Written By: Nick Poulimenakos

The superhero genre is at an all-time high right now. What started as one to two comic book films year has evolved into a minimum of at least five film per year thanks to the amount of studios trying to claim a spot in the ever-growing genre. 2017 has already seen the release of The Lego Batman Movie, Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Wonder Woman and Spider-Man: Homecoming, all of which have been some of the best the genre has ever seen. Even with the year not being over yet, I thought it would be a swell time to count down the best comic book movie moments of the year so far. So, without further-a-do, here are Talkies Network’s picks for the ten best comic book movie moments of 2017… so far!

Diana eats Ice Cream for the First Time

Wonder Woman (aka the best DCEU film) continues to break records as of this writing thanks to its incredible action, story and music but one thing that surprised many fans when the film premiered was its great use of humor. In a shared universe that is known for its darker tone, Wonder Woman gave the franchise some much needed levity and one scene in particular perfectly showcases this. When Diana and Steve Trevor decide to leave for the Great War, they walk through a crowded train station to meet with their crew. Along the way Diana stops for an ice cream cone, something she has never seen or tried before. Her response to the cold treat was not only funny, but also displayed Diana’s more endearing and naïve side as she eats something so commonly known in man’s world. As she compliments the vendor by saying “this is wonderful, you should be very proud,” you are captivated by how simple and entertaining ice cream can really be. What’s even funnier is Steve watching the whole thing and just laughing knowing full well that Diana is genuinely shocked that ice cream tastes that good.

Spider-Man vs. Vulture

Spider-Man: Homecoming has quite a few entertaining action scenes but the one that really sticks out in our minds is the final battle between Adrian Toomes/Vulture and Peter Parker in his makeshift version of the spider suit. Vulture decides to leave the criminal life but takes on one more heist. He plans on robbing Tony Stark’s jet carrying both alien technology and Avengers gear. Standing in his way is the young Peter Parker who recently lost his Stark created suit as a result of his recklessness. What makes this fight so exciting is the fact that it was kept on such a small scale. Now, the stakes were indeed high, but not on a world ending level. Then we have the actual action set piece, which includes Spider-Man and Vulture fighting in the air while the Stark jet is flying, Spider-Man literally steering the jet with his webs from the wing, and an incredible one-on-one fight on the Jersey Shore. And the best part? As Vulture and his broken down suit try to escape the scene, the suit explodes and Spider-Man saves the man who tried to end him. A fantastic finish to a fantastic action sequence.

The End of Wolverine

I’ve said it a few times on this site that Logan is my favourite superhero movie. One of the reasons why was because of the absolutely phenomenal performance by Hugh Jackman as the titular mutant. The third act of the film has Logan bulldozing through multiple Transigen soldiers as he tries to save the mutant children. When Logan becomes more and more injured, Transigen releases their ultimate weapon, X-24, a feral clone of Logan and the two enter into an all-out brawl which ends with X-24 impaling Logan on a large piece of a tree. When Laura shoots the clone, killing him, Logan takes Laura’s hand, pleading that she doesn’t become what Transigen made her to be. In a truly heartbreaking but emotionally fitting moment, Logan finally dies and the children hold a funeral for him. After Laura recites a scene from the film Shane, she plants an X in front of Logan’s grave, remembering him as the last of the X-Men. The scene brought tears to most of the audience that night and for a good reason. Watching Logan finally feel what it is like to die, effectively ending his life long suffering, was a bittersweet moment. On one hand, my favourite mutant is gone forever, but Hugh Jackman’s powerhouse performance makes you truly care for Logan, and realize that he is the hero the children thought him to be.

Batman Sings and Defeats his Enemies

The Lego Batman Movie was the first comic book film to premiere in 2017 and damn it did not disappoint. Will Arnett as the Caped Crusader is one of cinema’s greatest gifts and the best moment from the film actually comes in the beginning. When The Joker announces his plan to take over Gotham City with a barrage of other villains, Batman arrives and decides that it would be a great time to defeat his enemies… while singing a totally kickass song. I never thought I’d want Batman signing but Will Arnett completely changed that. Not only was the actual action exciting, the song Batman sings was undeniably hilarious. “Who doesn’t pay their taxes? BATMAN!” As Batman continues to sing his own praises (literally), Joker takes matters into his own hands and fights Batman head on. The hysterical scene then turns quite dark as Batman professes how his life was made to be lonely and that no one, not even The Joker, matters to him. A somber end to a laugh-out-loud set piece that further proves what The Lego Batman Movie is among the caped crusader’s best silver screen outings.

The Battle of Themyscira

Remember when I said Wonder Woman was the best DCEU film? Well here’s another reason why. The first act of the film takes place entirely on the Amazonian home world of Themyscira which is where Diana meets Steve Trevor for the first time. We then see that Steve was actually followed by German soldiers and what follows is battle between the soldiers and the fiercest warriors on Earth. It’s the viewer’s first taste at how badass the Amazons truly are and the German’s had no idea what they were in for. Leading the charge is Diana’s mother and aunt, Hippolyta and Antiope, and the women of the island obliterate the German army. As Rupert Gregson-Williams’ thunderous score plays in the background, fans got to witness Diana and her fellow warriors flip through the skies, ride on horses and defend their home from man. And finally, I must commend the woman behind this breathtaking sequence, Patty Jenkins. If Wonder Woman did anything, it proved that Jenkins really knows how to direct action.

