Top 10 superhero movie directors of the decade
By Josh Baggins
The 2010s were the age of the superhero movie so, with the decade coming to a close, let’s take a look at the best superhero movie directors of the past ten years.
In the 1990s, superhero features were being released sporadically, with Batman movies by Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher grabbing most of the attention for the genre. Then the 2000s experienced a boom with the Byran Singer’s X-Men and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man franchises hitting theaters, followed by a few Batman films from Christopher Nolan, and ending with the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Superhero movies dominated the theaters in the 2010s. One of the primary reasons for their continued success is the movie studios’ insistence on hiring top-tier talent to direct their blockbusters. So who exactly are the top superhero directors of the 2010’s? We begin with number 10. However, there were so many great filmmakers working in this genre for the past ten years, so our number 10 spot consists of deserving directors who just make it into the top 10… an eight-way tie if you will.
Jon Favreau
Directed: Iron Man 2 (2010)
Why he’s great: Favreau is one of the people responsible for making the Marvel Cinematic Universe a smashing success with Iron Man in 2008. While the first Iron Man did not come out in this decade, he continued to push the MCU forward with Iron Man 2, giving fans more of what they love – premiere action sequences, crisp dialogue, and more Robert Downey Jr. being amazing. Even though Iron Man 2 was the last MCU movie he directed, Jon Favreau stuck with the franchise throughout the decade as a producer and appeared as Happy Hogan in several more films.
Why he’s not higher on the list: After Iron Man was an almost perfect superhero origin story, Iron Man 2 couldn’t exactly meet the lofty expectations.
Kenneth Branagh
Directed: Thor (2011)
Why he’s great: Branagh took his extensive Shakespearian experience and transferred it into superhero mythology like not many directors could. With Thor’s conceit, Loki’s connivery, and Odin’s stubbornness, the royal succession storyline was served up deliciously. Thor has fantastical fight scenes and plenty of memorable comedic lines.
Why he’s not higher on the list: While the family drama was Shakespearian at times, the movie itself was not as epic in scope as it could have been given the content and the landscape.
Joe Johnston
Directed: Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Why he’s great: Johnston brought wartime adventure to the superhero movie genre in spectacular fashion with The First Avenger. His eye for the vintage aesthetic brings the time period to life while mixing in the science fiction elements tactfully. And the way our hero becomes “Captain America”, with the government exploiting him to sell war bonds, along with the use of the song “Star Spangled Man”, made for some of the most inventive parts of the movie.
Why he’s not higher on the list: The Captain America trilogy is particularly unique as the character, settings, and genre adapt from film to film. Unfortunately for Johnston, The First Avenger is the only one he helmed, and the series gets better with each picture.
Christopher Nolan
Directed: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Why he’s great: Nolan is a master of tone; he took what Tim Burton crafted in the Batman-verse and elevated it to create a daring, gritty, and sometimes chaotic world in his Dark Knight trilogy. With The Dark Knight Rises, the last in Nolan’s series, themes relating to terror and questions about what it means to be a hero carry over from The Dark Knight. Nolan presents the threats as something that could happen in real life, which is sometimes frightening, but most importantly makes viewers relate more to what they are watching.
Why he’s not higher on the list: The Dark Knight is one of the greatest superhero movies ever made, however only The Dark Knight Rises was released this decade, and that movie falls more at the “very good” level.
Peyton Reed
Directed: Ant-Man (2015), Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Why he’s great: Comedy heists are usually not associated with superhero movies, and the fact that all three genre aspects paid off for Peyton Reed in his Ant-Man movies is satisfying. Ant-Man is one of the funniest MCU films, the heists in the movie are clever yet not complicated, and the size manipulation effects are astonishing. Ant-Man and the Wasp continues all those elements while pushing a winsome heroine like Wasp to the forefront.
Why he’s not higher on the list: The Ant-Man movies do not possess the emphatic magnitude nor the emotional stakes of many of the other MCU movies. Reed succeeds in putting out exactly what he intends to; those intentions are just aptly on a smaller scale.
Scott Derrickson
Directed: Doctor Strange (2016)
Why he’s great: He utilized his horror background to take an arrogant surgeon on one helluva trippy ride. Derrickson, and his art and effects director, did not simply splash a lot colors onto the canvas and call it a day – they considerately constructed the dark realm, the mirror realm, and Strange’s psychedelic journey through the astral plane, which rivals similar scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Derrickson’s movie is true to the source material in both character and imagery.
Why he’s not higher on the list: After watching Doctor Strange, one gets the sense that we have yet to see the best of Scott Derrickson and the good doctor. If several of the supporting characters are to appear in a sequel, there is plenty of room for development.
Patty Jenkins
Directed: Wonder Woman (2017)
Why she’s great: Even with the MCU hitting double-digit movies, DC still made the first female-led superhero film between the rival franchises. That Jenkins had only made one other feature did not show one bit. Her environments are spectacular, going from the mythical Themyscira to the battlegrounds of the Great War. Marvel let Jenkins go from helming Thor: The Dark World, so that should always be one of their few regrets.
Why she’s not higher on the list: All of the action sequences are great except the final battle. Also, Wonder Woman being a fish out of water on “Earth” was a card recently played in Thor, while a lot of other plot points were already claimed by Captain America: The First Avenger, such as a superhero in a World War and a heroic figure sacrificing himself on a plane to save the world (both named Steve).
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
Directed: Captain Marvel (2019)
Why they’re great: Captain Marvel is the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman, beating out Wonder Woman. The directors were able to appeal to the masses by zeroing in on the heroine’s power and accomplishments as a woman. Their feminist perspective is even more on the nose than Wonder Woman, but the messages resonate forcefully in their uniquely told origin story.
Why they’re not higher on the list: Boden and Fleck are still finding their way in this genre and are off to a great start. As far as this past decade goes, it is hard to compete with the directors that follow…