With the year now over, it’s safe to say that 2024 saw the release of many exceptional movies from all genres, all kinds of directors, and countries from all over the world. A film is only as good as its hero, though; and throughout the entirety of last year, plenty of movies had a solid number of great heroes to choose from. From the badass to the morally gray to the goody two-shoes, these are the best heroes from 2024 films.
There are all kinds of factors that make a good movie hero. An interesting motivation and personality go a long way, a cool fighting style definitely helps if it’s an action hero we’re talking about, and a strong emotional core certainly doesn’t hurt.There are all sorts of heroes from 2024 cinema that meet these qualities and then some.
10Kid (Dev Patel)
‘Monkey Man’
The belovedDev Patelhas always been known to be a terrific actor, but last year, he made his directing debut in the martial arts thrillerMonkey Man— and it turns out he’s just as great behind the camera. The story is about an anonymous young man who unleashes a campaign of vengeance against the corrupt leaders who murdered his mom and continue to victimize the poor and powerless.
Monkey Manmay just be one ofthe best post-pandemic action films;a highly stylized yet very substantial creative effortwhose hypnotic fight sequences hit even harder thanks to the emotional story and sharp sociopolitical commentary. Kid, the film’s protagonist, steers clear of the common genre pitfall of a one-note lead hero. He’s such a well-written character with such an emotionally compelling backstory and motivation, and Patel plays him with such ferocious grit, that it’s impossible to feel disconnected from his quest for revenge.
Monkey Man
9Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny)
‘Alien: Romulus’
In spite ofRidley Scott’sAlienbeing one of the greatest sci-fi horror movies of all time andJames Cameron’sAliensbeing one of the greatest sci-fi action movies of all time, theAlienfranchise has mostly ranged from being a mixed bag to just being downright disappointing for the majority of its life. Things changed in 2024 with the release ofFede Álvarez’sAlien: Romulus, which follows a group of young space colonists scavenging a derelict space station, where they come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.
Cailee Spaeny’s Rain is the pair of eyes that the audience explore this horrifying space station through,and what a formidable protagonist she is. Strong, but emotional; clever and resourceful, but flawed; and her dynamics with each member of her crew, particularlyDavid Jonsson’s Andy, are really compelling. In no small part, she contributes to makingRomulusone ofthe best sci-fi films of 2024.
Alien: Romulus
8Sienna Shaw (Lauren LaVera)
‘Terrifier 3’
2024 was a pretty phenomenal year for final girls, but theTerrifierfranchise’sSienna Shaw is much more than a final girl: She’s a mythical heroinenot too dissimilar in vibes from the iconic Ash Williamsfrom theEvil Deadfilms. InTerrifier 3, it’s been five years since Sienna survived Art the Clown’s Halloween massacre. Still struggling to rebuild her life, she’s horrified when Art returns, determined to turn Miles County’s holiday cheer into a waking nightmare.
Some pretty transparent misogyny was one of the most criticized aspects of the first twoTerrifierfilms — but it seems that the franchise’s creator and director,Damien Leone, has listened to feedback, because that problem is pretty much gone inTerrifier 3. Not just in terms of kills (this truly is one ofthe goriest horror moviesof recent years, toward guys and gals alike), but also in how Sienna is presented. She’s not untouchable and she’s deeply human, which makes her interesting; but she’s also as much of a force of nature as Art is, making her one of 2020s horror’s biggest badasses.
Terrifier 3
7Furiosa (Anya Taylor-Joy)
People were surprised when, after a whopping 30 years of absence, theMad Maxsaga came back bigger, cooler, and more demented than ever withMad Max: Fury Road. They were just as shocked when the movie’s most interesting character turned out to be a newcomer,Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa. As such, a lot of expectations were onFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga’s shoulders, as it told the character’s tragic backstory well before her teamup with Max.
Nobody sawFuriosa’s failure at the box office coming, but that failure doesn’t mean the movie rocks any less. Sure, clocking in at 2-and-a-half hours long, it’s definitely a lengthy action epic, but that time is carefully spentexpanding Furiosa’s character and making her even cooler than she was before.Anya Taylor-Joyslips into the heroine’s boots flawlessly, nailing the physicality and brutality of the action sequences as well as she does the poignancy of the more story-heavy scenes.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
6Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) & Galinda (Ariana Grande)
Broadway has a long-running history of Hollwyood adaptations, andWickedhas joined the ranks of the best musical adaptations of the 21st century. One ofthe most rewatchable films of 2024, it’s about a misunderstood young woman who encounters a popular girl at Shiz University. The two become unexpected friends, but after an encounter with the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their bond reaches a crossroads.
Elphaba, played beautifully by the wickedly talentedCynthia Erivo, and Galinda, played by a shockingly Oscar-nomination-worthyAriana Grande, are two sides of the same coin. As such, they can hardly be considered apart — which is why they, together, are two of the best heroines of 2024 cinema. There’s humor, there’s magical music, there’s one of the best-written duos of last year, and there are tons of emotionally stirring scenes that make these two the iconic pair that they are.
