The 10 Best Superhero Movie Moments Of 2016

It's been a mixed year for superhero movies, in the critical sense. Out of the six released in 2016 (a neat two each from the three big franchises: Disney's Marvel, Warner Bros.' DC and Fox's X-Men), three have been well received while the other half have been met with various levels of critical bashing. Nonetheless, though fans might have their grievances, it's pretty hard to complain too much in a year when the Avengers, Justice League and the X-Men were all adorning our screens. Besides, every single one of those movies - regardless of their overall quality - delivered at least one moment that had every superhero super-fan punching the air. From Deadpool to Doctor Strange, here are our favorite superhero movie moments of 2016. Not all of these films may have been enjoyable on the whole, but there's no denying that these 10 moments were truly memorable and had fans giddy with excitement. 10) Black Panther On The Prowl Making his debut in a movie stuffed to the brim with many already familiar heroes, Black Panther needed to be really kick-ass in order to make a big impression. Apart from a strong performance from Chadwick Boseman and a pretty cool costume, the character ended up winning over audiences thanks to this amazing chase scene. As the newly-appointed Wakandan King, T'Challa hunts Bucky down through the streets of Bucharest (for supposedly killing his father, T'Chaka) while Steve chases them to protect his old friends. Meanwhile, the police are tailing the lot of them. As well some fine direction from the Russo brothers (they've come a long way since You, Me and Dupree), it's the number of participants with their own agendas that keeps the tension growing in this thrilling sequence. Upon reflection, it might just be one of the best chase scenes the genre's ever seen. 9) Batman V Superman Yes, we know that the central conflict of Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice is far from perfect. One of the big criticisms of the film is that the big punch-up between the World's Finest Heroes is such a small part of the movie - after two and a bit hours of waiting, it's over in 10 minutes. And even then, it comes to an abrupt end with the laughable "Martha" moment. Despite all that, however, the inherent excitement of seeing these two icons of pop culture go toe to toe in the, as Lex Luthor would put it, "greatest gladiator match in the history of the world" was unimpeded. Director Zack Snyder is in his element when shooting a gloomy, gritty fight with lots of destruction and both Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill give it their all. Also, thanks to this scene, the long-standing fan argument is finally answered: Batman would beat Superman in a fight. Providing he has some kryptonite on hand and Supes doesn't mention his mother's name, of course. 8) Batman Ruins Date Night Suicide Squad's presentation of Harley Quinn - much like the film as a whole - was a very divisive one. Though she was winningly played by Margot Robbie, the dilution of her usually abusive relationship with the Joker into a PG-13 friendly quirky romance between two Hot Topic shoppers was naturally a controversial move. One element that no fan of the character could fail to love, though, is the flashback sequence which details how Batman caught Harley and stuck her in Belle Reve. With Batman on the roof of the Jokermobile, and Harley shooting through the roof and screaming that he's "ruining date night," this short moment is one of the most grin-inducing of the film. Chiefly, this is because it feels like something pulled straight from Batman: The Animated Series, for which Harley was originally created. 7) Quicksilver Saves The Day… Again X-Men fans were bowled over by the "Time in a Bottle" sequence from Days of Future Past, so director Bryan Singer naturally incorporated a sequel to that scene in X-Men: Apocalypse. While it might not have the originality and freshness of its predecessor, the Apocalypse redux expands the scale and length of the scene to make it a much more impressive feat on a technical level. This time, Evan Peters' speedster has to rescue everyone in the X-Mansion from certain death in a few seconds flat, all set to the tune of the Eurythmic's "Sweet Dreams." It's a fantastic moment and DC definitely have their work cut out for them if they're going to try and beat this set piece in their upcoming Flash movie. Also, while it's not as fun to watch, the other great moment from the movie comes when Eric Lensherr loses his wife and daughter and once again becomes Magneto. It's just a shame Apocalypse as a whole couldn't replicate the levels of entertainment and emotion present in these two scenes. 6) Meet Wonder Woman When things don’t look to be going well for Bats and Supes in their fight against Doomsday, Gal Gadot's Diana Prince (after first appearing in plain clothes earlier on) finally turns up in full Wonder Woman armour to give them some much needed back-up. In doing so, she not only livens up this testosterone-fest of a movie but also delivers its most fist-pumping moment, as DC's trinity is finally united on the big screen. The debut of a character who has been waiting 75 long years for a cinematic outing should bring a smile to just about any comic book fan’s face. Even composers Hanz Zimmer and Junkie XL knew how important this scene was and adorned it with the best piece of music in the whole movie. Unlike practically everything else in BvS, Wonder Woman's thrilling debut bodes well for the future of the DC Extended Universe. 