A Very Uncool EW Ranks Top 20 Coolest Heroes In Pop Culture

Posted by Rob Hunter (rob@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 30, 2009

bond-ew-list

Okay, we all know how this works.  Entertainment Weekly puts out a list ranking something… anything… Best Movies, Funniest Titles, Best Use Of A Vagina… and the denizens of the web work themselves into a frothy frenzy over the errors, mistakes, omissions, insults, and travesties within.  Lists in general, and EW’s ridiculously inept lists in particular are nothing more than virtual chum used to draw in the page views and comments.  It’s a cheap ploy and legitimate journalists should know better than to stoop to such artificial means to increase traffic.

Which brings us to the first of two new EW lists… 20 All Time Coolest Heroes In Pop Culture… which we’re happy to reprint in all it’s glory for our readers.  Say what you will about EW and the shmucks who compile these things, but said shmucks do have a knack for making each list more hilariously inexplicable than the last.   Take a look at what is and isn’t there then sound off in the comments section below!

  1. James Bond
  2. Indiana Jones
  3. Superman
  4. Harry Potter
  5. Ellen Ripley
  6. John McClane
  7. Han Solo
  8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer
  9. Robin Hood
  10. Spider Man
  11. Mad Max
  12. Captain Kirk
  13. Foxy Brown
  14. Will Kane
  15. Dirty Harry
  16. Jack Bauer
  17. Nancy Drew
  18. Batman
  19. Atticus Finch
  20. Sydney Bristow

So… first impressions?  Superman is the least cool superhero ever.  Harry Potter cooler than anyone on this list?  It took the kid four books to get his first kiss (although it was with an Asian).  Dirty Harry and Jack Bauer should both be in the top ten at least.  Robin Hood?  Robin Hood?  Seriously?  And Han Solo should be number one with a laser beam (that he fired first).

Your thoughts?


Read more articles by Rob Hunter

Related Reading:

Your Ad Here

Comment Policy: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Film School Rejects reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. We also reserve the right to modify any curse words in your comments and make you look like an idiot. Thank You!

  • Where's Tarzan or Sherlock Holmes? My problem with this list is that it SEEMS to only encompass movies and TV... when there are other characters that have been in books, comics, tv, movies, games and so forth.

    Tarzan beats Jack Bauer hands down...
  • lame list from a lame magazine... Will Kane & Atticus Finch ...how old are the people making this list?...also Alias hasn't been on the air for years and shouldn't even be on the list...Sarah Connor anyone?
  • as soon as I read Harry Potter I stopped reading the list, I didn't want to give EW the satisfaction
  • Kizer
    Check out Robin Hood on the BBC.
  • Get Real
    Nancy Drew over BATMAN!? You can't be serious!?
  • If you were really a fan you'd know that Nancy Drew IS Batman. It's in Issue #574 Batman and the Secret of the Missing Book.
  • Harry Potter carries a freaking WAND!
    A FRA-ICK-ING WAND.

    And Superman is lame as hell.

    EW, why do you keep kicking me in the neck every couple of weeks with these lists?
  • UnblinkingEye
    If we are talking about just the coolest heroes (or anti-heroes, which more than a few on this list could be considered), be it that they were only in one film or a dozen, then they forgot a biggie. Snake Plisken should be in the top five, definately ahead of Ripley (is she only on this list so we can have a female?!? Why not the Bride/Beatrice Kiddo from Kill Bill! Nancy Drew? Why not Sarah Conner or Wonder Woman!!!). Snake is the very definition of just a cool, kick ass hero (minus Escape from LA, and he is hands down the only reason to see it)! From the opening to the closing with him walking off smirking as he destroys the tape. The world might end but screw'em, what a baddass!!! Other left off the list include:
    Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (best duo?), The Wild Bunch (as a group, even though Pike was a salty old baddass on his own), The Man With No Name (the Dollars trilogy), Conan the Friggin' Barbarian (man he should actually be near the top, top five - dont include Conan the Destroyer though) and Rambo, John-MotherFriggin-KickAss-Rambo, did Commies make this list!
  • TheMarquis
    Batman should be number one. Hands down. Superman most definitely should not be on this list. And really, Sarah Connor should be top five. T2 was more bad-ass than anything with Nancy Drew, Syndey Bristow, and Spiderman Combined.
  • k(Bläck)
    SHAFT! Baby!
blog comments powered by Disqus