Photos: Badass women on screen Buffy Summers, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar, was vampires' worst nightmare in the beloved TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." Hide Caption 1 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Brie Larson is set to star as Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel in the forthcoming "Captain Marvel" film due in theaters in 2019. She will join a group of kick ass women in superhero and sci-fi films which include.... Hide Caption 2 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman first made an appearance in the 2016 film "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Her 2017 solo movie broke a box-office record for most money made by a film directed by a woman on its opening weekend. Hide Caption 3 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Charlize Theron kicked butt and looked fabulous while doing it as an undercover MI6 agent in "Atomic Blonde." She was strong, smart and beyond fierce in the role. Hide Caption 4 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Daisy Ridley portrays Rey, a young scavenger on the desert planet of Jakku in "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens." Hide Caption 5 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Former "Glee" star Melissa Benoist (also seen in the Oscar-nominated "Whiplash") plays Supergirl in the CBS series of the same name. Hide Caption 6 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Blasting her way out of the Death Star, we knew fairly quickly that Leia was not one to be trifled with in the "Star Wars" films. Carrie Fisher played the role. Hide Caption 7 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Krysten Ritter stars as "Jessica Jones" in the Netflix series based on Marvel Comics' "Alias," about a semi-retired superhero-turned-private eye. Hide Caption 8 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Jennifer Lawrence is back as archer and freedom fighter Katniss Everdeen in "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1" and coming soon, the final film, "Part 2." Hide Caption 9 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Zoe Saldana stars in not one but three major sci-fi movie franchises. She's Lt. Nyota Uhura in the rebooted "Star Trek" movies, stars as former assassin Gamora in the Marvel hit "Guardians of the Galaxy" and is Neytiri in "Avatar" and its planned sequels. Hide Caption 10 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Nichelle Nichols played Lt. Uhura, the communications officer on the Starship Enterprise, in the original "Star Trek" TV series and films. In the recent movie reboots, her role was played by Zoe Saldana. Hide Caption 11 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Margot Robbie portrayed Batman villain (and the Joker's paramour) Harley Quinn in the eagerly awaited film "Suicide Squad." Hide Caption 12 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Set in the post-World War II years, the new series "Marvel's Agent Carter" follows the continuing adventures of Peggy Carter, after the presumed death of her boyfriend Steve Rogers (a.k.a. Captain America). Hide Caption 13 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Scarlett Johansson stole the movie in her first scene in "The Avengers" -- not an easy thing to do. Black Widow was pretty kickass in the film. Hide Caption 14 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen "Lucy" seems to have boosted Johansson's action movie cred. The actress is reportedly starring in the live-action remake of "Ghost In The Shell." Hide Caption 15 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Lucy Lawless found fame on TV as the force of nature that was "Xena, Warrior Princess." Hide Caption 16 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Sigourney Weaver faced off with aliens not once, but four times in the "Alien" films and became the very model of the modern sci-fi heroine. Hide Caption 17 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Linda Hamilton (pictured) was the best known Sarah, but Emilia Clarke took on the Terminator in the 2015 reboot. Hide Caption 18 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Carrie-Anne Moss' Trinity was the first main character we saw in the "Matrix" and immediately, we were hooked. Hide Caption 19 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Tatiana Maslany's "clone club" brings new meaning to the term "girl power" on the critically-acclaimed BBC America series "Orphan Black." Maslany plays Sarah Manning on the show. Hide Caption 20 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen She may not have "wanted to believe" like her partner Fox Mulder, but Gillian Anderson as Scully on "The X-Files" was one of the best sci-fi characters of the past 20 years. Hide Caption 21 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen It's hard to choose a favorite Lois as there's been so many over the years, but we'll go with Margot Kidder's tough as nails reporter from the Christopher Reeve "Superman" movie series. Hide Caption 22 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen They switched genders on us with this character in the 2000s reboot, and casting Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck in "Battlestar Galactica" was a stroke of genius. Hide Caption 23 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen We didn't even see her face but when she used her katana to slice through zombies at the end of season two, we knew we really liked Michonne, actress Danai Gurira, from "The Walking Dead" right away. Hide Caption 24 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Emma Watson's Hermione Granger in the "Harry Potter" movies always knew just the right spell to get out of any situation. Hide Caption 25 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen We'd rather not remember Halle Berry's take on the seductive thief, Catwoman, but Julie Newmar, Eartha Kitt, Lee Meriwether and Anne Hathaway were all splendid in the role. But for our money, Michelle Pfeiffer (pictured) in "Batman Returns" is the Catwoman to beat. Hide Caption 26 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Leela, the pilot of the Planet Express ship, often acts as the voice of reason between Fry, Professor Farnsworth and the others in her crew on "Futurama." Katey Sagal is the voice of Leela. Hide Caption 27 of 29

Photos: Badass women on screen Emilia Clarke's Daenerys Targaryen from "Game of Thrones" is so tough that she will literally walk through fire. Hide Caption 28 of 29