There have been some awesome superhero movies in the last five years. With a good superhero movie comes good fights (most of the time), and that means that, in the last five years, there have been some phenomenal fights. It’s not easy to craft a compelling and exciting battle sequence, and, thankfully, the fight choreographers and film directors of the last half-decade have been extremely talented.
Fights in superhero movies need to feel tangible, impactful, and keep viewers engaged, because once a fight scene loses a viewer, it’ll be super hard to get them back on by the end of said sequence. Whether it’s a martial arts masterpiece or a brutal street takedown that perfectly sets a character up, there have been some fights these last five years that are beyond memorable.
15
Deadpool vs. Wolverine — Round 1
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (2024)
When Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) first get thrown into the plot of Deadpool & Wolverine together, their dynamic is as one would expect: Wolverine freaking hates Deadpool, finding him extremely annoying. This leads to a fight pretty much as soon as they’re thrown into The Void. Beginning with a classic standoff in front of the destroyed 20th Century Fox logo, and Logan spitting out a bullet like a badass. “Let’s give the people what they came for,” is a quote from Deadpool that perfectly describes why this fight is so cool. They leaned into what the people wanted, and it worked.
There’s some truly great fight choreography in this scene, immediately opening with the Merc With a Mouth flipping up and loading his magazines in the coolest way possible. He also catches his sword in slow motion as it flies out of its holster. The fight is fast-paced and brutal—exactly what people were looking for with a fight like this.
14
Spider-Man vs. Doctor Octopus
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2021)
One of the biggest twists of the first Spider-Man: No Way Home trailer was the reveal of Alfred Molina‘s return as Doctor Octopus in front of the Wall Crawler. Everyone knew this would result in a fight scene in the movie, but no one expected it to be this exciting. It’s unique compared to the Doc Ock fights from Spider-Man 2 because of Tom Holland’s version of the character’s use of the Iron Spider armor, with extra legs of its own.
This fight is super exciting, making Peter more of a match for Otto Octavius, but still struggling. However, this still lets him get the best of the badass Spider-Man villain, as the nanotech in the Iron Spider allows him to eventually control the scientist’s arms himself, locking him up. To make the scene even more dynamic, he has to save the MIT Assistant Vice Chancellor (Paula Newsome) from dying at the same time.
13
Shuri vs. Namor
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ (2022)
The final battle of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is not just an intense one, but one of ethics, too. Shuri’s (Letitia Wright) rage and lust for vengeance made for a great conflict to lead into this brutal fight. With full intent to kill Namor (Tenoch Huerta), Shuri leads him to the shores of a beach to dry him out and use that to finally end him.
Her rage adds to the brutality of the scene as they slash and stab each other. Two leaders of their countries are led to violence over vengeance and revenge. The fight is super exciting, but the real meat and bones of it is the completion of her character arc as she says a quote similar to the one from her brother in Captain America: Civil War, “Vengeance has consumed us.”
12
Blue Beetle vs. OMAC — Round 2
‘Blue Beetle’ (2021)
Those who actually saw Blue Beetle truly loved it. It’s a film with a lot of heart, a compelling plot, and wonderful performances—by Xolo Marideñua, especially. What makes the Blue Beetle character so fun to see on screen, especially in a fight, is his ability to create pretty much whatever he wants from the Scarab, aka Khaji Da (Becky G). It’s in the final battle against OMAC (Raoul Trujillo) in which Khaji Da and Jaime Reyes truly shine as a unit, making a great fight sequence.
Whether it’s Jaime creating a gigantic sword, Final Fantasy-style, or beating the ever-living crap out of OMAC with a giant fist, this final battle is action-packed and thrilling in all the best ways. It’s also here where the heart of the movie really shines, as well. As the young hero almost gives in to his negative emotions, Khaji Da stops him and reminds him of who he is in a pretty moving moment.
