Best Comic Book Movie Heroes

In the previous post, I talked about the villains that entertained us. In recent years, comic book films have become fashionable, drawing the top of the A-List actors and getting fine performances.  In the past, we've seen campy performances (George Clooney's Batman) to the Superhero sex scene in "The Watchmen".  There's been plenty of good ones, but here's the cream of the crop.

11) Patrick Stewart - (X-Men/X2/X3): Stewart had two franchises working at the same time (Star Trek), but his Professor Charles Xavier was the key figure in the X-Men films and always the voice of reason and tolerance in an increasingly harsh world.  But Xavier did have a super-power, he could read, communicate and even take control of multiple minds, freezing their movements.  His "death" in the third X-Men film is still not well received by many fans.

10) Jackie Earle Haley - (Watchmen): Haley's Rorschach was the most compelling character in the love-it-or-hate-it "Watchmen".  His patience is put to the test when he couldn't save a murdered little girl and turns into a darker soul as he murders a suspect by chopping his head apart with a meat cleaver.  "People go to jail! Dogs get put down!" This act sends him to prison, which ends up being bad news for the inmates as he continues to slaughter them from behind bars.

9) Tom Hanks - (Road to Perdition): The Oscar award winning actor played Michael Sullivan, a Chicago hitman outcast by his adopted family when Daniel Craig murders his wife and son.  The graphic novel was brought to life by fine acting and the direction of Sam Mendes.  For a film that saw Pep Streebeck kill people, the scene in the rain where a conflicted Hanks kills his surrogate father (Paul Newman) is worth watching over and over again.

8) Wesley Snipes - (Blade): Before Marvel could put out Spider-man, X-Men and the Hulk, Blade came to the big screen in 1998.  At this time, vampires weren't in every other film, but this provided a new twist.  A half-human/vampire hybrid, Blade spends his life hunting vampires down to kill them.  Snipes' character was unforgiving, relentless and cold.  In one of the most over-looked comic book movies, Snipes stayed memorable.

7) Michael Keaton - (Batman): Though Christian Bale appears on this list, Keaton played a good Bruce Wayne/Batman.  He didn't smile like Val Kilmer's and wasn't a victim of an awful script (Clooney), he was the distraught millionaire that Bruce Wayne had to be to dress up like a bat and stalk the streets.  He also didn't make up an annoying voice when he put on the Bat suit.

6) Ron Perlman - (Hellboy): When Guilermo Del Toro casted the 40+ year-old Perlman as Hellboy, some would have doubted that the HUGE age difference wouldn't be a problem. Instead, Perlman personified Hellboy well (twice) and spawned an animated series. Perlman had just the right amount of camp while being quite a bad ass.

5) Christian Bale - (Batman Begins/Dark Knight): Bale's Batman may not be perfect- the voice when he is Batman is pretty annoying- however, Bale is one of the better Bruce Wayne's that the franchise had.  His two-sided approach allows him to be Wayne even when he is Batman and vice-versa.  Though the villains have overshadowed his performances in these two films, Bale has been the ideal Bruce Wayne/Batman.

4) Tobey Maguire - (Spider-Man): It's hard not to see Maguire as Peter Parker, that's how perfect he was. He could be dorky and clumsy, but you can see him grow from film to film until Sam Rami had him dancing in the third film for some reason.  However, the first two films were dead on and Maguire nailed it in every way, especially in the second installment.

3) Robert Downey Jr. - (Iron Man/Iron Man 2): Tony Stark is an egotistical bastard that cares only about himself and grows to be a better person, but it still VERY much the same.  Downey doesn't nail Stark, he splits the arrow Robin Hood style.  Every emotion of Tony Stark is perfect from Downey, from his childish behavior to his noble deeds where he attempts to save the world from his own weapons.  Whether it's excusing himself from fighting with his would-be-girlfriend because he's fighting an army of drones to pretending he's jogging when being pursued by the Air Force, Downey plays this role perfectly.