5) The Warehouse Scene Many fans were left up in arms over the controversially bloodthirsty depiction of Batman in BvS. However, even the most pacifistic of Bat-fans couldn't have helped but be impressed by the warehouse fight scene that occurs just before the movie's big climax. This moment went a long way in convincing people that Ben Affleck's version was the most formidable take on the Dark Knight yet seen in live-action. Certainly, few - if any - scenes in Batman's long cinematic history have captured his ferocity and skill in a fight as well as this one. Here, we can plainly see the difference between Supes and Bats. Kal-El could have taken down these guys in a blink (or laser bolt) of an eye, but for Batman it takes effort, time and ingenuity - and is all the more impressive for it. He might have severely injured, probably paralyzed and possibly killed a shedload of nameless henchmen, but at least he looked cool while doing it. 4) “I Could Do This All Day” When it comes to Captain America: Civil War, it's the airport scene that grabs the attention the most (and we'll return to that moment soon). Still, it has to be said that the final fight between Cap, Iron Man and the Winter Soldier is tenser and more emotionally wrenching. Now that Tony wants to kill Bucky for the death of his parents, and Steve has stepped in to protect his fallen best friend, the fighting between the two heroes feels less like a thrilling realization of comic book lover's dreams but more like a tragic turn of events. By this point, whose side you are on is almost irrelevant and the viewer is left clutching the arms of their seat with the worry that one might kill the other. A nice touch is the reprise of Steve's line from The First Avenger. Just to remind us that this is his movie, it shows us that - though many things have changed in his life - Cap will still never give up on what he believes is right. He'll see it through to the bitter end. 3) Deadpool's Opening Credits On the face of it, saying Deadpool's opening credits sequence is the best part of the movie sounds like a criticism. Actually, though, it's a hilarious parody of the usual self-serious superhero blockbuster that brilliantly starts the film as it means to go on. Eschewing the names of the cast and crew, the sequence instead refers to them with insults (director Tim Miller is credited as "an Overpaid Tool" while Ryan Reynolds is "God's Perfect Idiot") or digs at the stereotypes they're portraying (Monica Baccarin is "the Hot Chick" while Ed Skein is "the British Villain"). There are also lots of great visual gags and easter eggs strewn throughout as well - like the coffee cup that belongs to Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld or the blink-and-you'll-miss it photo of Reynolds as Green Lantern. While we could have picked one of the movie's awesome R-rated action scenes, the opening credits perfectly get across that Deadpool is not just a thoroughly entertaining superhero flick, but also one of the funniest comedies of the year. 2) A Strange Third Act The third acts of superhero movies have become very samey as of late - with most of them revolving around mindless citywide destruction (usually paired with some big wormhole in the sky). At first, Doctor Strange seemed to be following suit, as it saw Benedict Cumberbatch's would-be Sorcerer Supreme face evil Kaecilius in Hong Kong while the Dark Dimension bleeds into our world. Thankfully, though, the movie had another trick up its sleeve and cleverly subverted the trope in a terrific time-bending climax. Instead of pummeling his way to victory, Strange manages to turn back time to save the city and then goes on to outwit big bad Dormammu and make a bargain with him in order to protect Earth. It was a welcome change to have a superhero movie end with the hero using his brains to save the day rather than his fists and made for a much fresher, more enjoyable climax as a result. More like this in future, please. 1) The Airport Scene We could fill this entire list with moments from Captain America: Civil War's instantly iconic airport scene. There's Spider-Man's debut (and the bit where he bests Winter Solider and Falcon to boot). There's Ant-Man becoming Giant-Man and being taken down like AT-AT Walker. There's the shock of War Machine getting shot down and, of course, there's the triumphant image of Team Cap and Team Iron charging at each other, in a moment torn straight from a comic book splash panel. Even small confrontations, like Black Widow and Hawkeye finding each other on opposite sides, are a blast. There's really so much to enjoy in this scene that we've just lumped the whole thing together. In short, the entire sequence is hands-down the most thrilling moment of 2016's superhero cinema because it encapsulates everything you could want from a comic book movie. Lots of crossover, awesome action, zinging one-liners, a comic book tone and some great character drama, too. We're just hoping that at least one of 2017's superhero movies can produce a scene to match it.