Michael B. Jordan has taken on some memorable superhero roles, but one of his best remains overlooked. After getting his start in acclaimed television shows like The Wire and Friday Night Lights, Jordan shifted to movies with his breakout performance in Fruitvale Station, also marking his first of many movies with Ryan Coogler.
Since those early days, Jordan’s movie career has taken off with huge hits that helped him become a movie star while also showing his impressive acting talents. With the Creed franchise and this summer’s mᴀssively successful Sinners, Jordan is at the height of his fame. However, fans may have forgotten his early superhero role, which doesn’t get as much love.
Chronicle Features An Underrated Michael B. Jordan Performance
Chronicle Combines A Superhero Movie And A Found-Footage Thriller
Chronicle marked Michael B. Jordan’s first entry into the superhero genre and also helped to launch his movie career. The movie follows three high school students who make a wild discovery that ends up giving them superpowers, like flight and telekinesis. However, it also explores how such power can corrupt people. Jordan plays Steve, one of the superpowered teens.
Jordan gives an underrated performance as the popular jock, Steve. Jordan brings likability and nuance to what could have been a clichéd character.
The movie is a brilliant use of the found footage format. The early scenes in which the young men discover and have fun with their new powers feel like the kind of thing teens would do in this situation, filming everything. Chronicle is also a great superhero movie because it gradually reveals itself to be a supervillain origins story.
Dane Dehaan rightly got a lot of praise for his performance as the troubled Andrew, who begins using his powers to take his anger and loneliness out on the world. However, Jordan gives an underrated performance as the popular jock, Steve. Jordan brings likability and nuance to what could have been a clichéd character.
Even within the found footage format, it is easy to see Jordan’s movie star charisma shining through. He is compelling and confident in every scene he appears in, yet grounds the character in a sense of reality. He is a noble young man who is having fun with his new powers, but also recognizes the danger they can cause.
Michael B. Jordan Has Continued To Shine In Superhero Movies
Jordan Has Played A Marvel Hero And A Marvel Villain
Chronicle opened a lot of doors for Jordan as an up-and-coming actor, including more superhero movies on the horizon. It wasn’t long after the success of Chronicle that the movie’s director, Josh Trank, was hired to make Fox’s new Fantastic Four, and he brought Jordan along to be Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch.
There was a time when Jordan was also rumored to be headlining his own Superman project.
While Fantastic Four was a critical and commercial disappointment, Jordan was named one of the highlights of the movie. He once again proved his movie star qualities with a charismatic performance that brought a spark to what was criticized as a strangely dour superhero story. However, a better collaboration with Marvel came later.
Jordan reteamed with his frequent collaborator Ryan Coogler on Black Panther. This time around, Jordan was not playing the hero, but rather the movie’s complex villain, Erik Killmonger. Jordan gave a performance that was powerful, chilling, and heartbreaking, giving the MCU one of its best villains to date. He reprised the role for a scene in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
There was a time when Jordan was also rumored to be headlining his own Superman project. While there has been little news on that for a while, with Jordan continuing to be a mᴀssive star, it is possible be could get involved in the new DCU in some way.
More superhero projects may be on the horizon, though Sinners has proven he is just as successful in original projects. For those fans looking for more superhero fun from Jordan, Chronicle remains some of his best work in the genre and deserves more attention.
