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.