The 5 Best Michael B. Jordan Movies, Ranked
The actor has accomplished a lot over the course of his 20+ year career The post The 5 Best Michael B. Jordan Movies, Ranked appeared first on TheWrap.
Michael B. Jordan has returned to movie theater screens this week with “Sinners,” the new movie from “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler. Jordan stars in the film as Smoke and Stack, a pair of twin brothers who find themselves fending off a vampire attack one unlucky night. His dual roles in “Sinners” represent yet another instance of Jordan testing his limits onscreen. That’s not surprising to see from an actor who has already pushed himself to try on the roles of action hero, inspirational real-life figure and even director in recent years.
Jordan has, in other words, accomplished a lot over the course of his 20+ year career. Here are the five best films he has starred in, ranked.
5. “Chronicle” (2012)
An oft-forgotten entry in the superhero boom of the 2010s, “Chronicle” is director Josh Trank’s found-footage riff on a traditional superhero origin story. It follows three high school friends (played by Michael B. Jordan, Dane DeHaan and Alex Russell) who develop telekinetic powers after stumbling upon a strange crystal. As their powers grow stronger, things take a dark turn when DeHaan’s abused outcast Andrew starts to use his abilities to violently lash out at the world.
Drawing influence from genre films like “Carrie” and “Akira,” “Chronicle” reaches increasingly operatic, dark places in its third act. Along the way, Jordan makes a striking impression as Steve Montgomery, a kind-hearted athlete who never stops trying — even when it puts him in danger — to help his friends. Jordan and Trank’s follow-up collaboration, 2015’s “Fantastic Four,” famously didn’t work, but “Chronicle” still hits with surprising force.
4. “Black Panther” (2018)
“Black Panther” is one of five films that Jordan has made with writer-director Ryan Coogler. Rather than re-teaming with Coogler to play another hero like he did in “Creed,” though, Jordan assumed a more antagonistic role in 2018’s “Black Panther.” The actor nearly walks away with the Marvel-produced superhero film, thanks to his intense, unsurprisingly charismatic turn as Erik Killmonger, the half-brother of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), who comes to the African nation of Wakanda with violence and vendettas on his mind.
“Black Panther” quickly became a sensation when it was released, and it is still widely considered — for good reason — one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s best films. That is due in no small part to Jordan’s fiery performance as Killmonger, which communicates the character’s rage and sorrow so effectively that “Black Panther” is able to actually strike in its third act the kind of surprisingly profound notes of tragedy and catharsis that are still rare to see in the superhero genre.
3. “Sinners” (2025)
Jordan’s fifth film with Coogler, “Sinners,” is an explosive, rip-roaring vampire thriller. Overflowing with compelling performances, images and themes, it ranks as Coogler’s boldest and most ambitious film to date. It also relies almost entirely on the power of Jordan’s performances as its leads, Smoke and Stack, identical twin brothers with entirely different demeanors and approaches to life. Fortunately, Jordan makes you believe completely in both characters.
His performances pair seamlessly together — proving that he is capable of holding your attention whether he is playing a fast-talking charmer like Stack or a quieter, unbending anti-hero like Smoke. Both Coogler and Jordan take big creative swings throughout the film, and both find similar success. “Sinners” could only have been made by them, and that is what makes it so invigorating and so unique. It is a film crafted by an actor and a director who have not only reached the top of their respective games but done so together.
2. “Fruitvale Station” (2013)
A dramatization of the events surrounding the 2009 police killing of a young Black man, “Fruitvale Station” is the first collaboration between Jordan and Coogler. Released in 2013, the moving drama did not just kickstart one of the most exciting actor-director partnerships of the past 20 years, either. It also announced Jordan and Coogler as two formidable, promising artistic voices.
In the 12 years since then, Jordan and Coogler have more than lived up to the potential they showed in “Fruitvale Station,” and the film remains one of the greatest achievements of both of their careers to date. It is a drama made with confidence and clear artistic purpose, and it is powered by a spell-binding, heart-wrenching lead performance by Jordan. He isn’t just one of the most successful movie stars of his generation. “Fruitvale Station” proves that — when given the opportunity to show his range onscreen — he also has the capacity to be one of its best actors.
1. “Creed” (2015)
It is not an easy thing — successfully rebooting a franchise as iconic and popular as the “Rocky” series. That is exactly that Coogler and Jordan did, though, when they followed up their collaboration on “Fruitvale Station” with “Creed.” A “Rocky” spin-off centered around Adonis Creed (Jordan), the young, ambitious son of Carl Weathers’ Apollo, Coogler’s 2015 blockbuster is a rare kind of Hollywood magic trick. It is an ingenious bit of IP revival that never feels anything other than completely sincere.
Behind the camera, Coogler remixes the underdog boxing story that “Rocky” created as a young man’s journey toward coming to terms with his father’s legacy, and the result is a sports drama that is thrilling and moving in equal measure. At the center of it all is Jordan, who delivers a lead performance as Adonis that cemented him as a Movie Star 10 years ago and still feels just as revelatory a decade later.
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