Daredevil: Born Again released this week, and it had us thinking about its time on Netflix, when it gifted us with many iconic fight scenes. So in honor of its release, our writers took some time to sing the praises of their favorite superhero fight scenes! Let us know your favorite @SiftPop!
There’s a multitude of ways you can grade the quality of a fight scene, and especially in comic book movies, those multitudes grow even further. Characters with superpowers, big spectacular set pieces, CGI enhancements on whatever you want. There’s a lot of spectacle to be found in the genre. Personally, though, I find Mike fighting Mick and Mac in Accident Man incredibly refreshing. It’s not a big set piece; it’s just a fight in a dojo. No superpowers, just three skilled performers doing their thing. Scott Adkins and Michael Jai White are the new legends of the western action movie since the iconic ‘80s heroes started petering out, and you can never go wrong with injecting Ray Park into your movie either. Accident Man isn’t necessarily on the forefront of the comic book movie genre, but as part of the modern wave of reasonably budgeted action movies, it does exactly what it needs. Its action is crisp, impressively performed, and most importantly easy to follow. In a sea of 200-million-dollar computer generated vomit, you won’t believe a movie that holds a single shot for a handful of hits that didn’t require the star to tap his stunt double on the shoulder. (Chris Bakker)
The CW show Arrow ran for eight seasons and gave us plenty of great fight scenes. From Dark Archer, to Deathstroke, to Ra’s Al Ghul, to Damien Darhk, to Prometheus, many of Oliver Queen’s fights would be excellent choices. Though as a longtime fan of Arrow, there was one clear choice — instead of a fight where Oliver is the vigilante, it’s one where he’s fighting as himself. The mid-season finale of Arrow Season Three had Oliver face off against the one and only Ra’s Al Ghul, leader of the League of Assassins and Head of the Demon. Oliver challenges Ra’s to a fight to the death, and it does not disappoint, from the choreography to the cinematography. This fight takes place on a snowy mountain side cliff, and unlike many others, it’s in broad daylight, so you see everything. Ra’s taunts Oliver with his skill, starting the fight weaponless, only to take the weapons Oliver chooses. This fight shows Oliver that he doesn’t know what he is up against, and sets up Ra’s to be an excellent season villain. I will always love rewatching this fight and observing how well it is executed. (Austen Terry)
Guys… Thanos throws a moon on Iron Man! Just when you thought the stakes couldn’t get any higher, Avengers: Infinity War gets you with a fight for the ages between Thanos and a collection of heroes from all over the galaxy. Taking place on Titan, Thanos’ home planet, each hero has a moment to shine and a moment to fail. This is also happening during the Battle of Wakanda. Although that’s the more flashy and epic fight, the one on Titan gets downright personal, particularly for Peter Quill and Dr. Strange. It features so many incredible lines and spectacular moments. The team had a solid plan, and Star-Lord gets an inordinate amount of blame for what happens. Dr. Strange using various types of magic, Thanos using the infinity stones in creative ways, Iron Man going one-on-one, Mantis putting him under. This is truly a team effort. The hardest choices require the strongest of wills. Thanos proves such a formidable foe that he defeats all of them pretty handily. (Mike Hilty)
Ah, what could have been. Ben Affleck didn’t get much to do in his time as the Caped Crusader, but one scene in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice gave us a tantalizing view of what a Batfleck movie might have given us, as Batman takes down a warehouse full of thugs. Taking inspiration from the fighting style of the Arkham games, the choreography is brutal, with some absolutely violent takedowns. The fight also utilizes a mix of hand-to-hand fighting with the integration of the Dark Knight’s special bat-gadgets, making full use of the arsenal. It’s a unique style we got to see far too little of on the big screen. (Jake Bourgeois)
What should you expect from a fight between a human/vampire hybrid trained to hunt vampires and a newly evolved version of vampiric life? One heck of a brutal brawl. That is exactly what director Guillermo del Toro was going for in Blade II, when a fully blood-fed Blade goes toe-to-toe with Nomak, a new version of vampire life, who is the strongest and more durable adversary yet. Nomak’s new species of vampire has thick bone structure to protect the heart, and less of the weaknesses of normal vampires. These two superpowered individuals don’t hold back when they start their wild fight in a wide-open hall at the top of vampire headquarters. This is a brutish brawl with fists, kicks, and elbows, all of which combine to make it so fun. The fight starts with a sneak blade attack (and ends with one too), but then fists fly from there. There is such a visceral feel of power punches flying. Nomak even throws in some classic pro-wrestling moves (which is a fun addition), and fixes his own broken arm in a disturbing display. Our hero finally gets the upper hand when he uses his martial arts against his wild and aggressive adversary. This is a true heavyweight brawl to end such a fun and satisfying sequel. (Shane Conto)
