Top 20 Epic Final Battles in Superhero Movies

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (1990)
Before their showdown with Shredder, the Turtles take on his Foot Clan. They are easily able to take on the Clan with plenty of time to make jokes and be silly. It’s all underpinned with an upbeat soundtrack. When Shredder arrives, things get serious. It’s clear that playtime is over as he's able to take out the Turtles without breaking a sweat. Even when they regroup and try again, they’re just no match for him. It’s only when Splinter shows up that Shredder falters. He recklessly charges at Splinter and falls to his doom.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022)
It's an all out war between Wakanda and Talokan and Shuri has a plan to defeat Namor. She traps him in a transport ship in an attempt to dry him out in order to weaken him. He’s able to break free and the pair land on a desert island. They engage in hand to hand combat and Shuri’s able to seriously hamper Namor by damaging his wings, preventing him from flying. Namor appears to be the victor when imaples her with a spear. With tremendous resolve, she’s able to recover and defeat Namor.

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016)
Although the marquee matchup is supposed to be between Bats and Supes, the final battle involves them, joined by Wonder Woman, to take on Doomsday. The trio waste no time in launching attacks at the creature. Even though they manage to land a number of devastating blows, nothing seems to work. It isn’t until Superman pierces Doomsday with the kryptonite spear any damage is even done. Unfortunately, because of his proximity to the green stone, this weakens Superman to the point that Doomsday is able to deal a lethal strike. It’s a somber end to a frantic and desperate battle.

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (2023)
This isn’t a drawn out fight scene set to music with cool camera work and edits, that happens a bit earlier in the film and it's definitely awesome. Here, the Guardians are freeing all those held captive on the High Evolutionary’s ship. Rocket finds a bunch of animal test subjects but before he can rescue them, he’s confronted by the High Evolutionary. It looks like it’s going to be a one v. one but Rocket’s joined by the other Guardians and the High Evolutionary soon finds out, you mess with one, you mess with them all. They make quick work of him, showing how far they’ve come as a team.

“X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014)
In an effort to stop the Sentinel program from wiping out mutants in the future, Wolverine’s consciousness is sent back in time to the 1973 version of himself. The final showdown happens in Washington D.C. when Magneto decides to attack. He does so in an awe inducing manner as he transports RFK Stadium through the air and uses it as a barricade. Wolverine and Beast are unable to stop him but it’s actually Mystique who’s able to put a stop to Magneto. These events in the past are intercut with the Sentinels attacking and eliminating the X-Men in the future. It’s a thrilling sequence that will leave you in suspense until it's over.

“Deadpool” (2016)
Finally Deadpool is able to take on the man responsible for his transformation. Before we can get to the main course, he has to fight his way through some of Ajax’s henchmen, which he does with relative ease. When he finally gets to Ajax, their battle is brutal which isn’t unexpected given the movie is R-rated and Deadpool has a healing factor while Ajax is immune to pain. Deadpool also does his usual schtick and gets in a few verbal punches. Just when it looks like Ajax has the upperhand, Vanessa steps in to save the day.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” (2021)
Combining three generations of Spider-Men into one all out brawl is a marvel to watch unfold. The three Peter Parkers team up to take on the villains, Electro, Lizard and Sandman. At first, the Peters are disorganized, giving their opponents the upperhand. After a quick regrouping, they take a coordinated approach and work towards taking each villain down separately. It’s great to see both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield back in action and they both get a moment to shine during the showdown. An added bonus is the humor throughout, especially the interactions between all three Peters, taking this fight to a whole other level.

“Blade” (1998)
In the final duel between these two, it looks like Blade has met his match. After a brief sword fight, it appears as though Blade is the victor as he’s able to slice up Frost pretty good. However, Frost has already received the power of La Magra and he’s able to heal himself. From this point on, he’s able to overpower Blade. Realizing he’s outmatched, the vampire hunter is able to inject Frost with vials of EDTA causing him to grotesquely swell and explode. It’s fast paced action capped with a badass line from Blade.

“The Suicide Squad” (2021)
We didn’t think a giant starfish would make for a compelling battle but here we are. Unfortunately for Starro, he was captured and experimented on by the US government on the island nation of Corto Maltese. When the alien manages to break free, it is not happy and begins to possess the local population with mini versions of itself. Against the protests of Amanda Waller, the squad decides to stay and fight. Even though they’re technically the bad guys, they turn on the heroics and come together as a team to take down Starro.

“Avengers: Endgame” (2019)
Quite literally, the fate of the universe hangs in the balance during this battle against the Mad Titan. Thor, Iron Man and Captain America, face off against Thanos to prevent him acquiring all of the Infinity Stones. They know what will happen if he gets his way and they aren’t too keen on seeing him victorious again. There’s a lot going on during the battle but it never becomes confusing. The highlight of the fight is when everyone comes back from the Blip and all the Avengers assemble. Coupled with Iron Man’s snap, there isn’t a single dull moment.

“The Dark Knight Rises” (2012)
After being defeated squarely by Bane in their first encounter, Batman returns to Gotham City to free it from his new adversary’s reign of terror and even the score. Taking place amidst a war between Gotham’s finest and an army of freed criminals, Batman and Bane’s second fight ups the ante in terms of scale and symbolism. While Bane controls the action early in a brutal fashion, which echoes his previous victory, Batman displays tremendous resiliency and determination, which swings the fight in his favor. After damaging Bane’s mask sends him into a wild frenzy, Batman capitalizes on his opponent’s carelessness and beats him into submission.

