I love superhero movies. If they have a good story and a feasible plot, then it’s worth watching. Don’t get me wrong, there are some terrible ones out there, Batman & Robin (1997), for instance. I liked it when I was thirteen, but when I watched it again at more than double that age, I found myself shaking my head. Maybe that was the only way I could be entertained by it: playing an imaginary game of pong with the screen.
Then we have movies like Iron Man (2008), which revolutionized the superhero genre and paved the way for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It also revived Robert Downey Jr’s career. The MCU films have more enhanced and improved visual effects that give these newer movies more believability and merit, unlike Batman & Robin. Those effects made it look like a cartoon. I read that was director Joel Schumacher’s intention, but a live-action cartoon isn’t worth my time. Perhaps some liked the comic book element created by the lackluster effects, but it wasn’t my thing.
With superhero movies now being more common than ever, it made me think about the heroes themselves, and about who is most deserving of that title. They all have interesting backstories, but who is the most worthy?
Note: I was never into comic books, so my deliberations are based solely on what I’ve seen in movies.
Batman
Bruce Wayne saw his parents get murdered right before his eyes. This tragedy left him scarred and bent on revenge. However, he learns that revenge is only about making himself feel better, while the residents of Gotham City fall victim to crime every day. He decides to become Batman and rid the city of crime.
Wayne puts a lot of his life into learning the criminal mind and how to overcome fear. In Batman Begins (2005), he gets out of Gotham and stows away on a ship headed for Asia. He eventually gets caught up with a gang about to pull off a major heist before they get apprehended by the authorities. It turns out that the gangsters were about to steal goods from Wayne Enterprises, and Wayne was going to steal from himself, unbeknownst to everyone else.
In prison, he meets Henri Ducard, who offers him a chance to join the League of Shadows, a team of mercenaries whose duty is to rid civilization of evil. Wayne accepts but learns that the league means to go to Gotham to destroy it entirely. Wayne disagrees with this logic and escapes, narrowly escaping death.
Since Wayne lost his parents tragically, gave up a good part of his life researching criminals, and spent a lot of money on his suit and arsenal, I’d say he deserves to be a superhero.
Superman
Clark Kent (born Kal-El on the planet Krypton) never had much choice for a life path. He narrowly escaped his home planet’s destruction and spent his infant years flying through space. Jonathan and Martha Kent find Clark in a Kansas field and adopts him as their son.
Clark grows up knowing that he came to Earth for a reason and that he owes it to himself to find out what that reason is. (I can hear Kevin Costner saying these words from Man of Steel [2013].) Clark also leaves his hometown and finds the Fortress of Solitude in an Antarctic landscape. There, he finds messages from his birth father, Jor-El, telling him to keep the greater good wherever he lands.
Clark then moves to Metropolis and finds a job with the Daily Planet. Metropolis is also a city full of crime. Clark, now Superman, hopes to inspire good with his presence.
Superman is an iconic superhero who cannot fall to corruption. His inspiration and influence are unparalleled. However, Clark was never really given a choice but to be a hero. Once he finds his calling, he accepts it. Unlike Bruce Wayne, Clark never really gave up much to find his path. All in all, Superman is deserving, but not as much as Batman.
It looks like Batman is in the lead.
Green Lantern
Hal Jordan is down on his luck when he encounters Abin Sur, a dying alien who is part of the Guardians of the Universe. Abin gives Jordan his powerful ring and asks him to repeat the oath that gives Jordan those powers. Jordan is suddenly transported to a distant planet and trains with the other Guardians to become worthy of his new title.
Jordan returns to Earth, and his abilities get put to the test. Hector Hammond, a scientist who performs an autopsy on Abin, somehow obtains telekinetic powers from contact with Abin’s corpse and uses it to exact revenge against those who have wronged him. However, Hammond cannot control these powers and causes chaos. Thankfully, Jordan is there to save the day.
Jordan didn’t earn the right to his powers – he got them by chance. He also didn’t have to make much time to be a superhero. His Guardian superiors had doubts about him, and he never had a good motive or reason to be a hero. Sorry, but Hal Jordan isn’t very deserving of the title.
Wonder Woman
Diana Prince was born to be a hero. She comes from a long line of Amazonian warriors, destined to protect humanity from any threat. These threats range from thousands of inhuman troops to gods like Ares. When Prince becomes a young woman, she trains to be a warrior and is determined to serve her purpose.
She comes to Earth believing that Ares is responsible for the threat to mankind, although it’s actually World War I. She still leaves her homeland of her own accord. Prince is also a one-woman army who stops bullets with her bracelets and dodges them like nothing. Prince even saves Batman’s life in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).
Wonder Woman is a symbol of strength, honor, and selflessness. She is also everlasting since she never seems to age since her World War I heroics. Wonder Woman is nowhere near retirement. I think she is now in the lead. Sorry, Batman.