The word “practical” is not typically synonymous with great comic book action, but that is exactly the case with the hallway fight from the second episode of Netflix’s Daredevil, where there is no CGI to be found, and the biggest special effect is clever cuts to maintain the illusion of a single take. This scene is a trendsetter in so many ways. It laid the groundwork for the gritty violence that defined the Netflix Marvel universe, and it established the relentless tenacity and brutality displayed when Matt Murdock takes a back seat to the Daredevil. At the same time, it established the good nature of Murdock, as he confronts the unresolved trauma of his past. The buildup to the fight — and every amazing kick, punch, door slam and appliance smash — is all in pursuit of reuniting a kidnapped child with his father. The breathtaking fight choreography is supported by the relatable emotion driving it, much like Daredevil is supported by the wall during his many quick breathers between punches, further adding to the believable feel. In an era where the third act of comic book movies tend to devolve into CGI slugfests, it remains refreshing to jump back 10 years and watch three straight minutes of hallway beatdowns. (Jason Mack)
You want to grab an audience’s attention? You have your supposed good guy slaughter the rest of your heroes. That’s exactly what Invincible does in its series premiere! No holds barred. No quips. No come-from-behind win for the team. Just a vicious and violent death for anyone who opposed Omni-Man. I remember seeing this fight in full for the first time and being absolutely shocked by it. Raw violence like this is not a good thing, but it certainly captures attention. It is such a turn from many other comic book stories. Now your audience is invested. We need to know why this happened. Will Invincible be able to change his father’s mind? Could he stand a chance in an all-out fight? What else is lurking in the shadows of this universe? (Sam Nichols)
If there is one thing you expect in a movie that stars an actor who spent time as a stuntman, it’s some well-executed fight scenes. In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,we get several high-intensity, well-choreographed brawls worthy of this list, but the fight on a moving bus would have to be my favorite. While I could easily sing the praises of the impressive work that went into the scaffolding scene later in the film, there’s something about a fight taking place in a public space with moving parts that adds an extra layer of wow to a fight. Shaun (Simu Liu) is not only having to hold his own, outnumbered in a confined space, but navigating that struggle while keeping innocent bystanders safe on a bus that’s violently careening down the streets of San Francisco. His ability to adapt and overpower his opponents as he almost floats through the space, evading blows, while simultaneously working to protect the other passengers, is as much ballet as it is brawl. Shaun has an overwhelming number of factors to consider with every move he makes from his location in, on, or hanging from the bus to where the streets are leading, but is still able to escape the fracas intact. (Patrice Downing)
Were this a ranked list, I would fight hard to ensure that Spider-Man stopping the train from Spider-Man 2 would come out on top. There is no shortage of excellent comic book action sequences, but there is a special sort of creativity in the fight between Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and Alfred Molina’s Doc Ock that could only have come from the mind of Sam Raimi. In a genre where we see a lot of same-on-same action between characters with similar power sets that ultimately result in a battle to see who can throw the harder punch, it is refreshing to watch a creatively choreographed fight between two characters with such wildly differing abilities. The tentacle arm effects hold up shockingly well for a film from 2004, but Raimi’s ever-moving camera captures the superhero action in a way that has never been topped. Whether it’s through the windows of the train, behind Spider-Man’s shoulder, or from the point of view of Doc Ock’s tentacle arms, the camera constantly whips in and around the action, putting you in the shoes of our hero in a way that is nothing short of thrilling. (Foster Harlfinger)
After years of not getting Ninja Turtles movies which understood what made their characters so much fun and iconic, it was refreshing to get Mutant Mayhem, and one of the best fights in the movie happens when the Turtles have been captured and in danger of being “milked,” which causes Splinter to come to their rescue. This one-versus-many fight starts out pretty brutally, as Splinter dispatches a few henchmen with power and ease, but when they attack him in force, the fight never loses the seriousness of the moment, holding onto the movie’s humorous tone. I love how Splinter uses an office chair, as well as other items in the room, to his advantage, paying a nice homage to Jackie Chan’s live action fighting style. The fight could have ended there, but it doesn’t! The weapons locker falls on Splinter, and he pops out having recovered all the Turtles weapons, and then expertly uses them to take out the rest of the goons. It is a truly outstanding, expertly animated and choreographed fight scene, all set to the song “Scarface (Push It to the Limit)” — it’s one of my absolute favorites! (Nick Ferro)
In 2003, X2: X-Men United opened and before the movie even had a chance to start, I had my entire mind blown. Going into the movie I knew that Nightcrawler, my favorite X-Men character, was going to be making an appearance. But I found out 11 seconds in that he was featured in the opening scene. And then before I even had a chance to comprehend what I was watching, I saw the best one minute and 55 seconds of pure mutant power goodness put to film at the time. The way the movie uses Nightcrawler’s powers, his tail, and his acrobatics to have him dispatch an army of secret service agents, with slow-motion kicks, flips, disappearances, and different angles is incredible. This scene is the precursor for the Quicksilver scene in Days of Future Past, and is a top-10 comic book movie moment, period, let alone the best fight. Because of this scene, I saw X2 twice in two days, and I may or may not have snuck in to watch the opening any time I was in a movie theater that summer… (Nick Ferro)