From the Marvel Cinematic Universe to the extensive DC Universe and beyond, here are 10 great superhero performances that do not get talked about enough. Several superhero movie performances across the genre are well-rated, from Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man to Robert Pattinson as Batman. The former will continue in upcoming Marvel movies, only in a different way.

Downey Jr. will return to the MCU, only this time as Doctor Doom, in the story of Avengers: Doomsday. If anything, this continues to solidify RDJ’s status as one of the best pieces of superhero casting in history. Pattinson’s continued role in upcoming DC movies will do the same, as will several other performances in the DCU.

When looking at underrated performances in the superhero genre, though, many stand out. Either because the actors in question are not quite household names, or they simply aren’t spoken about enough for one reason or another, here are 10 performances in superhero projects that deserve more credit.

Jon Favreau As Happy Hogan

When talking about the MCU’s best directors, Jon Favreau may get a mention for his work on Iron Man and Iron Man 2. Concerning performances, though, Favreau’s role as Happy Hogan is never talked about.

Happy is one of the MCU’s longest-lasting performances, appearing in several roles from 2008 to 2024. Always, Favreau nails the comedic elements of Happy’s character. However, Favreau is also great in several emotional moments.

Post the death of Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame, Favreau has some genuinely tear-jerking scenes as Happy. From how he sees Tony in Tom Holland’s Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Far From Home to insisting that Morgan Stark’s father liked cheeseburgers in Avengers: Endgame, Favreau is an MCU performance that not enough people talk about.

Bradley Cooper As Rocket Raccoon

It is easy for general audiences to disregard voice actors in favor of tangible performances. Rocket Raccoon is a testament to this. People talk about Rocket, but often this discussion is limited to how great his character is, how effective the CGI that brings him to life is, and how emotional James Gunn’s writing is in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

One crucial part binds all of this together: Bradley Cooper’s voice performance. Not only are the basics of Cooper’s performances excellent, given how different Rocket sounds from the actor’s normal voice, but he nails every emotion needed.

The humor, the snarky comments, the badᴀss moments, and the genuine emotion Rocket undergoes are all covered effortlessly by Bradley Cooper. The Guardians projects are considered among the MCU’s best movies for all of these aspects. Without Cooper embodying them all via a vital character, that trilogy would not work like it does, and the voice acting deserves more respect.

Jeremy Renner As Hawkeye

Of the original six Avengers, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye is the most underrated, as is the actor’s performance. Renner has been underserved in several MCU projects, including 2012’s The Avengers. This only makes his performances even better, as he always does what is asked of him in a very capable fashion.

In a movie like Avengers: Endgame, especially, Renner is excellent. He portrays the anger, grief, and trauma of a man who has lost his family, before depicting the emotionally harrowing realism of someone losing his best friend. This only continued in Hawkeye, solidifying Renner as a superhero performance that deserves more credit.

Daniel Brühl As Zemo

Discussions about the best MCU villains tend to include Thanos, Killmonger, Loki, and other characters of this ilk. Captain America: Civil War‘s Zemo isn’t mentioned enough for my liking, as he is one of the MCU’s best antagonists. He beat the Avengers, did so with understandable motivations, and remains a morally complex character.

Without Daniel Brühl, none of this would come across. Brühl’s emotionally understated performance as Zemo makes him a threatening, menacing, yet sympathetic figure in Captain America: Civil War. He then shows an entirely different side to Zemo in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, adding humor and stoic dancing to his repertoire. Overall, Brühl is a highly underrated actor in the superhero cinema genre.

Steve Agee As Economos & King Shark

James Gunn is often criticized for repeatedly casting his friends in superhero projects. This overshadows how great some of these performances are, including Steve Agee as John Economos and King Shark in the DC Universe. Agee served as the motion-capture stand-in for King Shark on The Suicide Squad, already proving how great a physical actor he is.

As Economos, Agee is allowed to be much more human and emotional. Economos is arguably the glue of Peacemaker‘s central cast. He ties everyone else together so well, all while having his own good arc. Economos gets a really emotional, vulnerable moment in Peacemaker season 1, before transitioning into a more competent, confident character in season 2.

Ray Fisher As Cyborg

The DCEU movie timeline has its share of controversies. Ray Fisher’s treatment during Justice League‘s production is one example, which takes up a lot of discussion about the actor and his character. Sadly, this overshadows how great he is in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, rendering Fisher’s performance as Cyborg as one that is not talked about enough today.

Cyborg is the beating heart of Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The shock at how he was cut from the theatrical release of Justice League proves as much. Fisher takes on this task with ease, making Cyborg one of the best DCEU characters in such limited screen time. Without Fisher being as good as he was, Zack Snyder’s Justice League wouldn’t have worked as well as it did.

Mark Strong As Sinestro

2011’s Green Lantern is one of the most unwatchable superhero movies ever made, yet Mark Strong was not the reason for this. Strong transcended the CGI issues, poor writing, and badly-paced narrative to become a genuinely compelling villain as Sinestro.

If anything typifies how Strong’s performance deserves more credit, if a sequel to Green Lantern ever happened, audiences wanted it to be about Sinestro and the Sinestro Corps.

Asher Angel As Billy Batson

Zachary Levi gets a lot of plaudits for his тιтular role in Shazam! and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, but Asher Angel deserves just as much credit. Angel plays the younger version of Shazam, Billy Batson, and is responsible for all the emotional moments in Shazam! and Shazam! 2 landing the way that they do.

Angel’s emotional range in the first movie, when he is learning about how his biological mother never wanted him, is so heartbreaking. He then offsets this with tender emotion in the second movie when calling his foster parents his real parents. Therefore, Asher deserves as much credit, if not more, than Levi does.

Anne Hathaway As Catwoman

Michelle Pfeiffer is often considered the definitive Catwoman, but Anne Hathaway sure comes close in The Dark Knight Rises. What stands out about Hathaway’s performance is how effortlessly she switches between the facade of a damsel in distress to a cool, calm, confident thief. This is evident throughout The Dark Knight Rises, making Hathaway’s performance incredibly layered.

Tom Hardy As Venom

Finally, Tom Hardy’s performance as Eddie Brock/Venom deserves more love. When talking about the Venom movies or the Sony Spider-Man Universe as a whole, discussion tends to fall on how disappointing the franchise was, all while poking fun at individual movies and memeable moments.

As such, Hardy’s performances are overlooked. Hardy is expected to do a lot in his role as Eddie/Venom. As Eddie, Hardy embodies the everyman archetype well. He then performs excellently as part of a duo once Venom is involved, despite performing against a CGI construct of himself.

The Venom voice is then excellent, and this is without mentioning the body horror elements Hardy implements across the three Venom movies. The films and the franchise they are a part of may not be anything to write home about, yet Hardy’s performance is one of the many underrated roles in the superhero movie genre.