Rhiteek Chatterjee
6. Max Rockatansky – Mad Max (1979 – 2015)
Created by director George Miller, Max Rockatansky is a broken man in the dystopian future. Essayed by Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy, Max roams in the lonely streets where death looms over human civilization; he lost his family to hate and violence. Ever since, he has always been on the move, living day to day, surviving and fighting against the parties which look to destroy the remaining humanity.
Max possesses a commanding skill with firearms and boasts of shot accuracies. However, he is the most famous for “combative driving”. He has a 100% accurate shooting range with one hand while driving with the other. Max boasts of fast reflexes and mechanical and electronics ability. To top it all, Max is literally the ultimate survivor who has survived the apocalypse itself. With all these abilities combined, Max Rockatansky is a threat to the superheroes.
5. Indiana Jones – Indiana Jones (1981-2008)
A tenured professor of archaeology by day and a bullwhipping soldier by night, Indiana Jones is distinguished by his appearance, sense of humour and deep knowledge of many ancient civilizations and languages. Created by Steven Spielberg, the character first appeared in the classic action adventure film ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981).
Donned on by Harrison Ford, Indian Jones has a niche of getting into the most horrendous situations and successfully escaping in the most berserk ways. Ranked as the “second greatest film hero of all time” by the American Film Institute, he is a menace to his enemies. Acting as an homage to the strong-jawed heroes of the matinée serials and pulp magazines, he is the quintessential saviour of the day. The hero boasts of escaping a rampaging boulder, shooting a swordsman in the midst of a Cairo marketplace and chasing a truck full of Nazis, to name a few. Indiana Jones, with his researching exploits, has the capability of manipulating and exploiting the superhero powers for his own use. While he is one of the greatest heroes of all time, it would be quite exciting to see Jones kick some arse and completely batter the life out of several superheroes.
4. John McClane – Die Hard (1988 – 2013)
Eternalising himself as the ultimate badass with his catchphrase “Yippee-ki-yay, motherf*cker”, John McCalne is the unenthusiastic hero who, with little or no assistance from others, is required against his wishes to spoil the ornate evil plans of villains because no one else is in a position to do so.
Portrayed by Bruce Willis, McClane is a border-line unapologetic antihero, a quality which makes him such an entertaining threat. Known for scornful one-liners, McCalne can act as a stomach-churning nuisance to the seemingly intimidating superheroes. A man who smiles at the foot of his death, McClane is distinguished for his incredible survival skills. The sardonic hero is continuously pumping with volcanic adrenaline because of tricky his marital life, job crisis and continual attack from the authority. All these gut-pulling elements merge together to create the battle and combat exploits of Bruce Willis’ John McClane.
3. Ethan Hunt – Mission: Impossible (1996 – 2018)
The IMF agent who shatters the impossible with his brilliance, Ethan Hunt is IMF agent whose survival instincts are continually challenged by seemingly impossible missions.
Essayed by the compelling Tom Cruise over the span of six films, Hunt possesses high intelligence and genius-level intellect. He boasts of humongous physical strength, speed and agility and is an expert in firearm skills. Complementing these abilities is his talents performing the most dangerous and ludicrous stunts to procure his goal. His abilities also morph as per the requirements. Hunt is a master of disguises, stealth and espionage tactics, and enjoys a range of combat techniques, varying from Capoeira, the Keysi fighting method and the Filipino martial arts. He is supplied with state-of-the-art technology and as a result, poses a great threat to superheroes.
2. James Bond – James Bond (1962 – 2015)
James Bond isn’t a marvellous combater. James Bond body isn’t carved by the Greek Gods. James Bond does not boast of intricate shooting skills. However, in the universe of James Bond, there is only one winner, and that is Bond himself. Known by his code number, 007, Bond has the license to kill, with no holds barred. As described earlier, Bond isn’t like any of the other characters on this list. He is charming if course, with a classy preference of vodka martini, but does not possess the brute skills of taking down a superhuman.
However, if history is a proof, the British Secret Service Agent teams of hi-tech gadgets and appliances which can seemingly take down any adversary, be it the steel teethed Jaws in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ (1977), the former KGB agent Victor “Renard” Zokas, who is impervious to any pain in ‘The World Is Not Enough’ (1999), or the greed-driven Le Chiffre in ‘Casino Royale’ (2006) – he is inexplicably the better man. With Bond’s miraculous survival skills and a limitless supply of hi-tech gadgets, James Bond is certainly a worthy opponent to challenge superheroes.
1. Jason Bourne – Bourne (2002 -2016)
Created by American novelist Robert Ludlum and incarnated by actors Matt Damon and Richard Chamberlain, Jason Bourne holds a distortive authority over character psychology and is crafty with combat. A part of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Foreign Service, the Force Reconnaissance and Delta Force, Bourne can merge into the crowd in a whiff. With Bourne set up against a superhero, there is much to anticipate. The tough guy can create an intricate pattern of illusions which the superhero can easily fall into.
While he is a brilliant match for characters such as Batman, Daredevil or Rorschach, the question is whether he can challenge the ones with terrifying powers? Bourne, as we have seen in the ‘Jason Bourne’ quadrilogy has the ability to crack weakness and exploit it to its best potential. So, with his intellect, Bourne can take down the humongous heroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman or The Hulk, by formulating an action plan based on their characteristic weaknesses.
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