Top 10 Favorite Comic Book Movies of the Decade

Top 10 Favorite Comic Book Movies of the Decade

In terms of box office, comic book movies might not be super dominating as they were in the 2010s but that does not mean we are not getting some great comic book movies. So, here are my picks for my 10 favorite comic book movies of the decade so far. Here we go!

10. Zack Snyder’s Justice League: The only film on this list that wasn’t given a theatrical release, but that doesn’t at all diminish the quality of the film as it’s still a great Justice League adventure that’s 100x better than the 2017 movie (which I don’t hate as much as some people). For better or for worse, this movie is 100% Snyder’s vision for his Justice League franchise. Since this was the cut of the film that Snyder originally shot, with every scene he shot being in this movie it feels distinct and unique. In an era with so many generic and corporate blockbusters, it feels so refreshing to get this movie and it has a distinct style, look, and personality to it. It is a film that is appropriately called epic, where the scope of the story and the threat is big and you feel that as we see these different fractions coming together to stop the inevitable apocalypse. This movie gives each of our heroes their moment to shine and be awesome. With Cyborg, this movie makes him a much more interesting and layered character that plays a pivotal role in the film. While I am still not crazy about Batman v Superman, this movie makes that film better with continuing the character arcs for Batman and Superman. 

9. Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse: I find Across the Spiderverse to be a sizable improvement over Into the Spiderverse. Into the Spiderverse is still a good movie, but I have never loved it as much as other people do. This is a jaw dropping animated movie that is unlike anything I have seen before. Every scene, every shot, every frame of this movie is beautiful to look at and feels like it could be a piece of artwork hanging in a museum. Some of the scenes between Gwen Stacey and her father are incredible because you have the characters animated in one fashion but the background behind them is melting and changing colors to change with the emotions of the characters. Every universe we explore has a different art style to it, that makes every sequence feel so unique and different. This movie is proof that so many modern animated movies are generic because they do the most simplistic animation style, the Spiderverse gang does the opposite of that. This movie is crazier and more ambitious then Into the Spiderverse where there’s more Spider-Variants in here that allows for a bigger story, and it flips the mythology on its head with what’s revealed about Miles and his place in all of this. It does end on a cliffhanger that makes me excited to check out Beyond the Spiderverse next year, because it has been too long. 

8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: I am a massive James Gunn fan, and we will talk about more James Gunn movies later in this ranking. After a bit of a misstep, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Gunn returns to the franchise with a great film that is an emotionally satisfying conclusion to this trilogy and these characters. Since Gunn both writes and directs these films, it has his vision all over this film. It came out at a point in time where so many MCU were generic and felt like corporate products without a vision. You watch this movie, and it feels like 100% Gunn in terms of his style, sense of humor, and taste of music present all over this movie. Some of that was due to this movie being written in 2018 back during the MCU’s prime. Gunn found a way to conclude everybody’s character arcs that started in the 2014 original and pay them off. He found all these little details that were set up about them back in the 2014 film and paid them off. The High Evolutionary is easily the most despicable of our Guardians villains, he is the one that you most want to see defeated and it is so satisfying when he finally is. This is easily one of the MCU’s best films in the Multiverse Saga. 

7. Deadpool & Wolverine: A movie that’s 100% designed to be a love letter to the Fox X-Men universe as well as being this event film that unites Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, the proper versions of them in this movie and it’s just as awesome as we hoped it would be. The bromance between Reynolds and Jackman in real life shines through in this movie, as their chemistry in this movie is fantastic. It makes you realize what X-Men Origins: Wolverine could have been, had they done a proper version of Deadpool and not whatever that mutant monstrosity was. But it is also a multiverse adventure and there are plenty of fun surprises in this movie that tie into the themes of legacy that the film is exploring. Getting to see Channing Tatum’s Gambit is hilarious and very curious what they are doing with him in Avengers: Doomsday. While it has the fun you want from this movie, the movie also delivers some heart and emotion. They give both Deadpool and Wolverine these character arcs about legacy and finding your purpose that fit in line with their respective characters. There are some moments in the third act that are incredibly heartfelt because we care about these characters. 

6. Thunderbolts*: This might be the smallest and most grounded movie on the list. It is not about the end of the world, the universe, or the multiverse. It is a movie that is about these groups of losers and outcasts coming together to stop a threat. In simple terms, this movie can be described as Earth-bound Guardians of the Galaxy, while that is true that does not make the movie bad. What’s refreshing about this movie is that it is an MCU that is about something. It is about mental health and finding your purpose, very few MCU movies are exploring something that makes this movie stand out amongst other MCU movies. Since this movie is more grounded and smaller in scale, it means that it uses more practical effects with the action. As you go into the third act and we go inside Sentry’s mind, and we are going to these different rooms I like that it is practical and they built out a set and did not rely on CGI. As it is an ensemble film, the cast of the characters are great and a lot of fun. They have fun personalities and add something of value to the film. It is hard for me to pick a favorite character because I love all of them for different reasons. This is easily one of the best MCU movies post-Endgame. 