2) Christopher Reeve - (Superman/Superman II/III/IV): All of these actor embodies their characters, but Reeve literally appears as if he was taken from the page.  Though Superman can be a bit of a tool, Reeve's Superman is one that is always compelling.  His internal conflict was great in the sequel, but the best part was teaching a vile trucker a lesson in a diner and paying for the damages.  Reeve captivated and charmed audiences for years and could easily be number one on this list.

1) Hugh Jackman - (X-Men/X2/X3/Wolverine): Evolution is the theme of the X-Men films, but perhaps the greatest evolution is the performances by Hugh Jackman.  It is clear that X-Men was a role that Jackman didn't know the history of the character, but as early as X2 Jackman began pleasing even the hard core fans.  Also Jackman is passionate about Wolverine.  In an interview before the X2 release, Jackman expressed how he yearned to see Wolverine go berserk and he does in X2, slicing up the invading soldiers in Xavier's mansion.  Jackman has said in interviews how he wants to constantly improve an make Wolverine MORE ICONIC of an image.  He is three times the size he was when he was originally the character in 2000.  Though Wolverine is a tough, rigid emotional character, Jackman brings a tremendous amount of heart into it often finding plenty of tear-jerker scenes.  In 2000, fans weren't pleased with the selection of him, but his cameo in X-Men:First Class received the loudest reaction on opening night.  In the 2009 Oscars, Jackman sang and danced around stage (as he did when he won a Tony Award for the "Boy From Oz"), and concluded it by singing out, "I AM WOLVERINE!!!!"  Of all the characters embraced by comic fans, who'd have thought their favorite would be a song-and-dance man.  Like Ian McKellen for villains, X-Men's Jackman is the champ of Movie Superheroes.

Top Eleven Comic Book Movie Villains

With the release of several comic book films this summer, I've decided to recap the best of the villains. The truth is that Comic Book Films have come a long way.  The film recruit A-Listers and are seen as more than campy action films.  They've won Oscars, ruled the box office and are being taken seriously as quality films.  While the heros are important, choosing the right one sets up your franchise, the villains are just as critical to the success of the superhero.  Here's a quick top eleven:


11) Elijah Wood, Sin City - Wood took the Ring of Doom to Mordor, but after that his spectacles, blue eyes and eerily silent demeanor were just as terrifying as his fast moving attacks.  He and his master (Rutger Hauer) were also cannibals that force Carla Gugino to watch them eat her hand.

10) Michael Wincott, The Crow - Wincott's voice alone gets him on  list. His performance in Alex Proyas' The Crow is the best by far in the franchise and is the most overlooked of the comic book villains. He has sex with his sister (Bai Ling) and a three way with some girl, who's eyes the she cuts out.  Wincott would throw the eye to his next murder victim (Jon Polito), who he stabbed in the throat with a sword. However, when Polito didn't die right away, Wincott screams in disgust, "AW FOR FUCK'S SAKE, DIE!!!", before grabbing a gun and shooting him twice in the chest.  Cold.

9) Brian Cox, X2 (also played by Danny Huston) - Cox is an excellent actor and X2 combined him with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen for good measure.  The main human threat to Mutant kind, General William Striker's hatred for mutant extends from his own son. In X2, his ruthlessness knew no bounds where he bastardized his own son into a weapon to use against Professor X.  For good measure, he found ways to control mutants minds and doesn't exactly hand with care when they start to come to their senses.

8) Willem Dafoe, Spider-man - Dafoe may not be the best of the Spider-Man villains, but he was one of the craziest. Dafoe created one of the more iconic scenes in comic book films with "The Mirror" scene in the first installment.  His cackle and sinister voice is second to the Joker's in all these films and his scheme to make Spider-man (Toby Maguire) to choose between saving Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) or trapped children set up one of the best showdowns in comic films.

7) Liam Neeson, Batman Begins - When Christopher Nolan chose Ra's Al Ghul as the first villain in the new Batman franchise, many were skeptical. Put Liam Neeson in and there was no need to fear.  Ghul had a reason behind his madness at all times and his motivation wasn't for dominance, it's was to sort of a check down to society when they've been bad.  Ghul's only undoing was training Bruce Wayne to eventually oppose him.  His speech about the League of Shadows' deeds is worth listening to over and over again.

