Many times, a top-flight superhero film is only as good as the paternal figures at play within the narrative. Whether as the guiding light of the reluctant savior-to-be or sometimes the heroes themselves - father figures as portrayed in the genre can make big-budged, city-smashing event films hit close to home with any audience.
The following examples are the best dads that the Spider-Man's Uncle Ben, who are not technically fathers, but great dads nonetheless.
Howard Stark (Avengers: Endgame)
Does anything beat Tony Stark's brief but poignant interaction with the 1970s version of his father in the culmination of the MCU's third phase?
Not according to noted comic-book die-hards, like cult indie filmmaker Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats), just one of many fans who went online to thank The Russo Brothers for giving them the chance to see their own late, faded or long-misunderstood fathers in a light they had never seen them in before.
Clint Barton (Age Of Ultron, Avengers: Endgame)
When Hawkeye lost his pack by way of Thanos' snap in the Endgame teaser, fans equally lost their minds. Knowing the renegade hero for years on end at that point, it was uniformly expected he'd take the loss hard, surely a testament to the innate fatherhood instincts in anyone.
Just as expected was his ascension from the underworld Ronin ashes to trusted team-player again, all in the pursuit of salvaging his identity - not as Hawkeye, but as the Barton patriarch.
Damon Macready (Kick-Ass)
Nicolas Cage's Damon Macready/"Big Daddy" takes the "requiem for an ex-cop" trope to the absolute extreme by transforming his daughter (Chloë Grace Moretz) into the ruthless vigilante, Hit-Girl.
The father/daughter pair's perfectly-timed entrance saves Aaron Taylor-Johnson's title character from certain harm. When this briefly inspires him to hang up the cape, the mean street warriors swoop in again to encourage him to keep going - never straying from their path of vengeance against the mobster who framed the elder Macready.
Scott Lang (Ant-Man And The Wasp)
While fans await Ant-Man 3, they welcome the opportunity to view the first two movies in the franchise on Disney+ as a reminder that, as the petty criminal matured into the titular hero, his motives became more global yet still were able to intensify on the homefront.
Proving that the ultimate fatherly redemption can be had by way of putting one's best foot (albeit miniature, in his case) forward, Lang began to set the example for Cassie that seemingly no one had set for Lang until he stumbled upon the suit.
David Dunn (Unbreakable)
Though his story came to its end in Glass (2019), director M. Night Shyamalan's surprise tie-in/universe team-up with Split (2016), security guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis) shined bright throughout Unbreakable, the und superhero film that gave the first X-Men film a run for its money in the year 2000.
The lone survivor of a derailed train accident, Dunn quickly learns he's indestructible - a revelation that saves his household and kicks his protective instincts into premonition-clad overdrive.
Tim Avery (Son Of The Mask)
Let your superpowered infant son watch cartoons while the wife is out of town, and he won't forget your face nor your kindness when the God of Mischief asks for him to choose between you and him in the end.
Its lone downfall being a sequel to a Jim Carrey film that does not star Jim Carrey, Son of the Mask is a wholly underrated work capable of standing on its own two feet. Carrying the film on his back was Jamie Kennedy, who delivered a comedic and touching performance as Tim Avery during his days as a leading man (that should have lasted longer).
Bob Parr (The Incredibles)
The head of the house that every family deserves, Bob Parr's desire to burst out of suburbia lands his superpowered pack in the crosshairs with a big-time villain.
Yet his well-intended nature confirms that Mr. Incredible is a leader-by-example who advocates for his family to never back down from the chance to help someone in need, nor to renege on a fight they know they can win if they stick together.
Jonathan Kent (Man Of Steel)
Clark's adoptive Earthly father sacrifices his life in a tornado storm Man of Steel flashback, waving off a desperate-to-swoop-in-and-save-him teenage Clark to protect his innocence and superpowers.
Years later, such an act still s with both Clark and his Superman half - who are equally moved by the fact a simple Smallville farmer could have correctly predicted what the young man he raised from another world was to become.
Tony Stark (Avengers: Endgame)
"I love you 3000." Raising his daughter, Morgan, taught Tony he was a father all along. And reing the Avengers to take one last crack at stopping Thanos shows him he wasn't just a father to his daughter, but to an entire world that can only function so long as they know he gave it his all in their name.
Give it his all, Tony did - if the closing scenes of his Endgame arc are any indication.
Jor-El (Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut)
Fans may have had to wait for nearly 30 years, but accusations and evidence of diva behavior aside, the shelved cut of Superman II proves that more Brando is never a bad thing.
Intimately expanding upon the multi-Oscar winner's performance in the first film of the four-part franchise, Brando's Jor-El re-emerges in his artificial intelligence capacity within the Fortress of Solitude. Even post-mortem, he solidifies himself as the otherworldly necessity in Clark's/Superman's spiritual molding.
