10. James Marsden
This might be a bit too high for Marsden, who played Cyclops in four X-Men films (though the last two appearances were brief). But he gets the loyalty and insecurity of the character right, and is basically the soul of the team (or “a dick,” as Wolverine calls him). Marsden followed director Bryan Singer to Superman Returns, in which he plays Richard White, the man Lois Lane goes to after Superman has left Earth. He’s completely convincing as a guy Lois would stay with, despite Superman coming back. It doesn’t hurt that he’s really, really good-looking and owns his own airplane.
9. Natalie Portman
Portman gets major points for shaving her head in V For Vendetta, a seemingly bold choice for such a prominent (and later, Academy Award-winning) actress. But as Jane Foster in the two Thor films, she has to be the woman that convinces the Norse God of Thunder that saving Earth and leaving Asgard behind are worthy endeavors. Who among us wouldn’t at least consider doing the same (especially if we had a giant hammer that could shoot lightning)? Portman is probably done playing Foster, moving on to meatier lead roles, but she gave 2011’s Thor needed credibility.
8. Idris Elba
Elba’s DC movie is The Losers, in which he played Roque, second-in-command of the black ops team whose loyalties are eventually called into question. He was also a French priest and mercenary named Moreau who’s charged with protecting a young boy from demonic forces in 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. But Elba is best known for his role as Heimdall in the Thor films, upright and unyielding as the guardian of the Bifrost bridge between Earth and Asgard. He looks damn impressive in that gold helmet and swings a mighty large sword.
7. Tommy Lee Jones
In 1995’s Batman Forever, Jones played one of Gotham’s greatest villains, but made him into a pastel-colored, cackling clown. (Maybe we can blame director Joel Schumacher for that.) The veteran actor took a surprising role in Captain America: The First Avenger as Colonel Chester Phillips, the commander who initially dismisses the sickly Steve Rogers as too skinny, but comes to admire his spirit and suitability for the Super Soldier program. A Captain America movie was not a sure thing in 2011, and a respected actor like Jones added gravitas, making sure the entire venture was taken more seriously.
https://youtu.be/IgL8h_u2PHw
6. J.K. Simmons
Here’s the inspiration for assembling this list. Simmons was one of the best things about Sam Raimi’s three Spider-Man films, playing J. Jonah Jameson, the cranky publisher of the Daily Bugle. He’s mean, cheap and hilarious. Will he bring the same humor to his role as Gotham City’s Commissioner Gordon in Justice League (along with whatever other DC films he appears in)? Probably not, since those movies don’t include too many laughs. But being a wise-ass to Batman would be a nice angle, if that’s a choice he gets to make.
5. Scarlett Johansson
We all know Johansson as the Black Widow, former Russian spy turned superhero, in the Avengers series of films. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron, she’s had the opportunity to add more depth to the character, showing a sense of humor and revealing past personal tragedy. Johansson did nothing like that in 2008’s The Spirit, which isn’t really a DC film, but DC Comics currently publishes the Spirit comic books [correction: published them in the mid-2000s and still publishes archived editions], so please stretch with us. Regardless, we have no idea what the hell she’s doing in her role as Silken Floss, as you’ll see in the following video.
4. Samuel Jackson
Jackson is also in The Spirit, playing main bad guy The Octopus. Why “The Octopus”? His prison tears tattoos resemble octopus tentacles and he claims to have eight of everything. That makes about as much sense as anything else in Frank Miller’s completely absurd mess of a film, which was a huge box office flop (grossing $39 million worldwide against a $60 million budget) despite a relatively impressive cast. Thankfully, Jackson is better remembered as Nick Fury, the spy and director of the S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence agency who gets all of these superpowered heroes together to form The Avengers. His post-credits scene in 2008’s Iron Man effectively started the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
3. Chris Evans
OK, Evans broke all the geek movie rules by playing the Human Torch in the original Fantastic Four movies, then taking the role of Captain America for Marvel Studios and its Avengers franchise. He’s played two superheroes! But he’s also the rock of the Marvel movie mythology, the leader of The Avengers who doesn’t like swear words, doesn’t want to date anyone in the S.H.I.E.L.D. offices, and as we’ll find out this spring, doesn’t think superheroes should have to register themselves with the government. Oh, and he also played tech expert Jensen in The Losers, who’s maybe the most buff computer expert ever,has a love for Journey, and is very serious about watching his niece play soccer.
https://youtu.be/f8ZPg8uaoR0
2. Ryan Reynolds
Reynolds would have been far lower on this list if not for Deadpool, though he would still be in these rankings for playing another version of the character in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and starring in Green Lantern. Additionally, he was in 2004’s Blade: Trinity, playing a Marvel character and showing off his superhuman physique for the first time.
Though Reynolds played the lead character, Green Lantern was a huge disappointment, barely making back its $200 million budget and was a mess creatively. The one bright side to playing DC Comics’ intergalactic space cop might be that Reynolds got a funny crack about that CGI green suit in Deadpool. But considering he’s been in three different movies throughout the Marvel and DC cinematic universes, and was the lead in two of them (one of which has been hugely successful), Reynolds is near the top.
https://youtu.be/LmP3YFk_YHA
1. Ben Affleck
Affleck is playing Batman. He wins. He may also be in one of the highest-grossing superhero films of all time with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, though catching The Avengers‘ $200 million opening weekend and $1.5 billion worldwide box office will be difficult. He’s likely to play the Dark Knight, one of the world’s most popular superheroes, in at least three more movies, including two Justice League films and a solo Batman project.
Oh, and Affleck sort of played Superman in Hollywoodland. At least he dressed up in the red-and-blue tights and cape as George Reeves playing Superman. How many actors have gotten to suit up in both the Superman and Batman costumes? He’s a walking Batman v Superman by himself.
Affleck catches a lot of derision for his 2003 Daredevil movie, which is justified since the film wasn’t very good and its $180 million worldwide gross is paltry compared to other superhero blockbusters. Yet even if Daredevil was a B-list Marvel character, Affleck still got the headline role in a big superhero movie at a time when those properties were just becoming popular.