6) Terence Stamp, Superman II - Continuing a trend of "great villains have great voices", Stamp's performance as General Zod was bad ass. He basically had no care for a single human on Earth, treating them as ants, but he shouldn't have trusted Christopher Reeve when he went in to the "Powers Chamber" or whatever it was that eventually got Superman the win.  Anyway, he was still good.

5) Gene Hackman, Superman (also played by Kevin Spacey) - Though both of these actors did fine jobs, Hackman's Lex Luthor was funny, quirky, diabolical and such a megalomaniac that he still thinks he's the greatest criminal mind on Earth even after he's been caught. The plan, of course, was simply to increase the value of his land by nuking California into the Pacific, but he won't let his sidekick have a town named after him.

4) Aaron Eckhart, The Dark Knight - Many villains are good people gone bad and shown the error of their ways, but not Eckhart's Twoface, who sees the error of trying to be decent in an indecent type. Nudged into madness by Ledger's Joker, Gotham's DA uses a two headed coin to decide justice. Once used as a joke, the coin is now scratched up and bad heads means he kills you.

3) Alfred Molina, Spider-man 2 - In the best comic book movie, Molina's Doctor Octopus was a scientist that had a dream and an lab accident ruined him but gave him his power.  While Peter Parker was trying to walk away from his power for the dream of a normal life, Octopus (formerly Otto Octavius) embraces his power to rob banks in an effort to continue his work.  He has a touch of megalomania and his passion blinds him from seeing the truth, that he miscalculated and the experiment was a failure. Eventually his own advice to Peter Parker brings him back, but not before the train sequence (best action scene in Comic Films).

2) Heath Ledger/Jack Nicholson, The Dark Knight/Batman - Both deserve mention in this.  Ledger's is cold and sadistic, whereas Nicholson's was unpredictable and insane.  Both had great schemes, in different ways.  Though Ledger won the Oscar for his performance, to dismiss Nicholson's Joker is just wrong.  The Joker in both Batman films is crazy, but brilliant. Evil and yet likable.  Ledger's Joker doesn't want to kill Batman so he can "go on doing this forever", but Nicholson's Joker can kill anyone at any moment, even his right-hand man.  Both of these characters are different and still greatly memorable.

1) Ian McKellen (also Michael Fassbender), X-Men (X-Men First Class) - Both did well in their roles as the central villain in the X-Men franchise.  Magneto is a cold, calculated killing machine that is willing to create metal plates by pulling the iron out of your blood (X2), that bends the adamantium of Wolverine (X-Men), or turns policemen's guns on themselves (X-Men).  Magneto is a holocaust survivor who watched the worst aspects of humans which has created the jaded view of the world. The worst part about Magneto is that you end up rooting for him.  His mantra that you are who you are and that mutants are never to be ashamed for being different, echos in all the X-Men films.  He is still good friends with his worst enemy, Charles Xavier, despite trying to killing him and use him to kill humanity.  He even when so far to complement Xavier after watching him die (X3).  Fassbender does a great job in "First Class", but McKellen is still the raining champ of comic book movie villains.

As Stars Fade, They Can Still Shine

This past baseball off-season, Derek Jeter engaged in contract talks with the New York Yankees on what could be the final contract he signs in his career. Ever the polite and classy professional, Jeter never returned volley on the negative publicity dished out by his General Manager Brian Cashman and co-owner of the Yankees Hank Steinbrenner. Eventually, Jeter did express his displeasure during the press conference announcing the re-signing of their captain. One thing is certain, one day Jeter will hang up his cleats, but will he do so after moving out of his position as Yankees' shortstop. How will the end of this successful era end? A quick look at other aging New York athletes will give a few clues.