“The Incredibles” (2004)
While Syndrome’s mechanical monster was seemingly destroyed after its first battle against Mr. Incredible, the Omnidroid returns as a part of the villain’s maniacal scheme to portray himself as a hero. But when Syndrome’s plans go awry, it’s up to the Incredibles to bring down the Omnidroid. With some help from Frozone, each member of the family uses their powers in a semi-coordinated effort to bring the robot down. Juxtaposed with some more light-hearted family dysfunction over how to use Syndrome’s remote, the heroes ultimately synchronize a winning strategy using the Omnidroid’s severed claw to annihilate it.

“The Incredible Hulk” (2008)
A bonafide monster mash-up, the highlight of Hulk’s second feature-film sees him go toe-to-toe with his archrival, Abomination, for the first time on the big screen. Beginning with a monstrous collision befitting two raging bulls, Hulk takes to using a crushed police car as a pair of boxing gloves to pummel Abomination into the ground. The tide turns when the malevolent monster uses his superior hand-to-hand skills to corner the Jade Giant, but once Hulk sees his beloved Betty Ross is in danger, his rage swells and Hulk utters his famous catchphrase for the first time before choking out Abomination with a massive chain.

“Ant-Man” (2015)
Although this final battle may give up plenty of scale and destruction to its contemporaries, the climactic clash between Ant-Man and Yellowjacket perfectly encapsulates the film’s balancing act of light-hearted humor and adrenaline-fuelled action. When Yellowjacket tries to use his daughter as bait, Ant-Man engages his nemesis in perhaps the most unique battleground in a superhero film to date: a children’s train set. The fight makes the most of the combatants’ diminutive surroundings as well as injecting a dose of tongue-in-cheek comedy through contrasting the combat from both Ant-Man and his daughter’s perspective. Mixing classic superhero action with a cartoonish sense of fun, this clash of tiny titans demonstrates that size doesn’t matter when it comes to classic Marvel action.

“Thor: The Dark World” (2013)
A battle of truly cosmic proportions, Thor and Malekith’s final clash in “Thor: The Dark World” makes the most of the film’s wildcard: interdimensional portals. What begins as a duel between Malekith’s dark magic and Thor’s lightning quickly evolves into an interdimensional conflict as the god of thunder and the dark elf wage war on one another through numerous portals between the realms. Despite the dreary apocalyptic tone that the film possesses, Thor and Malekith’s battle also manages to include a healthy amount of trademark Marvel humor in between portal trips. As the end of the world looms on the horizon, Thor manages to stop Malekith by transporting him back to Svartalfheim with the help of Jane Foster.

“Spider-Man” (2002)
Spider-Man’s first big screen grudge match is bloody, violent, and pulls no punches. Up against his archrival, the Green Goblin, right off the bat we are given an idea of how dangerous Gobby is thanks to a slow-motion shot of one of his exploding pumpkin bombs. Spidey then proceeds to take quite the ass-kicking from his emerald adversary until Green Goblin makes the fatal mistake of threatening Mary Jane. This gives Spider-Man a second wind as he uses his enhanced reflexes, superhuman strength and webbing to gain the upper hand, corner the Goblin and unleashing his anger in a ferocious onslaught that forces the unmasked Norman Osborn to yield… until he impales himself with his own glider.

“Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014)
Beginning with a stunning starship battle that would make George Lucas proud, the final battle in “Guardians of the Galaxy” has a little something for everyone. Whether it’s an awe-inspiring dog fight between warring spaceships, Gamora and Nebula’s duel to the death, or Drax, Star-Lord, and Groot opening up a can of whoop-ass on Korath’s forces, the film’s final battle serves up the epic in multiple helpings. However, once it comes down to just the Guardians and Ronan the Accuser, the conflict takes a more musical tone. Luckily for the Guardians, this throws Ronan off of his game long enough for Star-Lord to grab the Infinity Stone and share its power with his teammates in order to destroy the baddie.

"The Avengers” (2012)
A cinematic milestone by virtue of the number of collective on-screen superheroes alone, the final conflict of “The Avengers” is undoubtedly a dream come true for comic book fans worldwide and a dazzling experience for moviegoers. Showcasing the individual strengths of each Avenger as they dismantle the Chitauri invasion, Loki’s alien army is repelled by the combined forces of Hawkeye’s deadly arrows, Black Widow’s combat mastery, Iron Man’ firepower, the Hulk’s savagery, Cap’s trusty shield, and mighty Mjolnir in the hands of Thor. To top it all off, we are treated to a brief, but unforgettable, scrap between Loki and the Hulk, which does not end well at all for the god of mischief.

“Man of Steel” (2013)
A battle between demi-gods in the heart of Metropolis, the final battle in “Man of Steel” showcases the incredible powers wielded by Kryptonians under Earth’s sun. With General Zod thirsty for vengeance after his dreams of recreating Krypton on Earth are dashed, Superman faces his greatest challenge in the form of an opponent who not only possesses the same powers, but is also a trained warrior. Despite being outmatched in terms of skill and experience, Superman holds his own against Zod in a fight that spans Earth and sky. When Zod tries to kill some innocent bystanders with his heat vision, Superman is faced with a life-or-death decision and snaps Zod’s neck to bring the battle to a climactic conclusion.

“Captain America: Civil War” (2016)
By far the most emotionally-charged battle on this list, Captain America and Winter Soldier’s battle against an enraged Iron Man in the climax of “Civil War” is a point of no return that oozes tension until the inevitable eruption. With Captain America fighting to defend his best friend and Iron Man fighting to contain major spoilers, the conflict is made all the more gut-wrenching because both sides have grounds for sympathy. As Winter Soldier and Cap fight like a tag team and Iron Man struggles to hold off the two super soldiers, it becomes clear that this is a fight where no one truly wins and everyone loses something.