When someone starts talking about the best comic book movies of all time, the list gets swallowed up by films of decades past: Tim Burton’sBatman, Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man,X-Men 2,Blade,The Dark Knight,V for Vendetta,The Watchmen, andSwamp Thing. None of these appear on this list. In the last decade, we have seen an explosion of comic book movies. Since 2013, there have been at least 60 comic book movies between Marvel, DC, Valiant, Icon, Fox, and Sony. If only all of these movies were only two hours long, that would be 120 hours of your life spent watching the same genre in just a decade.
Anyone who has not been paying attention to these or was too young to be there when they came out and are trying to find an entry point or just wanting the best of the best, face a mountain of movies to pick through. It is too much for new viewers to be expected to watch all of these movies. Below are the must-see experiences if you are going to watch no other superhero flicks from the last decade, and if you are out of the loop, you may find one of these pulls you into watching a precursor or sequel with a cosmic Peter Pan who was raised by space pirates (Guardians of the Galaxy) or Wonder Woman’s first appearance (Batman v Superman).
Man of Steel (2013)
Man of Steelis a first-contact story.It is sci-fi before it is superhero. With its flashbacks and subtext about population control, communism, natural birth, and Christianity; it is in somewhat of an anti-superhero film in how it chooses to be non-linear and heavy. The subtext makes for a divisive film, but when people are still talking about you after a decade, it means you took the right direction. Beyond the subtext, there is also the action.
If you are looking for the most epic action on this list, this is where to find it. In the last ten years and all the years before it, there is no movie that can touch the scale of action seen inMan of Steel. Superman and Zod battle all the way into orbit and back to the ground. Only Superman can go where this one goes.
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
Wolverine is sent back in time from a dystopian future, telepathically, to his own body in the 1970s to go on a mission to stop the sentinel program from happening.Days of Future Pastsees theoriginal cast cross paths with the prequelcast in the first time-traveling adventure we had in a superhero film. Hugh Jackman’s Logan must find the past versions of Professor X and Magneto, played by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, to attempt to prevent Mystique, played by Jennifer Lawrence, from committing an assassination that will spur the government to pursue the sentinel program aggressively.
Logan (2017)
Loganis set in a dystopian near future in which the mutants have all but vanished, the former Wolverine is aging, and he is hiding a declining Professor X whose powers have become dangerous for everyone near him. When a child created from Logan’s DNA needs his help to get to a place of safety in Canada called Eden, Logan escorts her and Professor X north while pursued by a group called The Reavers. The combination of the story and the performances by Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart make this entrystand out among otherX-Menfilmsand most of the entire genre.
Related:How to Watch the Wonder Woman Movies to See Her Full Arc in the DCU
Wonder Woman (2017)
The firstWonder Womanis one of the films on the list that you do not need to see any other entry to understand. It is set 95 years beforeMan of Steel, in 1918. Directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot,Wonder Womanbridges magic and science fiction to bring the modern mythological heroine to life in a universe she will share with Superman and Batman, and it makes Wonder Woman believable and grounded in a fictional history on the battlefield of WWI.
Wonder Womanwas an event release. We have had multiple Supermen and Batmen, but this was the first big-screen Wonder Woman, and it was time. Like with Christopher Reeve’s Superman and Michael Keaton’s Batman, audiences will never forgetthe first Wonder Woman on the big screen.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Inspired by the comic arc,The Infinity Gauntlet, this is the first of two films in the two-part climax of the Thanos story that was set in motion in 2012’sThe Avengers. The alien tyrant, Thanos, sets out to gather each one of the infinity gems that control reality and insert them into his gauntlet with the goal of erasing half of the sentient life in the universe for the greater good. We see two adoptive father arcs come to a close with Thanos/Gamora and Tony Stark/Peter Parker. The human narrative and the carousel of aliens, heroes and MacGuffins all come together inthe overall best MCU film.
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
The sequel toInfinity Warand the conclusion to the first chapter of the MCU, which stretched over a decade, sees The Avengers come back together to use Ant-Man’s technology to travel back in time to gather the infinity gems before Thanos to create their own gauntlet and bring back everyone who was erased by the purple alien. But Thanos catches them in the past anduses The Avenger’s own technology to follow the heroes back to the future, and a battle for the new gauntlet begins, with the whole MCU cast of heroes joining this time.
Joker (2019)
IsJokerfun to watch? No. Is it easy to watch? No. Is it something you will want to watch again and again? Probably not. But it is the mostintense and layered exploration of a comic book characterthat has been released to date.Jokerpresents the title character through the lens of psychological disorders and societal decay, instead of presenting him as a mastermind super gangster or terrorist as seen in previous Batman films.
It explores Joker as a real person in a real world and asks how that person could transform into a public icon/revolutionist who lights the fuse of a public that is on the verge of exploding under the stress of crime and economic pain.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
In 2021, Zack Snyder’s version ofJustice Leaguewas finally released, and it is afour-hour marathon of superhero action. It follows Wonder Woman and Batman as they try to piece together a team of metahumans to fight the alien villain, Steppenwolf, who comes to Earth to retrieve three lost mother boxes. When the League realizes they are going to fail with their current roster, they use the alien MacGuffin to bring Superman back from the dead. This resurrection is the completion of Superman’s Christ-arc after his death inBatman v Supermanand sets up his adversary, the Satan-parallel to his Christ, Darkseid.
Related:Doctor Strange 2: How Multiverse of Madness Proves Straying from the MCU Formula is a Good Thing
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
Directed by Sam Raimi, the sequel toDoctor Strangebrings bigger magic, Raimi’s love of horror, anda deconstruction of The Avengers (and the MCU) in another timeline. Raimi’s superhero films stand out with great energy, pacing, and human character arcs. It is movie magic. It is Raimi. Though most of the MCU films are based on the formula of Raimi’sSpider-Man, here is Raimi coming back to the genre and Marvel brand to make the most original standalone film in the universe that was begun with 2008’sIron Man.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Across the Spider-Verseisthe best animated film in years, further exploring the aesthetic of somewhere between 3D and 2D and delivering a story about family and loss that has a superhuman punch. The sequel toInto the Spider-Versegives Gwen Stacy more development, and this is key to the romantic story/tension between Gwen and Miles Morales. Gwen is drafted into a multiverse squad of Spider-people from across the multiverse web-of-life who are led by the coolest Spider-Man of all, Miguel O’hara, aka Spider-Man 2099.
Gwen visits Miles in his world, but when she has to leave, Miles follows her through the portal. At the headquarters of the multiversal Spider-police, Miles learns of canon events and that someone close to him is in danger. Miles tries to return to his dimension, but O’hara is determined to stop him.