In 1992, the New York Rangers acquired the captain of the Edmonton Oilers Mark Messier. Messier, a five time Stanley Cup champion, was to be the perfect man to win the Rangers their first Stanley Cup in 52 years. Messier would lead the Rangers to the best record in hockey and win the Hart Trophy as the league's MVP, but would not win the Stanley Cup. The following year, the team finished in last place and Messier took a lot of criticism. In May of 1994, he declared his team would win a key game facing elimination, and delivered a hat trick that would win the game and make him immortal in New York sports. A month later, he scored the goal that won the Rangers the Stanley Cup, but after three more successful years, Messier left New York as a free agent. During his negotiation, MSG President Dave Checketts proclaimed, “How long do I have to pay for the 94 cup?” Messier would return to a video tribute from the Rangers and a hero's welcome from the fans in November of 97, but would don a Ranger uniform again in 2000 after three years in Vancouver. This time would not be as successful. The Rangers would not make the playoffs in Messier's final four seasons and the highlights were personal highlights for Messier as he'd pass Gordie Howe to leave only Wayne Gretzky ahead of him in points. The decision of when to step aside was left to Messier, not by General Manager/Coach Glen Sather, as fans eagerly tried to nudge him into coaching. Messier wasn't the player once was and never topped 43 points in his final three seasons in New York.

No one could argue that the acquisition of Mike Piazza in 1998 from the Florida Marlins was the most important for the New York Mets since 1983. It's likely on the short list of best acquisitions in the organizations history. Piazza would lead the Mets to the playoff twice in 1999 and 2000, having MVP-type seasons in both. In 99, his .303, 40 HR's and then team record 124 RBI's was among the best statistical season in Mets history. In 2000, he finished third in the MVP voting with his .324, 38 HR's and 113 RBI's. Piazza was the superstar the Mets lacked since Darryl Strawberry. His presence in the Mets lineup was critical as their lone big bat, but in 2003 he began his decline, aided by wear and tear due to catching and tearing his groin dodging a pitch. In 2004, the Mets tried him at first base as well as catching, but the experiment was a failure as Piazza couldn't adjust to the infield. In 2005, his power numbers dropped below 20 for the first time in his career when he played a full season. He was dropped to seventh in the order often by manager Willie Randolph and Piazza saw the writing on the wall that the Mets were ready to move on. Piazza returned to Shea Stadium in 2006 as a member of the San Diego Padres. He received a standing ovation by the Mets crowd and took Pedro Martinez deep for two homeruns. For most of the season, Piazza hit .300, but would finish at .283, proving he could still catch and lead a team back to the playoffs. In 2008, he'd retire after a year with the Oakland A's.

Perhaps the path Jeter will walk is one the he's already seen from his former teammate Bernie Williams. Williams was slowly making his name in the baseball world until the 1996 AL Divisional Series. After losing Game 1 to Texas, Williams hit 4 Hrs and hit a walk off homerun to beat the Orioles in the ALCS. Williams' career numbers from 1996-2002, he averaged 143 games, .323 batting average, 25 Hrs and 103 RBI's. He was always in the heart of the lineup and was known for his great clutch hitting. However, in 2003 Williams' batting average dropped to .263, which would be his highest average as an everyday starter for the rest of his career. Over the next three years, he averaged 136 games, .253 batting, 16 Hrs and 66 RBIs. It was becoming obvious Williams' days as the Yankee center fielder were numbers. In 2006, the Yankees signed Johnny Damon to play center field and Williams saw spot duty in the corner outfield positions and designated hitter, but never again as a center fielder. In 2007, Williams wanted a guaranteed roster spot, but the Yankees offered him only a chance to make the team and he declined the non-roster invite. Williams' next appearance in Yankee Stadium was on September 21, 2008 when he helped close the stadium and received a standing ovation. Today, Williams holds the post season record for RBI's (80) and extra base hits (51). He held the record for post season homeruns until Manny Ramirez passed him.

What the future holds for Jeter is uncertain. Jeter has handled his career with class as he showed when breaking the Yankees' hit record and will become the first Yankee to have 3,000 hits solely in their uniform. The fans reactions will become interesting when the skills decline more, but there is no place to currently move him to another position. Regardless of the way it will end, it will end. No matter if he hangs on too long, gracefully steps aside or leaves to play elsewhere for a year or two, Jeter's place is already written and the exit will not tarnish the days he wore the uniform.