Top 7 Heroic Debuts in a Comic Book Movie
Comic book movies are filled of many type of moments those that make you laugh, make you cry, make you pump your fist in excitement and just fill you with adrenaline.
To me, there is no moment in these films that generates as many combined emotions as the heroic debut. That moment some people wait their entire life for as their favorite hero jumps off the pages and onto the big-screen. The first time they are shown donning their trademark costume or being revealed to the world.
In honor of Wonder Woman’s big-screen debut, I’m here today to countdown the 7 best moments to date.
7. Captain America: World Tour – Not all debuts are created equally. In the case of Captain America: The First Avenger, Cap’s first appearance is actually played for laughs. But the juxtaposition of the newly enhanced super-soldier being used as wartime propaganda plays not only into the character’s arc, but also it’s historical setting. It doesn’t hurt that the song is so damn catchy.
6. Iron Man: Iron Man’s Escape – Two entries in and both come with a disclaimer. Iron Man’s grand debut comes with a costume that he would never wear again but it is the debut of the technology and taken straight from the pages of his comics. The sequence itself is thrilling and scary. The tight spaces and some close shots really help establish the desperation.
5. X-Men 2: Nightcrawler at the White House – No scene in an X-Men movie has done a better job of establishing a single’s mutant’s power and danger to the world than the opening of X-Men 2.
4. The Avengers: Avengers Assemble – More than anything this moment offers goosebumps to anyone who remembers the 5 year journey to get this moment on screen. The swelling score, the pan around the group, the only thing missing was… Avengers Assemble!
3. Batman Begins: Batman at The Docks -The only entry on this list which also isn’t the character’s first introduction on the big-screen. By this point, Batman was no stranger to Hollywood, but his introduction in his rebooted trilogy was the first time it felt like he was “right.” Set-up like a horror movie, Batman picking off enemies while being steps ahead of them really drove home we were in for a whole new type of Batman.
2. Superman (1978): Helicopter Rescue – Sometimes the simplest ideas bring the biggest reward. Superman rescuing a helicopter wouldn’t be impressive in this day and age, but somehow this scene remains timeless. Credit to John Williams’ score. Credit to Margot Kidder’s reaction. Credit to the effects. But whatever you credit, almost 40 years later, we still believe a man can fly.
1. Wonder Woman: No Man’s Land – I won’t go into details about this since the movie is so fresh, but if you’ve seen the movie you know the scene. If you haven’t, you will.
That’s my Top 7, what are some of your favorite heroic debuts? What would you change around on this list? Let us know!
