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The 11 superheroes who defined the decade onscreen, from Iron Man to one of the Watchmen
- By David Betancourt / The Washington Post
- Updated
- 0
The Joel Schumacher years of nipple-clad Batsuits seem so long ago, as no decade proved superheroes to be a force in entertainment quite like the 2010s.
The Avengers assembled, combining separate movie franchises into a team-up event never before seen on film — and turning Marvel Studios into a Hollywood superpower in the process. Making hundreds of millions of dollars per movie went from a major achievement to an expected result: “Avengers: Endgame” became the highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.8 billion at the worldwide box office, and films such as “Black Panther” ($1.3 billion) and DC’s “Wonder Woman” ($821.8 million) broke barriers in terms of representation on the big screen.
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Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.)
There is no Marvel Cinematic Universe without Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark, who helped bring the franchise to life in the aughts with his first “Iron Man” film.
Downey redefined the live-action cinematic superhero in the years following. Secret identity? Maybe for your grandparents’ comic-book characters — “I am Iron Man” took care of that problem in the first of many memorable onscreen moments from the man in the iron mask.
Downey’s Stark evolution took him from a billionaire playboy without a care to the hero who ended up making the ultimate sacrifice in “Avengers: Endgame.” And while taking down tanks and racing against jets in the sky is about as heroic as it gets, Downey as Stark was always at his best when the uniform was off. His off-the-charts confidence and sarcasm were such that there was no doubt Tony Stark’s mind was the Avengers’ greatest superpower.
We love him 3000.
MARVEL STUDIOSCaptain America (Chris Evans)
Chris Evans’ biggest feat as Captain America? Being so good you almost don’t remember that he was the Human Torch in those forgettable “Fantastic Four” movies. Downey’s Iron Man may be the most popular hero in the MCU, but Evans led its best movie — 2014’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” — and arguably its best trilogy.
Somehow, through the wonders of special effects, the movies made us believe Steve Rogers was a laughably scrawny kid from Brooklyn, while Evans made us believe in a man with a heart of gold and unshakable morals. Evans’s physicality as Captain America — grabbing escaping helicopters and ripping up chopped wood with his bare hands — was a wonder to behold but always felt second to the emotional performance. (Though when he commanded the power of Mjolnir, Thor’s mystical hammer, in the climactic battle of “Avengers: Endgame” ... that was pretty cool.)
MARVEL STUDIOSGreen Arrow (Stephen Amell)
Oliver Queen, the billionaire playboy turned vigilante archer on the CW’s “Arrow,” emphasized that superheroes could work well on television, too. When Stephen Amell donned the comics’ famous Green Arrow mask at the end of Season 2, it was a big bang of sorts for the DC Comics-inspired “Arrowverse”: The show got a little geekier, and the CW greenlit connected shows such as “The Flash” and “Legends of Tomorrow.” No other television network currently boasts such an expansive superhero lineup, and there’s no denying Amell is the godfather of what the CW has been able to accomplish with DC characters.
Amell’s man under the mask was haunted by family trauma, but far from a blond Bruce Wayne, Queen was much more lethal before settling into being a hero with a code. His salmon-ladder workouts were a clinic in how to frame the superhero physique, and he managed to use a catchphrase (“You have failed this city”) that was actually intimidating, not corny. And few big-time superhero actors have been as engaging with fans on social media.
Clearly, if you’re able to make the Green Arrow — not an A-list superhero by any means — work on television for eight seasons, you’re doing things right.
THE CWSpider-Man (Tom Holland)
Tom Holland helped save a Spider-Man brand that was headed toward irrelevance after the Andrew Garfield movies earlier in the decade. When the web-slinger finally arrived in the MCU in “Captain America: Civil War,” Holland’s youthful exuberance was a refreshing reset. For the first time ever in a movie, Spider-Man was a kid, something that always worked well in the comics but had eluded Hollywood.
The character’s geeky awe at being in the presence of other Avengers matched the feelings of fans just as excited to finally see such a reunion. And the '60s comics-style of Spidey’s eyes on his mask — smaller, with lenses that opened and closed to show emotions — were a master touch (thanks, Kevin Feige).
Spider-Man is now where he belongs (a part of Marvel Studios, which shares the rights to the character with Sony), and his presence onscreen has never been bigger.
SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENTSister Night (Regina King)
It is no easy task taking on an adaptation of a well-known and revered entity such as “Watchmen,” especially one that transforms the mythos of something many fans deem untouchable. But show creator Damon Lindelof’s vision is breathtakingly bold and one of the rare superhero productions not afraid to tackle race in a big way.
The face of the new HBO series is Regina King’s bone-breaking, no-time-for-your-mess vigilante, the character you didn’t know you needed in your superhero-loving life. King’s Angela Abar/Sister Knight will be just as big as Doctor Manhattan was when all is said and done. Her inspiring performance as a cop who has to put on a mask to uphold the law, while coming to grips with a legacy she never knew existed, makes sure superheroes remain a part of the entertainment conversation as this decade comes to a close.
HBO
