When people think of superheroes, usually singular names come to mind: Spider-Man, Iron Man, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc. However, many of the best superhero films are based on teams. What makes team films fun is the diversity of powers and abilities featured in one film. Not only that but there is a natural added layer of complexity when juggling multiple personalities.
Producing a good superhero team movie is not easy. Many superhero team movies focus too much on singular characters, relegating others to supporting roles, and some feature so many characters that it feels like a gigantic, convoluted fan service. The best superhero team movies feel like they have more than one protagonist, with multiple characters having similar importance despite their different attributes.
10 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles use of Lighting Made you Feel Like you Were in the Sewers

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Four teenage mutant ninja turtles emerge from the shadows to protect New York City from a gang of criminal ninjas.
- Director
- Steve Barron
- Release Date
- March 30, 1990
- Cast
- judith hoag , Elias Koteas , Brian Tochi , Leif Tilden
- Runtime
- 93 minutes
- Main Genre
- Adventure
The first Ninja Turtles movie was a stark contrast to the animated series that had popularized it. The lighting was dark, the violence was more blunt, and it felt like New York City was truly decaying, akin to Gotham City in the Batman franchise. However, despite its dark atmosphere, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles doesn’t stray too far from the series’ lightheartedness. The Turtles still remind everyone they are teenagers with their 1960s surfer slang and playful attitudes.
While Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles suffers from poor acting, it makes up for it with tremendous costume design for the Ninja Turtles and Master Splinter. The movie plays up its team theme by having Raphael go out on his own, and the Ninja Turtles suffer serious consequences when they’re not together.
9 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Didn’t Need the Shredder to Have a Credible Villain

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
The film follows the Turtle brothers as they work to earn the love of New York City while facing down an army of mutants.
- Director
- Jeff Rowe , Kyle Spears
- Release Date
- August 2, 2023
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem accurately displays what a teenage superhero team should look like in the 2020s. The Ninja Turtles in this movie feel like true Gen Z kids, with their up-to-date slang, real pre-pubescent voices, and constant interactions with their phones. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem goes out of its way to deliver a High School coming-of-age story.
The aesthetics are what sticks out the most about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. Everything looks gritty, slimy, and a bit ugly. It both captures the messy but appealing feel of dense urban New York City and the fact that the movie is dealing with mutant turtles, pigs, rats, and flies. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem also has a gigantic team battle in the end, involving more than just the Ninja Turtles, promising the “mayhem” aspect of its title.
8 X-Men: First Class Embraced That The X-Men Were a Team

X-Men: First Class
In the 1960s, superpowered humans Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr work together to find others like them, but Erik’s vengeful pursuit of an ambitious mutant who ruined his life causes a schism to divide them.
- Director
- Matthew Vaughn
- Release Date
- June 3, 2011
- Cast
- James McAvoy , Michael Fassbender , Jennifer Lawrence , Kevin Bacon
- Runtime
- 2 hours 11 minutes
- Main Genre
- Superhero

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X-Men: First Class was a soft reboot of a beloved trilogy of movies. While X-Men: First Class did not have the commercial influence of the older trilogy, it was a more fundamentally sound movie. X-Men: First Class takes place in the 60s when mutants were not yet known to the public. Magneto, Professor X, and Mystique are the three leads, and they are far more dynamic in this movie than in any X-Men film up to this point.
Most of the characters in X-Men: First Class are brand new to the big screen. It also explores a team battle between Xavier’s team and the Hellfire Club, led by Sebastian Shaw. This was the first X-Men movie that didn’t have to use Wolverine, and because of that, this is the X-Men movie that relied the most on teamwork as its selling point. The social commentary on racism is handled more strongly in X-Men: First Class than in any other X-Men movie, perhaps because it takes place during the Civil Rights movement.
7 The Incredibles Delivered a Memorable Family Fun Experience
Pixar made their own superhero team a literal family with The Incredibles. The Incredibles draws many comparisons with the Fantastic Four; however, it captures the complexities of teamwork within a family dynamic more accurately than any of the Fox Fantastic Four films. The Incredibles is wonderfully animated and offers family fun that is enjoyable for both adults and kids. Its biggest strength is its wholesomeness. Most superhero team movies typically include brooding problems and dark, melodramatic elements, but The Incredibles keeps it lighter while still providing depth.
The film also comments on various family issues, such as work-life balance, parent-child communication, and the ethics of hiding your true personality from the world to maintain an image. By addressing these themes, The Incredibles resonates with audiences of all ages, offering humor, excitement, and meaningful reflections on family life. Its ability to blend action and heartfelt moments makes it a classic in animated superhero films.
6 The Avengers Combined Solo Heroes Into the Ultimate Team
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There was a lot of ambition that went into creating The Avengers. Marvel, which at the time was an independent company, had to produce a series of successful blockbuster movies and then top it all off by combining the leads of all of them into a superhero team-up film. The Avengers managed to succeed tremendously and, since then, has opened the doors for future crossovers.
The Avengers plays it relatively safe in its story. It introduces a villain, and the heroes fumble to work together due to their egos and ultimately come together to vanquish the bad guys. While The Avengers doesn’t score many points for originality, it executes and delivers everything audiences want from a superhero team-up movie. It takes a while for The Avengers to build up to it, but the invasion of New York at the end of the movie lasts about a half hour, and nearly every minute of it is jam-packed with action. The Avengers aimed to make superhero movies larger than life by teaming them up and succeeding exceptionally.
5 X-Men: Days of Future Past Juggled Many Plot Threads and Still Remained Coherent
It’s not uncommon for casts from different movie universes to interact with each other, but X-Men: Days of Future Past created a superb plot that also interjected a connection between the casts from the original X-Men film and the X-Men: First Class series. X-Men: Days of Future Past presents a dystopian future where mutants have been nearly wiped out in the timeline of the original X-Men. Wolverine travels back in time to prevent Mystique from assassinating a scientist who created the Sentinels.
What makes X-Men: Days of Future Past so exciting are the many moving pieces involved. Trask and his Sentinels, Magneto, Wolverine, Mystique, and the X-Men all contribute to the plot’s unpredictability. The aesthetics of the Sentinels coming to life are a highlight and a testament to the faithfulness the series maintained to the comics at that point.
4 Captain America: Civil War is Technically not an Avengers Movie but it Sure Felt Like One

