What’s the best superhero movie ever? For our money, it’s one of the following — presented in no particular order.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Warner Bros.

This is the most obvious choice — a jittery, chilling morality play in which everyone does everything right, anchored by Christian Bale as the best Batman and Heath Ledger in an Oscar-winning role as one of the best-ever screen villains, a mastermind posing as a clown.

One could argue this doesn’t belong on a list of superhero movies, since no one has super powers… but that’s part of what we love about The Dark Knight.

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Disney

After an astonishing opening that promises anything could happen, Infinity War invests in character development as much as action before ending on a cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers. Its sequel, Avengers: Endgame, not only resolves that cliffhanger but also pays off more than a decade of Marvel superhero movie storylines.

Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Sony

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) learns that with great power comes not just great responsibility, but great sacrifice, as he realizes that his role as Spider-Man endangers the love of his life, Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). Doc Ock (Alfred Molina) is one of the all-time best spider villains, and the highlight of the whole film comes in a truly marvelous sequence in which New York City saves Spidey, for a change. The most romantic of all superhero movies, except for the last one on our list.

X2: X-Men United (2003)

Fox

2003’s X-Men 2 far improves on the original from the first scene: It starts with Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) operatically invading the Oval Office, and never slows. The fight between Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Lady Deathstryke (Kelly Hu) feels far more grounded and high-stakes than terrible CGI fights that would ruin so many superhero movies in the years to come, and Brian Cox is menacingly flawless as Col. William Stryker, a very believable nemesis to our favorite band of mutants.

Logan (2017)

Hugh Jackman in Logan. Fox

A break-all-the-rules story of sacrifice, loss, and one loner’s struggle to get through centuries on this planet doing more good than harm. Director James Mangold proved once and for all that comic book movies aren’t just for kids with a metaphorical story of aging as gracefully as you can.

Mangold returned to the theme of an aging action hero, meanwhile, in the recent Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. But honestly, we prefer Logan.

Deadpool (2016)

Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) in Deadpool. Fox

The most flat-out hilarious comic-book movie ever made, which made it to the screen through Ryan Reynold’s stubborn insistence that one of Marvel’s weirdest, least likely screen stars could be one of its greatest.

And yes, we’re excited for Hugh Jackman to pull his claws out of retirement for Deadpool 3.

Black Panther (2018)

Disney

The world-building is stellar and acting top-notch throughout. Michael B. Jordan plays perhaps the MCU’s best villain ever, and Chadwick Boseman delivered a beautiful turn as a king torn between his people and the people of the world in this Best Picture nominee from Ryan Coogler.

It’s kind of stunning that both Black Panther and Infinity War were released just months apart — the two films clearly mark the high point of the MCU.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse (2018)

Sony

Gadzoinks, 2018 sure was good for super hero movies.

Breaking with every kind of staid tradition, this boldly experimental, utterly gorgeous animated film is a loving, awe-inspiring homage to decades of Spider-mythology and an optimistic look ahead at what comic book movies — and their young fans — can aspire to be.

We just wish its often-fantastic sequel, Across the Spider-Verse, hadn’t ended on such a tough cliffhanger.

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Fox

A fairly faithful screen adaptation of one of Christopher Claremont’s most iconic storylines from the comics, though it puts Logan (Hugh Jackman) center stage instead of Kitty Pryde and ambitiously melds the X-Men movies of the 2000s and their prequels of the 2010s.

Long before the many movie metaverses made time travel or alternate realities feel exhausting, this X-Men film had what was then a fresh and thrilling take.

Superman (1978)

Warner Bros.

The film that started it all. Its earnestness and total reliance on practical effects — as well as stellar performances and moving love story between Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) and Supes make it feel more charming and inspiring with each passing year.

Christopher Reeve will always be our Superman, and, as we mentioned, it’s the most romantic superhero movie.

Blade (1998)

New Line Cinema

Blade isn’t perfect, but it expanded everyone’s idea of what a superhero movie could be by pulling from one of Marvel’s lesser-known heroes: a vampire hunter who wears a leather jacket instead of a cape or tights. Blade opened the door to the reality that Marvel could have as much or even more success with its second-tier or forgotten characters, like Ant-Man or the Guardians of the Galaxy, than it could with heroes we had seen onscreen before.

And of course Wesley Snipes is awesome in the lead role, and delivers the classic line, Some mother—-er’s are always trying to ice skate uphill.”

The Incredibles (2004)

Pixar

Pixar’s The Incredibles is both a great family superhero movie and a dark deconstruction of superhero tropes — note that Mr. Incredible bails out on the business because of legal threats, not because of bad guys.

The animation is groundbreaking and stellar, combining dynamic character design with Art Deco touches that harken back to the days of Batman and Superman. It’s funny, it’s sweeping, it’s curiously dark. The grainy black-and-white rescue segment takes it to a daring new level. It’s a super movie in every way.

Liked This List of the Best Superhero Movies?

Pixar

You might also like this list of Jaw-Dropping Pixar Jokes That Are 100% for Adults.

Oh, and one more thing…

The One More Thing

Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 2

We compiled this gallery through a conversation with the hosts of the Low Key Podcast, which you can check out here.

Main image: Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Editor’s Note: Adds photo credits.