Stan's "ZACH SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE" led to an e-mail exchange with 21 readers of this site. We all agreed with Stan that ZACK SNYDER'S JUSTICE LEAGUE was a far superior film to the Joss Whedon version that stunk up theaters. During that discussion, we started talking about actors who had played superheroes in films. At that point, I was looping everyone into on e-mail chain.
Here is the top ten we came up with for the best performances of superheroes.
1) Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
2) Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man
3) Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman
4) Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther
5) Christopher Reeves as Superman
6) Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man
7) Wesley Snipes as Blade
8) Famke Janssen as Jean Grey
9) Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool
10) Michael Keaton as Batman
There was a lot of debate and both Henry Cavill (as Superman) and Halle Berry (as Storm) came close to the top ten. Other names were mentioned but those were the only two who had widespread support. I lobbied hard, myself, for Paul Rudd as Antman but I was alone in supporting him.
After making those decisions, Carla then argued we'd should note the top ten acting performances as a villain.
1) Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman
2) Jack Nicholson as the Joker
3) Ian McKellen as Magneto
4) Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor
4) Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
5) Michael Fassbender as Magneto
6) Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker
7) Tom Hardy as Bane
8) Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn
9) Jared Leto as the Joker
10) Michael Keaton as the Vulture
Joker is a very popular character, clearly. Cesar Romero and Heath Ledger were also mentioned. I was surprised that Jessie Eisenberg and Kevin Spacey didn't get mentioned (and I didn't think to mention either until after we'd concluded our debate and discussion.)
One point that Kelvin made during this discussion? MARVEL doesn't make good villains anymore. Kelvin says that they're all forgettable "since around the time the first three X-Men movies ended or when Jeff Bridges played Obadiah Stane. It's all these aliens and unrelatable characters as villains in the Avenger films. I like a villain you can relate to."
