Avengers: Endgame was the ultimate end to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Infinity Saga. The epic 2019 superhero movie brought together over a decade’s worth of interconnected storytelling and provided emotional goodbyes to iconic characters like Iron Man and Captain America after Thanos’ blip. With its impressive visuals, enormous scale, and unforgettable moments like the climactic battle against the Mad Titan, Avengers: Endgame quickly became a critical and commercial hit.
As exciting as Avengers: Endgame was, some superhero films are far better because they told more focused stories, had richer characters, or pushed the genre into exciting new directions. There’s no denying that Endgame was a huge cultural moment for MCU fans, but it’s not the best superhero movie out there.
Captain America’s Ending In Avengers: Endgame Was Bad And Here’s Why
The ending of Cap’s arc feels unsatisfying, and contradictory to the themes of the rest of his story, which are all about moving on from the past.
3
Matt Reeves Told the Best Batman Story With The Batman
The Batman Was Nominated For 3 Oscars
In The Batman, a reclusive Bruce Wayne is in his second year of fighting crime as the masked superhero. He stalks the grimy streets of Gotham City, receiving cryptic clues from the Riddler, a serial killer who’s executing the city’s corrupt political elite. To unmask the murderer, Batman must dive deep into Gotham’s criminal underworld while uncovering dark secrets tied directly to his family’s legacy. The Batman puts the full focus on The Dark Knight’s detective skills and noir-inspired storytelling, offering one of the grittiest and most grounded Batman stories ever put to screen. And because of this, The Batman’s stakes felt far more intense and personal than the world-ending stakes of Avengers: Endgame.
Batman fans have been blessed with some incredible projects, but nothing can top Matt Reeves’ The Batman thanks to its commitment to a richer, more intimate viewing experience. Elevated by a haunting score, dark tone, and an intense cat-and-mouse game between the Riddler and Batman, the 3-hour movie had enough time to satisfyingly explore the hero in both sides of his persona. Endgame may have delivered an epic, spectacle-heavy conclusion to the Infinity Saga, but The Batman succeeds by telling a far more self-contained and focused story, where audiences don’t need years of franchise knowledge to appreciate it.
Because Endgame balanced such a large ensemble cast, some storylines felt rushed or sidelined. On the other hand, supporting characters like Selena Kyle, the Penguin, and Jim Gordon were so rich that Bruce’s presence, or lack thereof, was not missed as much when screentime was allocated to someone else. Reeves’ bold direction and Robert Pattinson’s raw, human performance cemented The Batman as one of the most compelling superhero movies of recent years.
2
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is At His Best in Logan
Logan Was the First Live-Action Superhero Movie Nominated For a “Best Adapted Screenplay” Oscar
Set in a bleak future where mutants have all but disappeared, 2017’s Logan follows an aging Wolverine as he reluctantly agrees to protect a young mutant named Laura, who possesses similar powers to his own. Hugh Jackman’s portrayal sees the superhero turn into a weary, broken man who’s searching for redemption after decades of violence and loss. Logan abandoned the traditional spectacle of comic book movies to give fans a deeply personal, Western-inspired film that explores family, legacy, and mortality.
James Mangold’s soulful character study is frequently lauded as the best X-Men movie to date. One of Logan’s greatest strengths is its willingness to strip away almost everything audiences had come to expect from a superhero outing, and it feels like a genuine ending. Every major character experiences real growth, the violence carries real consequences, and the film never undercuts its serious tone with jokes or teases. For its intimate scale, mature storytelling, and phenomenal performances, it’s easy to see why Logan was such a success.
Whereas Endgame balances dozens of heroes and multiple storylines, Logan focuses almost exclusively on the relationship between Wolverine, Charles Xavier, and Laura, allowing every emotional beat to land more powerfully thanks to the movie’s precision. Its R rating is completely necessary to explore mature, profound themes like trauma, and by the time Logan reaches his heartbreaking conclusion, the movie has already demonstrated a better emotional core than Endgame.
The Two Classic Movies That Inspired Logan
James Mangold’s Oscar-nominated Logan borrowed its remorseful antihero from Shane and its father-daughter road trip from Paper Moon.
1
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Felt Completely Fresh
Into the Spider-Verse Featured Groundbreaking Animation
In Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales struggles to adapt to his new life after being bitten by a radioactive spider. When the villainous Kingpin activates a dangerous particle accelerator that threatens reality, the blast pulls alternate-dimension heroes—including a washed-up Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy—into Miles’s world. Into the Spider-Verse celebrates everything that makes the webslinger such an iconic hero while simultaneously reinventing the character for a new generation. Its vibrant animation blends comic book aesthetics with hand-drawn textures, halftone effects, and speech bubbles, creating a striking visual style unlike anything audiences had seen before.
Thanks to its bold style, impressive soundtrack, funny one-liners, and compelling coming-of-age storyline, Into The Spider-Verse proved that superhero movies could still surprise audiences by embracing bold artistic choices rather than relying solely on scale. Miles Morales’ journey is defined by his self-doubt and finding confidence, and every version of Spider-Man serves a clear purpose in his character growth. Endgame may have represented the culmination of years of the MCU, but Into the Spider-Verse surpasses the 2019 movie’s achievements, even as a standalone story.
Endgame doesn’t always take its tone seriously, which is seen when Thor’s poor mental health is handled with humor, but Into the Spider-Verse gives every single one of its characters sincere struggles. Even Endgame’s high points, like the massive action setpieces, are inferior to what Into the Spider-Verse achieved, and the result is a heartfelt masterpiece that rightfully earned its title as one of the most impressive superhero films ever made.