Rent on Apple TV
5Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp)
‘Nosferatu’
1922’sNosferatuis one of themost influential and important horror filmsof all time, a magnificent silent movie that was pretty much lost for a long time as a result of a lawsuit fromBram Stoker’s widow, as it was an unauthorized adaptation ofDracula. Nevertheless, it’s widely available now, and has remained a pillar of pop culture for many years. As such, a remake byRobert Eggerswent into development all the way back in 2015, and it wasn’t until last year that this passion project finally came into fruition.
One of the movie’s biggest improvements over past versions was making Ellen Hutter a much more important character with a lot more agency.
Eggers’s version ofNosferatuboth perfectly captures and beautifully complements the magic of the original, while also paying homage to the likes ofWerner Herzog’sNosferatu the VampyreandDraculaadaptations likeFrancis Ford Coppola’s. One of the movie’s biggest improvements over past versions, however, wasmaking Ellen Hutter a much more important character with a lot more agency and a lot more to do and say. She’s a symbol of the temptations of sin, but she’s also undeniably a heroine. The way she saves the day in the end is one of the most hauntingly beautiful and most artfully macabre scenes of Eggers’s outstanding filmography.
Watch in theaters
4Chani (Zendaya)
‘Dune: Part Two’
For a good amount of time, people thought that it was impossible to turnFrank Herbert’sDuneinto a film that lived up to its quality and legacy. In cameDenis Villeneuveand proved the naysayers epically wrong. His firstDunefilm was good enough, butDune: Part Two, which sees Paul unite with the Fremen to bring his warpath of revenge against the Harkonnens to fruition, may just be one ofthe greatest sci-fi movies of all time.
Anyone with even the smallest trace of media literacy should be able to tell that the whole point of the story is that Paul Atreides is very muchnota hero. So, the biggest change that Villeneuve made in adapting the source material was making Chani (played wonderfully byZendaya) even more prominently the true heroine of Arrakis.She’s the eyes of skepticism through which the audience gets to see Paul’s messianic riseto quasi-tyrannical power, and although not every fan of Herbert’s novel loved these changes made to Chani’s character, it’s hard to deny that it’s still a version of her that’s really, really compelling.
Dune: Part Two
3Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews)
‘Hundreds of Beavers’
One of the biggest surprises of 2024, movie-wise, was the semi-silent indie passion projectHundreds of Beavers. It’s a low-budget comedy about Jean Kayak, a 19th-century applejack salesman who must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper in order to gain the love of a salesman’s daughter, by defeating hundreds of beavers.
It’s one ofthe most perfect movies of 2024,like the Looney Tunes, Charlie Chaplin, and Buster Keaton had a wacky, absolutely hysterical love child. Jean Kayak, played by one of the movie’s screenwriters,Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, is a silent hero every bit as hilarious as even Chaplin’s Tramp. There’s no higher compliment for a comedy movie hero. His arc is also phenomenal, seeing him get cleverer and more formidable as the story goes on. This film is guaranteed to become a cult classic, and Jean Kayak is guaranteed to become even more iconic as time goes on and more people learn aboutHundreds of Beavers.
Hundreds of Beavers
2Roz (Lupita Nyong’o)
‘The Wild Robot’
Another one of 2024’s biggest movie surprises wasDreamWorks Animation proving that they’ve still very much got the sparkwith an adaptation ofPeter Brown’s sci-fi children’s bookThe Wild Robot. It’s the story of Roz, an intelligent robot who gets shipwrecked on an island inhabited only by animals. To survive the harsh environment, she has to bond with them. This leads her to become the caretaker for an orphaned baby goose.
The Wild Robotshines as a love letter to motherhood and Mother Nature, and both of these themes are embodied by Roz, who’s voiced flawlessly byLupita Nyong’o. If this is one ofthe best family movies of 2024— and it is —, that’s largely thanks to just how surprisingly human, emotionally engaging, and delightfully fun its protagonist is. Animated cinema hadn’t gotten a hero this endearing in a long, long time.
The Wild Robot
1Christopher Reeve
‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story’
After he becameSupermanin the 1978 movie of the same name,Christopher Reevewas on top of the world. Then, the world got turned upside down when a horse-riding accident left him quadriplegic in 1995. The tearjerker documentarySuper/Man: The Christopher Reeve Storyfollows the beloved star’s journey from the big screen to the wheelchair, and his unparalleled activism for spinal cord injury treatments and disability rights.
The reason why Christopher Reeve is the best hero of any 2024 movie(and, honestly, it’s not even all that close)is because he was a real-life hero. The documentary,which is absolutely phenomenal, beautifully conveys the idea that true heroism isn’t about flying and shooting lasers out of one’s eyes and turning back time; but about resilience, about strength in the face of tragedy, and about helping people in whatever way one can. Christopher Reeve was one of the most inspiring heroes that have ever stepped foot in Hollywood, and 2024 was the year that showed that to anyone who still wasn’t aware.
