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Best Superhero team Movies

Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of superhero team cinema — measured across 1,177 indexed frames from 13 films, against a 408,752-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.

Superhero team films over-index on metallic armor, superhero and armor — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.

  1. 1

    Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)

    Zack SnyderDP Fabian WagnerIMDb 7.9TMDB 8.1See in full on FrameThrower →

    Determined to ensure Superman's ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne aligns forces with Diana Prince with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts to transcend that which has held them back, allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. Now united, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.

  2. 2

    Justice League (2017)

    Zack SnyderDP Fabian WagnerIMDb 6.0TMDB 6.1See in full on FrameThrower →

    Fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of meta-humans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes-Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash-it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

  3. 3

    Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

    Joe Russo, Anthony RussoDP Trent OpalochIMDb 8.4TMDB 8.2See in full on FrameThrower →

    As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artifacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment - the fate of Earth and existence itself has never been more uncertain.

  4. 4

    Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

    Jon WattsDP Mauro FioreIMDb 8.1TMDB 7.9See in full on FrameThrower →

    Peter Parker's secret identity is revealed to the entire world. Desperate for help, Peter turns to Doctor Strange to make the world forget that he is Spider-Man. The spell goes horribly wrong and shatters the multiverse, bringing in monstrous villains that could destroy the world.

  5. 5

    Avengers: Endgame (2019)

    Anthony Russo, Joe RussoDP Trent OpalochIMDb 8.4TMDB 8.2See in full on FrameThrower →

    After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos's actions and undo the chaos to the universe, no matter what consequences may be in store, and no matter who they face...

  6. 6

    Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

    Joss WhedonDP Ben DavisIMDb 7.3TMDB 7.3See in full on FrameThrower →

    When Tony Stark tries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.

  7. 7

    The Avengers (2012)

    Joss WhedonDP Seamus McGarveyIMDb 8.0TMDB 8.0See in full on FrameThrower →

    Loki, the adopted brother of Thor, teams-up with the Chitauri Army and uses the Tesseract's power to travel from Asgard to Midgard to plot the invasion of Earth and become a king. The director of the agency S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury, sets in motion project Avengers, joining Tony Stark a.k.a. the Iron Man; Steve Rogers, a.k.a. Captain America; Bruce Banner, a.k.a. The Hulk; Thor; Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow; and Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, to save the world from the powerful Loki and the alien invasion.

  8. 8

    Black Adam (2022)

    Jaume Collet-SerraDP Lawrence SherIMDb 6.1TMDB 6.8See in full on FrameThrower →

    Reawakening after 5000 years, Black Adam becomes the world's ruthless protector: an anti-villain to take on the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman. Now in the 21st-Century, Black Adam must face off against the Justice Society of America and its heroes: Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Atom Smasher and Cyclone. The fate of the world hangs in the balance.

What superhero team films are made of

How much more often each element appears in a superhero team frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — metallic armor is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.

  • metallic armor86.7×
  • superhero60.3×
  • armor22.9×
  • cape15.4×
  • rubble12.2×
  • mask9.4×
  • debris7.7×
  • skyscraper6.1×

How superhero team films are shot

Weaker signals than the objects above, and worth saying so: most dramatic genres skew dark and night-heavy, so these numbers separate superhero team from the catalogue far more than they separate it from its neighbours.

  • 20%low anglevs 5% baseline
  • 28%dayvs 42% baseline
  • 26%widevs 20% baseline
  • 34%naturalvs 43% baseline

What breaks the pattern

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.

Method

Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 1,177 frames from 13 films carrying the superhero team label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (408,752 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.

Machine-readable: /api/list/superhero-team

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These are real movie frames, shown at reduced resolution. All rights remain with their respective owners; they appear here for study, commentary and education under fair-use principles. How these are meant to be used