger) representing chaos and Batman (Christian Bale) representing order. They are two sides of the same coin that forces Batman to continually fight within himself to follow the code he lives by. Nolan goes further by grounding these themes in a more realistic manner which makes the film relatable to moviegoers who aren’t necessarily comic book or Superhero Film fans.

As the masterpiece of the trilogy and our best Superhero film, The Dark Knight has set a bar that no other film in the subgenre has yet to achieve and likely won’t for a very long time.

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