X-23 Unleashed

Logan is a film about the struggles of an old mutant as he tries to live in a broken and scarred world and take care of his mentor. Along the way, he gets a thorn in his side in the form of a daughter, Laura. The young mutant stowed away in Logan’s car but unfortunately, this attracts the attention of Donald Pierce and his Transigen Reavers. Despite Charles pressing that she isn’t a normal child, Logan continues to believe that she is nothing special. Well, Laura proved him wrong. When Pierce sends in a soldier to collect Laura, she exits the building with his head and proceeds to extend her adamantium claws and viciously kill several soldiers. One by one, another soldier gets stabbed, sliced and sliced again. And how do you top all that off? Having Wolverine extend his claws and start killing his way to get to Charles. Watching the Adamantium infused mutants violently kill all these men was one of the most entertaining points of the film as it showed that the writers and director use the gift of the R-rating to its fullest extent. Please Fox, I beg you, bring Dafne Keen and X-23 into future X-Men films.

A Tense Car Ride to the Homecoming Dance

The single greatest moment in Spider-Man: Homecoming and it doesn’t even involve any costumes or action. When Peter asks his long-time crush, Liz Allan, to the Homecoming dance, they agree to meet at Liz’s house and then head on over to the school. Peter knocks on the door and, to his unbelievable surprise, Adrian Toomes (aka The Vulture) answers the door saying he’s Liz’s dad and that he’ll be driving them to the dance. What follows is one of the tensest cinematic moments of 2017. The young Peter sits in the back of the car as Liz unknowingly keeps dropping hints to the fact that Peter is actually Spider-Man. Adrian pieces together the puzzle and, when Liz walks into the dance, keeps Peter in the car at gunpoint, threating him by saying that if he tries to interfere with his last heist, he’ll kill him and everyone he loves. With Peter just being a kid, you can tell that the fear in his eyes in completely sincere. He’s sitting helplessly as Vulture threatens his very livelihood. Aren’t you so glad that Spider-Man is back at Marvel?

Yondu’s Sacrifice

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 makes its first appearance on our list and it’s a big one. Vol. 2 may not have been as fresh as the original but the one thing it did right was expand the character of Yondu, played by Michael Rooker. With Peter Quill and his father, Ego, locked in a battle that determines the fate of the galaxy, Yondu convinces Rocket to let him stay behind to help Quill. When Ego is defeated, Yondu flies in to save the hero from the exploding planet and apologizes to Peter for not being the father that he should have been. He then gives Peter the only breathing suit and flies into space. We then watch as Peter hopelessly tires to save his surrogate father as Yondu dies before his eyes. Peter finally realizes that Yondu was the father he had always been searching for and thanks him. It’s a simple scene but a heartfelt and impactful one as it demonstrated that the MCU does indeed have consequences for its characters. On top of that, Michael Rooker once again proved that he delivers one of the best performances in the entire MCU. Add in Tyler Bates’ incredible composition, appropriately titled Dad, and you’ve got one of the best Marvel sequences ever.

No Man’s Land

Arguably the greatest sequence in the entire DCEU and one of the best DC sequences period, we have the reveal of the greatest female superhero. As Diana and her company arrive at no man’s land, she realizes the atrocities being committed by the German army and decides that its time to take action. She dons the Wonder Woman suit and enters the battlefield, deflecting incoming bullets from the enemy. Steve Trevor and the rest of the soldiers follow Diana as she makes her away across the desolate area. Here’s the thing though, this isn’t even the best part. That comes when Diana, Steve the rest of the crew enter into an occupied town and Diana begins to take on everyone in sight. She enters a building where enemy forces lie and, with one intense stare, already has them beat. Hans Zimmer’s Wonder Woman theme begins to play and the action begins. Wonder Woman leaps across the room destroying every soldier in the room with her shield and sheer strength. To put it into perspective, the entire theatre began cheering like crazy. If that doesn’t explain why this set piece deserved a spot on this list, I don’t know what will.

Berserker Rage Logan

With Wolverine being my favourite superhero, this was a moment that I had been looking forward too for a long time. Bias aside, this is without a doubt, the best comic book movie moment of the year so far. Logan see’s the mutant children being hunted by Transigen and it’s finally time for him to unleash his claws on last time. The film cuts to Laura about to singlehandedly take on several soldiers when she hears it, a loud, vicious yell from a distance. We then cut to Wolverine running through the forest as the music picks up and he begins to brutally slice his way through Transigen goons. It’s a truly bloody sequence as Wolverine embraces his berserker rage in an attempt to save the new generation of mutants. Once again however, the best is yet to come. Wolverine see’s Laura and the father/daughter duo team up to ferociously kill every soldier around. Throughout every X-Men film, fans have waited for an unhinged Wolverine and thanks to Logan, we finally got to witness Hugh Jackman growling and clawing everyone. It’s a moment that will be remembered for years to come and is our pick for the greatest comic book movie moment of the year… so far.

That’s our list! Did we miss your favourite moment? Let us know in the comments and on social media!