Iron Man
Tony Stark spent much of his life in his father’s shadow. His father is the head of Stark Industries, a large defense contractor. Stark also lived a carefree, playboy lifestyle for most of his adult years until a weapons demonstration trip in the Middle East goes wrong. His military protection unit gets ambushed, and Stark gets captured. The leader of the terrorists demands Stark build them a missile. Instead, he builds a metal suit that helps him escape – he even manages to wipe out most of the terrorists in the process.
Stark realizes that he must serve a higher purpose because the terrorists used weapons manufactured by his company. He decides to shut down the weapons unit of his company and build himself more suits to bring down the terrorist group that is still at large.
He succeeds in his mission and even shares his identity as the Iron Man with the public. This reveal is an arrogant move, but it gets him recruited by Nick Fury to join the Avengers.
Stark never had any aspirations to become a superhero until his capture in Afghanistan. Much like Batman, this traumatic life even made him shift his focus to more heroic pursuits. The primary difference between Iron Man and the Caped Crusader seems to be their tools of choice. While Stark prefers a weaponized suit, Batman relies heavily on gadgetry (and you can never go wrong with the Batmobile). While Stark’s ingenuity makes him deserving, I think Wonder Woman still leads the race.
Thor
Thor is the heir to the throne of the King of Asgard, a title currently held by his father Odin. Thor is a powerful warrior, though arrogant. He feels that since he is in line for the throne, he doesn’t need to have the proper mindset of a true king.
Odin despises Thor’s arrogance and banishes him from Asgard. Thor lands in New Mexico as a mortal. His powerful hammer Mjolnir also makes the journey, but Thor cannot use it, except to hammer nails. His right to wield it was taken away along with his immortality.
When his brother and enemy, Loki, sends a Destroyer to Earth, Thor sacrifices himself on the condition that the Destroyer goes back to Asgard. Thor is near death when Mjolnir suddenly appears, signifying his right to wield it and become an immortal again.
While a mortal, Thor learns that some things are earned and not given. He makes amends with Odin and admits that he is not ready to take the throne, but he will remain a watchful protector. This is the quality of a true superhero. Heroes are not perfect, but Thor comes to terms with that in the end. He is very deserving of being a superhero.
The Hulk
Bruce Banner never had any aspirations of being a superhero. He intends to use science for the greater good. However, an experiment gone wrong makes him become The Incredible Hulk, an unstoppable brute with no control.
Banner becomes The Hulk when he is angry, hence his famous quote, “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” The Hulk never comes off as a hero, especially when he wreaks havoc wherever he goes. He never wants to harm humanity, he wants to defend it, though his anger problem seems to get in the way.
It all depends on which version of The Hulk you watch. Eric Bana and Edward Norton’s takes show The Hulk as a green version of King Kong. However, Mark Ruffalo’s rendition seems to be a little more grounded. In Avengers: Endgame (2019), he is calm, cool, and collected. Banner seems to have better control of his emotions.
While still in his Hulk form, Banner assembles all the Infinity Stones and brings back the other half of the world’s population. The Hulk is a superhero in every film he’s in, but he deserves the title in the later ones. It’s safe to say that Ruffalo’s Hulk wins over the other two.
Captain America
Steve Rogers has always wanted to be a hero, though his scrawny appearance never gives him the chance to win a fight. Rogers tries desperately to enlist in the army to help the United States win World War II, but he always gets rejected.
Dr. Abraham Erskine admires Rogers’ perseverance and pulls some strings to get Rogers into the army. Erskine asks Rogers if he is willing to volunteer for an experiment that can make him a super-soldier. Rogers unequivocally agrees, and the experiment is successful.
With his new strength, Rogers is constantly successful in his missions. The German troops surrender over time, and these feats give Rogers the title of Captain America. Rogers never once got lost in this title (unlike his Falcon and the Winter Soldier successor), his humbleness and due diligence always prevail.
I admire Captain America because of his desire to rid the world of evil. Rogers always had the bravery of a superhero, even before he became one. He never turns down help from others, from his fellow troops in the war to his new partners in the Avengers. Rogers always has a level head, which is why he is the leader of the pack. I’d say Captain America wins for the MCU.
So…
It’s hard to choose between Wonder Woman and Captain America. They are both deserving of the title. Wonder Woman has super strength and powers, while Captain America “only” has the strength. Captain America has a vibranium shield that deflects almost anything, but Wonder Woman has her bracelets.
Let’s look at their personal lives. Rogers loves Peggy Carter and loses the chance for a relationship with her when he crashes and gets frozen in the Arctic. After the Avengers defeat Thanos, Rogers goes back in time to hide the Infinity Stones, but he never transports back to the present. He stays in the past and reunites with Peggy. This is what we all wanted to see, after the heartbreaking ending to Captain America: First Avenger (2011). Rogers gave up his superhero title for love.
Prince loves Steve Trevor, a pilot, and ally in World War I. They never got a chance for a relationship because Trevor sacrificed himself to save her and the rest of humanity. In Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Prince wishes for Steve to return, and it comes true, to her surprise. However, Prince eventually learns that she must give up her wish to regain her strength to fight evil, which she does so. She gave up love to remain a superhero.
Wonder Woman is the most deserving of being a superhero.
Happy watching!
