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Christopher Reeve as Superman. Just a wonderful performance of a character that has proven almost impossible to pull off.
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Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. A perfect casting choice.
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Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man.
A lot of agreement in this thread.
No doubt. There can be plenty of disagreement about the others, but no one has been able to take over the role of the Lone Ranger. Even when he wasn’t allowed to wear the mask anymore Moore was instantly recognized as the Lone Ranger wearing just sunglasses, he and the character had become one.
I felt that the voice was an important part of the characterizations of both Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger and Adam West as Batman. They both have the same resonant square-jawed voice that defines a hero. In fact, when Dick Gautier substituted for West in a PSA, he made sure to do an imitation of West’s voice.
I was aware of them after I wrote them, but before I posted it. 
I’m just going to list all my faves, extras and villains included.
Margot Kidder - Lois Lane
Robert Downey Jr - Iron Man
Tom Hiddleston - Loki
JK Simmons - J Jonah Jameson
Denis Leary - Captain Stacey
Burgess Meredith - Penguin
Julie Newmar - Catwoman
Heath Ledger - Joker
Michael Caine - Alfred Pennysworth
Charlie Cox - Daredevil
Vincent Denofrio - Kingpin
Jon Bernthal - Frank Castle
Sebastian Stan - Winter Soldier
Clark Gregg - Phil Coulson
Chloe Bennett - Daisy Johnson
Kristin Ritter - Jessica Jones
David Tennant - Kilgrave
I’ll add Tom Hardy as Bane.
Ryan Reynolds absolutely nails Deadpool, wait that came out wrong…or did it. As others noted this may actually be a bit circular as Deadpool comics reference Ryan Reynolds. Nevertheless the combination made for a thoroughly funny movie, if it was completely filthy.
Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Watch the performance and you can see Loki being played as a villain but you can see his reasons for doing it. You can almost get to the point of going, yes Loki you are right to be so pissed. Hiddleston is going to have a long and brilliant career post-Loki, but this is great work right now.
Charlie Cox and Kristin Ritter as Daredevil and Jessica Jones. Both are giving nuanced performances. Daredevil is the hero you almost don’t agree with or like, and Jones has seen some stuff and really needs to work through it.
Bonus - How about Micheal Keaton as Bruce Wayne, if not Batman?
Moore had the voice, and he stayed in pretty good shape all his life. The Lone Ranger isn’t the toughest hero to portray, no skin tight suit, he didn’t have super powers, but he had to look good in an occasional fistfight and ride a horse. West needed to do some sit-ups. He was ok as Batman, but the campy style of the show was a big problem for me.
Rather surprised Christian Bale hasn’t been mentioned yet, even as an honorable mention.
Yes, damn it. I was too busy wondering if I should change out for Loki instead and got dazzled by his charisma. And it confuzzaled me.
Thanks.
Glad you mentioned that even though the thread is about heroes. It was a stunning performance that overshadowed the rest of the characters in that movie, and pretty much all the others that preceded it. He was a decent actor before that but would have been known simply as a another heart-throb pretty boy until that role, and then we lost him.
I know the movie was terrible, but I quite liked the combination of George Clooney and Chris O’Donnell as Batman and Robin (and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl, yeeaaaaaah! :o ). They deserved a much better script.
Michael Keaton was a good Batman too.
Christopher Reeve was a good Superman.
But my standards will always be Adam West, Burt Ward, George Reeves, and their costars. Noel Neill is the definitive Lois Lane.
If we’re including Zorro and the Lone Ranger, then Guy Williams, Clayton Moore, and Jay Silverheels, hands down!