Karl Urban’s Best Live-Action Comic Book Roles, Ranked – SlashFilm

Actor Karl Urban has had a somewhat unique road to stardom, falling in love with filmmaking working on shows like “Xena: Warrior Princess” in his native New Zealand before hitting it big as Éomer in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” films. He’s a dedicated actor who gives his all to every role no matter how big or small, and he’s more than open to playing around in different genres. That openness has helped him develop a pretty successful career, and it has led to him playing five different live-action comic book characters. (He also voiced Sgt. Rock in an animated “Sgt. Rock” short on the “Batman: Hush” home video release, for the completionists out there.) 

For the most part, Urban has starred in good-to-great comic book films and TV shows, but what about his individual performances? Let’s take a look at the best Karl Urban roles and performances in live-action comic book franchises, ranked from worst to best. And remember — just because one of these shows or movies is better than another doesn’t matter, because this is entirely about the talents of one of the genre’s coolest actors.

The 2010 crime comedy “Red,” based on the comic book series of the same name by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, is quite a bit of fun. The movie has a tremendous cast that includes Bruce Willis as former CIA black ops agent Frank Moses, Morgan Freeman as his mentor, John Malkovich as kooky fellow former CIA agent Marvin Boggs, and Helen Mirren as a freakin’ former MI6 assassin who still takes occasional gigs, but Karl Urban more than holds his own as active CIA black ops agent William Cooper, who is tasked with killing Frank by his corrupt supervisor. (You can read about our set visit from 2010 for even more details about this perfect popcorn flick.)

Look, Urban is pretty great in “Red” and even manages to make some changes in his character’s allegiances feel genuine, but Willis is the real star of the show and brings all of the charisma and snarky humor he became known for, which means “Red” is a movie fans should revisit for Willis much more than Urban. It is probably the most clean-cut I’ve ever seen Urban look in a movie or TV show, however, which is worth noting.

“Priest” has all of the makings of a really fantastic comic book adaptation, but unfortunately it’s a hot mess that just doesn’t make the most of its killer setting. The 2011 film was loosely based on the comic of the same name by Hyung Min-woo and was director Scott Stewart’s follow-up to the disappointing religious horror flick “Legion.” It follows Priest (Paul Bettany), a priest who is one of the last surviving humans in a future dominated by vampires, including their vicious leader, Black Hat (Karl Urban). 

While the pulpy “Priest” was bashed by critics for relying too heavily on comic book tropes and having some odd action beats, Urban is honestly great as Black Hat and his scenes are worth watching. A former vampire hunter turned into the first human vampire, Black Hat is an egotistical and megalomaniacal villain that lets the actor run a little wild and go totally arch. Here’s hoping Urban gets to play some kind of evil vampire again, because he’s great at it. 

Karl Urban seems to relish playing a variety of complex villains, and in 2017 he added a Marvel Cinematic Universe baddie-who-goes-good to his repertoire when he starred as the Asgardian Skurge in “Thor: Ragnarok.” Skurge starts off as a comic relief character who takes over as guardian of the Bifrost after Heimdall (Idris Elba) is banished from Asgard. He becomes the henchman for main villain Hela (Cate Blanchett), then eventually has a total crisis of conscience and saves the day. That’s a whole lot to rest on Urban’s pauldron-laden shoulders, but he plays every bit of it with total conviction.

It’s unfortunate that “Thor: Ragnarok” ultimately cut a heart-wrenching scene with Skurge that showed him fully reckoning with his guilt, but even without it Urban’s performance made the character’s arc feel earned. Because Urban always starts his characters from scratch, he makes each one feel like a fully fledged person, and that methodology has helped him make some already great comic book characters into truly phenomenal live-action versions.

The 1995 “Judge Dredd” film starring Sylvester Stallone as the eponymous lawman frustrated fans of the “2000 A.D.” comics on which it was based, in large part because Stallone’s Dredd was so wildly inaccurate. Nearly two decades later, in 2012, Karl Urban donned the bucket helmet and perpetual grimace to star as Judge Dredd in the Pete Travis film “Dredd,” and he was everything fans could have possibly wanted. Not only did Urban keep his mouth in a constant frown that had to hurt after a while, but he never once removed his helmet! That challenging costume decision made Urban’s Dredd that much more authentic and pushed him to find a different kind of acting since he couldn’t traditionally emote. The result is a Judge Dredd that actually feels like the ultimate judge, jury, and executioner from the comics while also being shockingly likable. 

Sadly, “Dredd 2” never made it out of the gate and the next “Judge Dredd” adaptation is another reboot, purportedly courtesy of “Thor: Ragnarok” director Taika Waititi. Since they know one another, maybe Urban could play everyone’s favorite Judge again anyway, as a treat? 

Honestly, it feels like Karl Urban was born to play William J. “Billy” Butcher,” the leader of the supe-hunting squad The Boys on the Prime Video series “The Boys.” Based on the comics by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, “The Boys” is a pitch-black satire about a superhero world much like that of Marvel Comics or the DC Universe, except many of the “supes” are pretty monstrous people, especially their Superman equivalent, Homelander (Antony Starr). Butcher has been out for revenge against Homelander since he sexually assaulted Butcher’s wife years before, and he’s shown that he will stop at absolutely nothing to take out his evil cape-wearing nemesis. 

Billy Butcher lets Urban go wild, unleashing a violent, sarcastic, and totally brilliant side of himself upon the screen. Butcher has had some truly bonkers moments over the series so far and has gone from anti-hero to a bit of an actual villain here and there, setting us up for a final season where it feels like anything could happen. (Seriously, it’s very unlikely that Butcher will have the same fate as his comic book counterpart and he’s just as unpredictable as Homelander now, so who knows?!)

Over the first four seasons, Karl Urban has brought Billy Butcher to life, making the foul-mouthed, vengeance-driven murderer into someone you (mostly) want to root for in spite of himself. It’s one of the actor’s greatest roles not just in comic book movies but in his entire acting portfolio, and I can’t wait to see where it takes him when season 5 hits Prime Video on April 8, 2026.