11
Deadpool & Wolverine vs. the Deadpool Corps
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (2021)
Despite the two fighting towards the beginning of the film, Deadpool & Wolverine makes the smart decision to not pull a Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and leans into them teaming up pretty quickly in the first act. It’s in the third act, though, where they really get to have the team-up of a lifetime, as the full multiverse of Deadpools approach to stop them in their tracks.
The coolest part of this fight, however, is the fact that it finally, after 25 years of being Wolverine in cinema, gives Hugh Jackman the chance to wear the iconic mask from the comics (which people have been asking for since the very beginning). Executed as a rolling one-shot as they take on the wave of Mercs With Mouths, this scene is a super exciting watch that doesn’t stop for anything.
10
Peacemaker vs. Rick Flag
‘The Suicide Squad’ (2021)
From the very get-go, everyone knew that The Suicide Squad was not going to pull any punches and was going to be raw. One of the best examples of this is the climactic duel between Peacemaker (John Cena) and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), regarding whether the secrets of Starro should be released to the public or not.
It’s a tense fight because, while most people expect some death in a movie called The Suicide Squad, the audience really grew to love both of these characters over the course of the runtime, so to see them come to blows like this was difficult. It’s also a morally divisive fight, as the conflict between the two is understandable from both points of view in one way or another.
9
The Thunderbolts vs. Sentry
‘Thunderbolts*’ (2025)
After being hyped up by hardcore Marvel fans for quite some time and even within the movie itself, Sentry (Lewis Pullman) had some big and powerful shoes to fill in his first live-action appearance. While his power is talked about for a lot of Thunderbolts*, director Jake Schreier oversees Sentry’s debut in his superhero form, taking on the Thunderbolts, to show it off.
He absolutely, unabashedly, wipes the floor with the Thunderbolts to the point where it’s hard not to think that there’s very well a chance that these misfits may not defeat Bob’s powerful new form, getting worse when he becomes Void. He whips them around like dolls, and there isn’t a punch that even makes him flinch. It’s a jaw-dropping “fight” that sets him up perfectly.
8
Battle at the Guggenheim
‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (2023)
After the massive success that was Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the sequel film had so much to live up to. How was a movie following up one like that supposed to even start? Thankfully, it starts with an incredibly awesome fight sequence that takes place in the Guggenheim Museum between Vulture (Jorma Taccone) and Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) — Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) and Spider-Woman (Issa Rae) join in soon after, too.This fight has both spectacle and personal stakes, with Captain Stacy (Shea Whigham) — Gwen’s dad — being present at the fight. It introduces a major player of the movie, Spider-Man 2099, and gets audiences caught up on Gwen’s life since the end of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. This scene did a wonderful job at reminding people why they loved the first movie so much and got people just as excited about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as it began.
7
The Introduction Fight
‘The Batman’ (2022)
When it was first announced, people were extremely excited about The Batman. The new take promised a more noir/detective-style tone and was gritty in all the best ways. The first big teaser trailer featured a scene at the end that became the highlight of that year and is, of course, one of the highlights of the movie: the first time viewers officially meet the Caped Crusader (Robert Pattinson).
After his opening monologue, he finally emerges from the shadows to stop a group mugging and gives them the beating of a lifetime while debuting his iconic line, “I’m vengeance” (now an iconic Batman line). Set in the rain and colored in blue tones, this fight introduces this new iteration of Batman in the best way possible and is incredibly exciting.
6
The Battle at the Statue of Liberty
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2021)
The final act of Spider-Man: No Way Home started spectacularly, introducing Peter 2 (Tobey Maguire) — the Sam Raimi franchise Spider-Man — and Peter 3 (Andrew Garfield) from The Amazing Spider-Man franchise. Once they’d been brought together, the last thing to do on the docket was finally to see them team up and fight together.
The three Spider-Men collaborate on the Statue of Liberty to face and cure the villains from across the multiverse, and it’s a sight to behold. They do some great work together, having entertaining conversations and crafting unforgettable moments — who could ever forget when Peter 3 redeemed himself and saved Michelle Jones-Watson (Zendaya) from death by fall?
