One of the more welcome consequences of the movie superhero boom that sparked in the early 2000s was some very memorable action-oriented roles for women. From Black Widow to Catwoman, there have been a slew of memorable females that have donned leather outfits to battle evil, so let’s celebrate some of the high caliber actresses and the roles that truly defined them outside the genre.
Roles From Female Superhero Actors
-
Jennifer Lawrence
SUPERHERO ROLE: X-Men films
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Winter's Bone (2010)
Before the mighty J-Law had two super franchises under her belt in both "X-Men" and "Hunger Games," she seemed to come blazing out of nowhere for her Oscar-nominated turn in the dark drama "Winter's Bone." The stark indie had her playing a teenage girl navigating the dark drug subculture of the Ozarks to find her missing father before her family is evicted from their home. It proved to be a very effective calling card for Lawrence, who in no time at all has risen to the pinnacle of Hollywood's A-list. -
Olivia Thirlby
SUPERHERO ROLE: Dredd
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Juno (2007)
The psychic rookie Judge Anderson was a huge part of what fans of the British comic book series loved about "Dredd," one of many aspects that film got right that the Stallone version got way wrong. Thirlby, an indie queen after her role as Ellen Page's sardonic best friend in the smash hit "Juno," seemed an odd pick for an action movie, but she carried it off spectacularly, and we hope the young actress will balance more action with her penchant for indie comedy. -
Chloe Grace Moretz
SUPERHERO ROLE: Kick-Ass films
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Hugo (2011)
This exceptionally talented child star brought both comedic chops and plain old chops to the role of pint-sized assassin Hit-Girl in "Kick-Ass," a role which stirred more than its fair share of controversy. Both the violence and foul language the 11-year-old girl employs angered parents, but there was nothing to be angry about in Martin Scorsese's family friendly ode to silent film in "Hugo." Moretz starred opposite Asa Butterfield in this marvelous adaptation of Brian Selznick's novel, which shows the power of magic and cinema. -
Malin Akerman
SUPERHERO ROLE: Watchmen
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Wanderlust (2012)
This Swedish Canadian beauty earned equal parts praise and scorn for her role in "Watchmen." Although she handled the action with great skill, the sunny Akerman has shown she's much more comedically inclined in her wacky roles on the show "Children's Hospital" and in movies like "Wanderlust." In the latter, she held her own opposite Paul Rudd as a commune inhabitant who lives a "free love" existence, much to Rudd's chagrin as his is unable to handle her lack of inhibitions. -
Jennifer Garner
SUPERHERO ROLE: Daredevil & Elektra films
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: The Invention of Lying (2009)
In the comics, Elektra was a complex foil for Daredevil, but her two movie appearances didn't exactly set the world on fire. That's no fault of Jennifer Garner, who put her best efforts in. As it happens, Garner has proved herself a far more capable comedic actress in recent years, including her part as a beautiful woman in a world where no one can lie except Ricky Gervais. "The Invention of Lying" showed just how adept Garner is at charmingly portraying the most absurd situations. -
Jessica Alba
SUPERHERO ROLES: Fantastic Four & Sin City films
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: The Killer Inside Me (2010)
Alba turned in an earnest performance as Sue Storm in the two maligned "Fantastic Four" movies and spiced up Frank Miller's noir world of "Sin City." While most of her roles have been unabashedly mainstream, her role as a prostitute who's victimized by a sadistic Deputy Sheriff, played by Casey Affleck, showed a daring side of Alba. Despite critical praise for the role, she still managed to earn a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress. -
Selma Blair
SUPERHERO ROLE: Hellboy films
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Storytelling (2001)
Blair shined as Hellboy's romantic flame (literally) in Guillermo del Toro's two films, but she first turned in a supremely memorable performance in the first part of Todd Solondz' button-pushing anthology "Storytelling" as an eager college writing student who has an affair with her professor (Robert Wisdom) as fodder for a story she's writing for his class. Their sex scene had black bars added over it in order to avoid an NC-17 rating, which only added to the critiques of sexuality the film aspired to. -
Zoe Saldana
SUPERHERO ROLE: Guardians of the Galaxy
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Avatar (2009)
Saldana went green for her part as stealthy galactic assassin in the year's biggest domestic hit "Guardians of the Galaxy," yet it was her blue-tinged performance-captured role in James Cameron's "Avatar" that will no doubt define her career for many years to come. Her proud warrior Neytiri helped turn the science fiction epic "Avatar" into the highest-grossing movie of all-time, and set a new standard for inner-species dating. -
Anna Paquin
SUPERHERO ROLE: X-Men films
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Almost Famous (2000)
Yes, she won the Oscar for "The Piano" at the tender age of 11, but we'll always remember her as one of the heartfelt groupies... er, Band-Aids, who help 15-year-old Rolling Stone journalist William Miller (Patrick Fugit) lose his virginity. The flirty Polexia Aphrodisia is a fun role for Paquin, who sheds her childish image while still somehow maintaining a degree of innocence in her unabashed love of rock music. -
Anne Hathaway
SUPERHERO ROLE: The Dark Knight Rises
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Another actress who played Catwoman to purr-fection is this more recent Oscar-winner (and Oscar host) for "Les Miserables." However, her part opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Ang Lee's modern gay western romance "Brokeback Mountain" was the first time we realized Hathaway was more than the sum of two "Princess Diaries" movies. She displays a hardened exterior when telling Ennis (Heath Ledger) of Jack's death at the film's conclusion, a stirring moment. -
Halle Berry
SUPERHERO ROLES: Catwoman & X-Men films
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Monster's Ball (2001)
This classy lady has played both a Marvel and DC hero, and, like her "X-Men" co-star Famke Janssen, was a Bond girl. She scored an Oscar for her role as an impoverished widow who begins a love affair with the prison guard who executed her husband in "Monster's Ball." The Marc Forster film illuminated racial intolerances in the south, and featured a much-talked-about sex scene with Billy Bob Thornton. -
Scarlett Johansson
SUPERHERO ROLES: Marvel Films (The Avengers, etc) & Lucy
BEST NON-SUPERHERO ROLE: Match Point (2008)
The first of three collaborations with director Woody Allen gave ScarJo a chance to stretch her muscles in a role as an unstable-yet-gorgeous seductress named Nola who forces a tennis pro's hand (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) to murder her. We would have just as easily nominated Johansson, one of the lynchpins of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, for her breakthrough role in 2001's "Ghost World."