5. Superman: One of my favorite Superman movies, and a movie that I saw three times in theaters. This is of course another James Gunn film, and what I love about this movie is that they hard pivoted the Superman character after Zack Snyder’s take was polarizing and darker. For better or for worse, this movie provides us with the most comic accurate adaptation of Superman. We see his romance with Lois Lane, he is working at the Daily Planet, and even the way David Corenswet can make Superman and Clark Kent feel like different characters, feels so comic accurate. I also like that this movie exists in an already populated DC universe, it makes it feel very lived in when you have heroes like Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Mr. Terrific showing up to help Superman. It makes you want to explore more of this world with these characters because you know there is already a history there. Some people say this feels like those animated Justice League shows adapted in live action and there is some truth to that. I like that it is very comic booky and embraces the weirdness of Superman and the comic books. I know the Snyder Cult is going to hate me for putting this movie about Zack Snyder’s Justice League, but it is the truth. 

4. Spider-Man: Brand New Day: I went into the year expecting Spider-Man: Brand New Day to be a massive hit and clear $1 billion. However, I was not expecting this film to both make $2.5 billion at the box office and surpass The Force Awakens to be the highest grossing movie of all time at the domestic box office. But Sony, Marvel, and Tom Holland created a movie that was a total crowd pleaser for Spider-Man fans and delivered the Spider-Man movie that we have been wanting with Holland. This is a much more grounded film with the film taking place in New York City, we see him stopping local crime at the beginning and being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man which is something that they avoided in the previous Spider-Man movies with Holland. This is the most emotional Spider-Man movie, where you have Peter dealing with the consequences of Doctor Strange’s spell and you see how that’s affected Peter’s relationship with MJ, and in certain moments the movie is able to pull at the heart strings. I think the bromance between Spider-Man and Punisher here is fantastic, they get some hilarious moments as Holland and Jon Bernthal have great chemistry with each other. 

3. The Suicide Squad (2021): This is the last Gunn movie we will be talking about on this list. Simply put, this is Gunn’s best movie only behind Guardians of the Galaxy. I rewatched this movie just last month and I stand by everything I have ever said about this movie and the fact that this is the DCEU’s best movie. Gunn doing an R-rated version of Suicide Squad felt like a match made in heaven because Gunn has a dark sense of humor and his style in terms of title cards and music could make for a really good Suicide Squad movie and that’s what we got. The movie is relentlessly violent and funny, and it starts at the very beginning. The first thing a character does in the movie is kill a bird but from there we get head’s blown off and faces blown up, and it’s awesome and I like that WB let Gunn tell the Suicide Squad movie that he wanted to tell. But beyond, this movie does deliver the heart that you expect from a Gunn movie. Where it’s a movie that is about these misunderstood weirdos and outcasts finding their place in life, and they make the weirdest of characters like Polka-Dot Man into this sympathetic character that you care about by the end of the film. The casting here is great, there is a solid argument to be made that Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is the best piece of casting to come from the DCEU. She can capture the energy and mannerisms of Harley Quinn well, and whoever is the next Harley Quinn is going to have some big shoes to fill. John Cena was able to take Peacemaker, this character that nobody heard about and make him this fun character. This is the most well-rounded film in the DCEU, where it delivers some great action, the biggest laughs, and plenty of heart. This is how you do a Suicide Squad movie right. 

 2. Spider-Man: No Way Home: If Deadpool & Wolverine was designed to be a love letter to the Fox X-Men universe, then No Way Home was designed to be a love letter to three generations of Spider-Man fans. This was such a big event film when it came out, it was the first mega box office after COVID that got people to return to the theater. The fact that a movie was able to make a $1 billion in 2021 is incredible considering the state of everything. But it goes to show just how popular Spider-Man is and when you tease that we are getting Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Holland on screen together people are going to show up and that is what they did. This movie delivers all of the fun Spider-Man/multiverse fan service that you want, there’s multiple scenes of our Spider-Man just talking and maybe they go on for too long, but you don’t care because you love to see them on screen together. The third act with Spider-Man fighting Green Goblin, Electro, Sandman, and The Lizard is just as awesome as it sounds, everybody gets their moment. The movie is also able to find a way to cleverly tell the origin story for Tom Holland’s Spider-Man in this movie. This is the movie where Holland learns “With great power comes great responsibility” and they use Tobey and Andrew being in the film to help communicate that. So, they are in there for the fan service side of things, but they are also there with a purpose and adding in that emotional heart. I know a lot of people have turned on this movie and say it is not good if you remove the fan service. I disagree with that, this is an incredible blockbuster, superhero movie, and Spider-Man movie. 

 1. The Batman: The Batman is not just my favorite superhero movie of the decade; it is also my favorite movie of the decade. I am a lifelong Batman fan; both the Batman character and world is what got me into nerd culture. One of the aspects that has been missing in a lot of Batman movies is Batman being the world’s greatest detective, and that has been a criticism of the Batman movies. Matt Reeves appears to have heard those criticisms and decided to deliver Batman being the world’s greatest detective. I love that it is this investigation into Gotham City and along the way he is meeting up with different people from Jim Gordon to The Penguin to help him out. It makes the city feel lived in, it is the only Batman movie that makes Gotham feel like a character. They did this a lot with New York City in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, and Reeves was able to do that with this film and Gotham. It is gorgeous to look at in terms of the cinematography, and I do not talk a lot about the cinematography in movies. But when it is beautifully done by Greg Frasier in this movie, you feel stupid if you do not talk about it. This movie delivers some gorgeous and iconic Batman imagery that is some of the best shots of Batman we have gotten in live action. I love the performances across the board, Robert Pattinson is a fantastic Batman, and I love Colin Farrell as The Penguin. Plus, you get another fantastic score from Michael Giacchino. Reeves raised the bar so high with this movie and I hope The Batman: Part II (whenever it comes out) can be a worthy sequel.