1. Hugh Jackman
Appeared in: Fox's X-Men film series, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Wolverine, Logan, Deadpool and Wolverine
Are you surprised to see Hugh Jackman at the top of this list? Probably not. His performance as Wolverine in the Fox X-Men movie series has been cemented in history as one of the greatest that the comic book movie genre has ever seen, and the fact that he accomplished that without ever having to put on the character's signature yellow and black suit is a testament to him.
Jackman first played the character in 2000's X-Men and it didn't take long to see that he had the gruff, moody personality of Logan down to a tee. Whether we're talking about the character's aggressive claw-bearing showdowns or the charged conversations with Jean Grey, it all came so naturally to him. And it continued to throughout the original era of the X-Men movies, while he also still appeared in some of the prequel movies because the sheer thought of an X-Men movie without him was just too much.
His greatest performance, however, undoubtedly came in 2017's Logan. Not only was the film unlike any X-Men movie, its hard-hitting, gritty storyline was both a tribute to the legendary Old Man Logan comic saga and a fitting send-off for the character. Jackman was phenomenal, and he would have been more than worthy of an Academy Award for that performance.
I said above that he managed to accomplish all of this without ever putting the on suit, and it's true, but seeing him get the opportunity to finally do that in Deadpool and Wolverine made for one of the most fulfilling moments in movie history. The MCU gave us a moment we were all waiting for, and Jackman hadn't lost a step, delivering one of his greatest performances as the character and once again solidifying himself as the definitive version of Logan.
No actor is more closely associated with Wolverine than Hugh Jackman, and that is earned. He owned the role, bringing the character to life with grit and loyalty to the source material, seeing him through one of the most complete arcs in the superhero genre's history. Now he gets to do it all again as part of the MCU, and that is just the coolest.