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While not a traditional superhero team movie, Captain America: Civil War does feature a massive team battle and a tug-o-war between factions. Captain America has essentially formed a trio with his trustworthy allies, Falcon and The Winter Soldier. By teaming up with the Winter Soldier, he has created a split between the Avengers, leading to a significant team battle in the middle of the movie.
Captain America: Civil War is a great character study of Tony Stark and explores how he deals with guilt. There is also a theme of dealing with vengeance in the subplot involving Black Panther. Captain America adheres to his ideals, but it raises whether it is worth causing a war among the superheroes. Although Captain America: Civil War is titled as a Captain America film, to many Marvel fans, it feels more like an Avengers movie.
3 Guardians of the Galaxy was Both Equally Exciting and Humorous
Dubbed by some as the “Star Wars of the 2010s,”Guardians of the Galaxy took an obscure comic book team and turned them into a group of pop-culture legends. Guardians of the Galaxy is about a band of misfits who are thrust into a scenario where they must become heroes. With its quirky and imaginative characters, the film satisfies not only the superhero itch but also the Sci-Fi craving.
Guardians of the Galaxy is just as much comedy as it is adventure, easily ranking among the funniest superhero movies of all time. While many superhero movies incorporate comedy, Guardians of the Galaxy places a strong emphasis on it and avoids relying on clichés and cheap jokes. The film establishes its characters’ personalities early on and uses them to create moments that both advance the plot and provide humorous, yet believable, interactions. Additionally, Guardians of the Galaxy features an exciting dogfighting scene, making it one of the most well-balanced superhero team movies.
2 Avengers: Infinity War Fundamentally had no Weaknesses as a Film
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Superhero team-up movies often suffer from wasted motion due to juggling so many characters, but Avengers: Infinity War covers a lot of ground efficiently. The film constantly switches between different locations, showing how a group of heroes is coming together across the galaxy to stop Thanos and The Black Order.
What makes Avengers: Infinity War unique is that the protagonist is Thanos, who is the main villain of the film. The movie focuses on Thanos’s journey to collect the Infinity Stones by going through various groups of heroes. Thanos makes sacrifices to get closer to his goal and ultimately defeats the Avengers through his conviction and determination. Avengers: Infinity War works as a superhero team movie because it illustrates the consequences of heroes failing to work together.
1 Avengers: Endgame Gave an Experience no Other Film can Duplicate
For people who watched Avengers: Endgame in theaters when it came out, it felt more like an experience than just a movie. The pacing and tone of Avengers: Endgame, especially in the first hour when it covers a dystopian future, felt surreal. The film ended up being one of the most successful movies of all time, giving a send-off to a 10-year-long saga consisting of over 20 movies.
Avengers: Endgame is filled with memorable moments and feels almost like a love letter to those who dedicated a decade to watching the films. Despite having a gigantic roster, many characters shine in Avengers: Endgame. Its uniqueness helps compensate for its many weaknesses in its unorthodox narrative structure, making it one of the few movies where even the credits are fulfilling to watch.