20 Best Performances In Superhero Movies

6. Robert Downey Jr. - Iron Man (Captain America: Civil War)

Captain America: Civil War is one of the most mature and thought-provoking superhero movies ever made. It's also a film where Giant-Man (Paul Rudd) gets felled like an AT-AT by Spider-Man (Tom Holland), so there you go.

But what really makes Civil War so damn compelling is the two-hander between Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr). The two are sharply divided on the issue of the Sokovia accords, which boils over spectacularly at the end of the movie, when Stark learns that Rogers' pal Bucky (Sebastian Stan) was responsible for the deaths of his parents.

Downey Jr.'s performance is terrific throughout the film, and by its end, it truly feels like he's peeled back so many more of the character's layers. Far from the cocksure, smarmy Tony Stark from prior Iron Man and Avengers movies, here Tony is stripped raw and hurting like hell.

Best Moment: Upon learning of his parents' true fate, a distraught Tony asks Steve whether or not he knew Bucky was involved. And well, you know what happens next.