Well, we’re all back from summer vacation, and what a summer it was! We saw some fantastic superhuman feats in the Olympics (looking at you, Lily King), and I got superhero fever after watching “Suicide Squad.” While I admit, it had plenty of faults, the one thing they got right was the character portrayals of the villains. Margo Robbie (Harley Quinn), Will Smith (Deadshot), Jared Leto (Joker), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), and all over villains were all phenomenal. There just might be hope for DC’s future in cinema (or maybe not). However, this movie brought up a good point that is probably the most important point when making a superhero movie: The casting of characters. We always need the right actor for the right role to match up with how we always perceived the heroes we know and love from comics and cartoons-- otherwise it’s just another guy on Times Square in a cheap costume for the tourists. Halle Berry’s infamous portrayal of Catwoman gave us the worst ever superhero movie of all time (at least until “Batman V. Superman”), and Nicholas Cage was almost emotionless in the “Ghost Rider” movies. That’s why we love it when the studios get it right, so here are some of the best superhero portrayals in movies.

Brandon Lee - “The Crow”

The son of Martial Arts Master, Bruce Lee, Brandon, was a rising star when he became Eric Draven in the movie adaptation of “The Crow.” This film masterfully told the comic’s story of vengeance when a person’s death is so tragic, a crow will carry the soul back to enact justice. Lee was already an amazing martial artist and stuntman, so the action scenes in this movie were easily performed. It was his amazing portrayal of a character, back from the dead, who has the showmanship and craziness of the Joker, but is still filled with so much grief and sorrow. Sadly, Brandon died in a tragic accident on set, making this posthumous performance his last, but his best.

Robert Downey Jr. - “Iron Man”

Now that RDJ (as he is affectionately called by fans who are too lazy to spell out his full name) is in talks about leaving the MCU, I just can’t help but think there is no one I could imagine taking his place. The fact of the matter is, he is Iron Man. Downey displays all of the qualities of the rich, alcoholic-playboy Tony Stark, who gets serious when the chips are down. His wisecracks and self-torture are what bring the character to life in those moments when Tony takes responsibility for his actions, and does his best to fix his mistakes. I honestly can’t picture any other actor in this role. Downey even looks like Tony Stark. You can’t get these guys off the rack.

Michael Keaton - “Batman”

Ok, I know a lot of people love Christian Bale’s Batman and the hoarse voice that came with it. I’ll even admit that Ben Affleck’s Batman was a strong portrayal and possibly the only good thing about the movie. But I have to say that Keaton is the the best. Keaton was the original Batman actor who brought Batman’s important qualities to life. Keaton successfully showed those moments where Bruce Wayne was tortured by his choices to lead a double life, and if what he was doing really made a difference as Batman has asked himself a million times. Yet, he still was able to strike terror into the hearts of criminals. He is the first one to speak the words “I’m Batman”.

Jackie Earle Hayley - "Rorschach"

Despite what many people think about Zack Snyder’s directing choices, I actually like the film “Watchmen” because it really stuck close to the source material in nearly every way. One example is Hayley’s role as the psychotic vigilante, Rorschach. This hero wears a mask of forever changing rorschach ink blots, expressing his moods and thoughts about people, and Rorschach considers this to be his actual face. Hayley masterfully portrays Rorschach’s psychotic attitude towards other humans, all of whom he considers to be scum, and his beliefs about justice and punishment. Not only that, but much like Downey, he is almost an exact copy of the character from the comics it’s uncanny.

Hugh Jackman - "Wolverine"

Speaking of dead ringers, Jackman is definitely the guy you think of when “X-Men” character, Wolverine, comes to mind. Jackman successfully displays two things about Wolverine besides his loneliness and his bravado: 1. He doesn’t give a crap and 2. He’s a badass; all of that coupled with the feral-like animal state Jackman gets into during fight scenes. Unfortunately, Jackman will be leaving the role soon, so that just means we’ll have to binge watch all nine (wow) performances and whatever future ones for as long as we can.

Ryan Reynolds - “Deadpool”

There’s no way this is not going on this list. Reynolds had a hard superhero career, first with the weird Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and then the CGI infused “Green Lantern.” But I think we can safely say, this was the role he was born for. Every line he spoke was a laugh inducing moment, and his 4th wall breaks gave us the character we were all hoping for. Reynolds’s Deadpool was as if it was projected straight from the comics themselves, and we cannot wait for the sequel.

Quick Shout Out

I can’t end this list and not talk about Spider-Man. Unfortunately, choosing the right actor who did it best is not that easy because they were all so diverse. Tobey Maguire may have been the one who first gave us our favorite wall-crawling hero coupled with the shy and nerdy Peter Parker (not counting “Spider-Man 3”), but Andrew Garfield gave us more Spider-Man worthy wisecracks in and out of fight scenes (Yeah, Deadpool’s not the only one, people). However, newcomer Tom Holland may be the one we’re looking for. He definitely has the physical skills and his lines in “Captain America: Civil War” were hilarious, we just need to see him in his upcoming solo film to gauge if he’s really our guy (fingers crossed!).