The World’s Most Popular Superhero, Every Year Since 2000

In the 21st century, superheroes rule popular culture. Every year, with the release of a new movie or TV show, superheroes become increasingly popular with audiences around the world, depending on how well their stories are told and how they connect to present-day issues and sensibilities.

Since 2000, at least one superhero (or team) has ruled over mainstream consciousness on a yearly basis. While most of these heroes became that popular after having the biggest movie release of the year, it is not always necessarily about box office results. So, let’s turn back time and celebrate these heroes for everything they meant to us each year!

20 2000 – X-MEN

The X-Men had ruled TV for most of the 1990s with X-Men: The Animated Series. After Bryan Singer’s X-Men film was released in 2000, these Marvel mutants became the most popular superheroes on the planet.

Even 20 years later, it is still hard for fans to forget the actors that portrayed these characters in 2000’s X-Men, particularly Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

19 2001 – SUPERMAN

Following the success of 2000’s X-Men, several superhero movies were greenlit. However, it was still too soon for anything to hit the big screen. Instead, a particular live-action superhero TV show would premiere on The CW and become popular: Smallville.

The popularity of Smallville diminished over the years, but there’s no denying that the series reawakened mainstream interest in Superman.

18 2002 – SPIDER-MAN

The Sam Raimi trilogy of Spider-Man films started in 2002, quickly propelling Peter Parker into the most popular and profitable character in all of Hollywood.

There are many years on this list when a superhero’s popularity may be up for debate, but not in 2002. It was one hundred percent all about Spidey.

17 2003 – X-MEN

After the box office success of the first installment, the entire X-Men team and cast was brought back for a sequel titled X2 (a.k.a. X2: X-Men United). After the X2 release in 2003, mutants once again became the most popular superheroes in the world, with Wolverine keeping his place as the leading character in the series.

16 2004 – SPIDER-MAN

Catwoman, Hellboy, and The Punisher may have tried, but there was just no competition in 2004 for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. Yet again, Peter Parker won the superhero popularity contest around the world, solidifying this very successful era of pre-MCU Marvel movies.

Even today, 2004’s Spider-Man 2 is still the highest-rated live-action Spider-Man movie of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 93% score.

15 2005 – BATMAN

2005’s Constantine made an unexpectedly huge splash, but let’s be real: Batman was back in full force with Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale as the titular character.

Nearly 10 years after the ill-received Batman & Robin, Batman Begins took Bruce Wayne seriously again and jumpstarted what would later be known as The Dark Knight Trilogy.

14 2006 – SUPERMAN

It was 2006. NBC’s Heroes had just premiered on TV. The X-Men were concluding their original trilogy of films with X-Men: The Last Stand. Marvel had just published Mark Millar’s Civil War comic book that would inspire the MCU ten years later.

Nonetheless, no other project matched the hype for Superman Returns in 2006. We had gone nearly 20 years without a Superman movie, and just like that, the world once again turned its attention to Supes.

13 2007 – SPIDER-MAN

After two very successful Spider-Man movies, Sam Raimi concluded his trilogy with 2007’s Spider-Man 3. Unfortunately, fans did not receive the third installment as well as its predecessors. Still, the movie made a lot of money and pleased a lot of fans. And, hey, how can we forget that Emo Peter Parker dance sequence?

12 2008 – BATMAN

In hindsight, we all want to remember 2008 as the year when Jon Favreau’s Iron Man singlehandedly started the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, in 2008, Tony Stark wasn’t the most popular superhero in town yet.

2008 was all about Batman, largely due to the success of The Dark Knight. What’s more, Heath Ledger propelled the Joker to new heights of popularity, becoming an instant Halloween staple and merchandise king.

11 2009 – WATCHMEN

In 2009, the MCU had already started and The Dark Knight was winning Oscars. Still, most of what we got was the ill-received X-Men Origins: Wolverine and the Chris Evans vehicle Push.

Thankfully, fans were lucky enough to get the live-action Watchmen directed by Zack Snyder. In many ways, the critical and commercial success of Watchmen proved that comic book movie fans were willing to watch films about lesser-known characters and stories, as long as they were great.

10 2010 – IRON MAN

By the time that Iron Man 2 was released in 2010, the world was already back in love with actor Robert Downey Jr. and superhero movie fans were bowing down to Tony Stark. Moreover, it was with Iron Man 2 that Marvel doubled down on the promise that there would be an interconnected Marvel Cinematic Universe with other characters, which felt very exciting for fans of the genre.

9 2011 – CAPTAIN AMERICA

In 2011, DC released the Ryan Reynolds-led Green Lantern. Moreover, Fox rebooted its X-Men franchise with X-Men: First Class. Meanwhile, Marvel Studios started to build out its MCU with Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, both of which came out in 2011.

It’s hard to pick one superhero that stood out in 2011, but the concept of an MCU really helped make Captain America popular around the world.

8 2012 – THE AVENGERS

In 2012, we got the fascinating superhero movie Chronicle, Christopher Nolan concluded his Batman trilogy with The Dark Knight Rises, and Sony released The Amazing Spider-Man reboot.

When it comes to worldwide popularity, there was nothing like The Avengers in 2012. There was just something undeniably special about seeing Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye come together over the course of many movies and then fight side by side.

7 2013 – SUPERMAN

The MCU was busy with sequels in 2013, but DC was building out its own interconnected superhero universe. Man of Steel felt like a massive big-screen Superman reboot, which was a huge deal at the time. Fan debates aside, Man of Steel made Superman a really exciting character again, which 2006’s Superman Returns failed to do.

6 2014 – GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

In a year with very popular movies from Captain America, Spider-Man, and the X-Men, it was really the Guardians of the Galaxy that exploded in popularity around the globe. James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy felt like a huge risk for the MCU in 2014, but it paid off big time, as characters like Star-Lord and Groot become internationally beloved overnight.

5 2015 – THE AVENGERS

Daredevil and Jessica Jones made a splash on Netflix, but no other hero (or team) was as popular as The Avengers following the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. The novelty of seeing all these characters together and expanding the MCU was still totally there, even if most fans loved this installment less than its predecessor.

4 2016 – DEADPOOL

Who knew that an R-Rated superhero movie from Fox would stand out in a year when both the MCU and the DCEU had its most popular characters fighting each other on the big screen?

The MCU characters were still running the show with Captain America: Civil War, and the world went wild with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. But let’s be real: the biggest story in 2016 was how Deadpool became a worldwide phenomenon.

3 2017 – WONDER WOMAN

With Logan, Justice League, and Spider-Man: Homecoming competition in 2017 was certainly fierce. Nonetheless, there’s no doubt that Wonder Woman stood out from the competition, breaking the age-old assumption that female-led superhero movies didn’t work. And just like that, 2017 became all about Diana.

2 2018 – BLACK PANTHER

Much like the success of Wonder Woman in 2017, Black Panther became the standout superhero movie in 2018. Yeah, other comic book movies might’ve grossed more money that year, but the popularity of T’Challa, Killmonger, Okoye, and Shuri was just undeniable. The film was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, solidifying its cultural significance and reach.

1 2019 – THE AVENGERS

The grand conclusion to the MCU’s Infinity Saga came with Avengers: Endgame, and once again there wasn’t really any competition when it came to the popularity of the Avengers as a team. In particular, Iron Man and Captain America stood out due to the fact that they were bowing out of the franchise.

About The Author

Bernardo Sim
(1773 Articles Published)

Bernardo Sim writes about TV shows, queer culture, & Brazilian media. Born and raised in the Amazon, he now lives in South Florida. he/him

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