Top 25 performances from a comic book movie or TV show
7. Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow
Appears in: Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3, Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most popular film franchises of all time, and Scarlett Johansson is all over it, always upping her game even if she’s rarely in the central spotlight. She takes the character of Black Widow from a tortured mercenary with a difficult past to the ultimate hero who sacrifices her life for others. She takes the character on a beautiful journey that can be easy to overlook among all the fights between superbeings, aliens, sorcerers and the like. Black Widow hangs with all of them because she’s just that tough.
Johansson has always been a powerhouse actress (consider watching JoJo Rabbit if you wanna see her at the top of her game), and she a powerful sense of gravitas to the MCU. Her solo film Black Widow is long overdue, but at least she’ll finally get the superhero spotlight she so richly deserves when it comes out this year.
6. Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker
Appears in: Joker
I have a lot of issues with Joker as a movie and as an origin story for the greatest criminal in comics. Instead of wasting time on that nonsense, though, let’s focus on Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning performance. Phoenix is one of the greatest actors Hollywood has, and his take on the Joker is phenomenal, full of nuanced character work and highly physical acting. While we don’t exactly get to see him being the Batman villain, he expertly plays a tragic, sympathetic and downright scary person slowly descending into madness. Without Phoenix, Joker would have little to recommend it. With him, it’s worth watching.
Phoenix finds gold in the small moments that drive Arthur Fleck towards anarchistic violence. His painful-to-listen-to laugh, the way his delusions warp his reality…all of it informs the monster we know he will become.
And Phoenix has to be high on this list because he’s the only person to ever win an Oscar for Best Actor for a role in a comic book film. His win opens the doors for performances in movies like these to be taken more seriously. That being said, hopefully we can find some characters to idolize who aren’t psychopathic mass murderers, but c’est la vie.