Top 25 performances from a comic book movie or TV show

22. Michael B. Jordan as Killmonger

Appears in: Black Panther

Every performance from 2018’s Black Panther is worthy of recognition, including Michael B. Jordan’s turn as the villain Killmonger. He finds the perfect fit for the swagger, charm, and deep pain of Wakanda’s forgotten son turned murderous King. It’s rare that I actually feel inspired to join a super-villain’s quest for domination, but Jordan’s Killmonger got me there.

Black Panther is one of those movies that feels almost as much about the villain as it does the hero, and Jordan holds up his end of the show. The movie wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as it is without him.

21. Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlett Witch

Appears in: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civl War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Wandavision

Before Wandavision, Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff probably made it on this list. In the earlier MCU movies, I generally found her performance dry, her scenes dull, and her accent hit-or-miss. But after WandaVision, this list can’t exist without her.

WandaVision takes us through several different eras of classic sitcoms from the ’50s to the 2000s, and Olsen is convincing in all of them, bringing a lot of specificity to each homage. On top of that, Olsen portrays a woman who is still in great pain since the events of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame. She shifts seamlessly between goofy to loving to terrifyingly angry. It’s a layered, juicy performance.