Top 50 superhero movies of the last 10 years

Since 2002 there have been arguably 50 movies about superheroes. Arguably, because genre is tricky; it’s often variations on a theme, and some variations are less obvious than others. (“Star Wars,” for instance, a bit of a space western, is no one’s picture of the western genre.) Oh, also: Because 50 is such a nice round number I’ve ranked every superhero movie of the past decade. Why? It’s fun to do, and because a ranking is a convenient vehicle for considering how the genre is doing as a genre. (The most genrely relevant come with commentary.) Caveats: No animation here (otherwise “The Incredibles” would get props). And as in any genre, beyond the best 20 or so examples, the rest is a blur. Carcasses of needlessly skinned cats could choke a landfill. But that’s genre. -- Christopher Borrelli