Number Five: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) 🇺🇸
To be honest, I found the film a bit slow-paced but it is a perfect introduction to how the world’s must famous super soldier came to be while also setting up the greatest superhero team-up movie of its time—The Avengers (2012).
Chris Evans established himself as an A-list actor with his performance as well as making Steve Rogers/Captain America one of the most popular superheroes in the world, rivaling the likes of Batman and Spider-Man.
Number Four: Wonder Woman (2017) 👸🏻
At the time, Wonder Woman was arguably the finest DCEU film to-date. Behind Patty Jenkins’s superlative direction and Gal Gadot’s surprising leading woman abilities.
The movie reminds me a lot of Captain America; The First Avenger, but does a better job of feeling more like an actual war movie based on its less pulpy tone and visuals.
3. Superman: The Movie (1978) đź’«
The granddaddy of them all. The one that started it all. The first film that made everyone think a man could fly!
Yes, Richard Donner’s groundbreaking Superman movie, starring the perfectly-cast Christopher Reeve is the standard bearer for the big budget, superhero movie genre. Ain’t no more to it.
2. Iron Man (2008) đź”…
Thirty years after the release of Superman (1978), Jon Favreau (director), Kevin Feige (producer) and the perfectly-cast Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man, did its predecessor proud.
Like Superman, Iron Man had a big budget, lots of heart, tons of comedy (see Gene Hackman and Ned Beatty in Donner’s film), plenty of thrills, but most importantly, birthed a film franchise. In the case of Iron Man, is is the father of the MCU—the highest-grossing movie franchise in history.
1. Batman Begins (2005)
In my humble opinion, it still is the best superhero origin film ever made. And it’s part one of still the best superhero trilogy ever made.
Enter Batman Begins. Christopher Nolan’s film is so good, that I saw it three times in the theater in a few weeks. Like Donner’s Superman, it packs A-list casting and one of the best movie scores this side of John Williams.
I love Captain America, Deadpool, Iron Man, Superman and Wonder Woman but it Begins (with) Batman.
