The Top 10 Best Movie Super Soldiers

5. SGT. David Collins – The Guest

At first glance, there’s nothing odd about David (Dan Stevens). He seems like a legitimately decent guy who’s just looking out for those around him. At least, that’s what the Peterson family believes when he first shows up, claiming he served with their deceased son in Afghanistan. Gradually, he endears himself to the family and their lives seem all the better with him around. But when their problems start to mysteriously and violently disappear, they start suspecting something isn’t right about David. He’s a little too friendly, a little too intense, a little too… Pragmatic. The truth is revealed in the form of a kill team led by a shadowy Major hoping to take care of things quietly. It turns out that David was a military test subject “programmed” to kill anyone who might compromise his identity. In other words, he’s incapable of leaving witnesses, which sucks for the Petersons.     

4. Khan Noonien Singh- The Star Trek Franchise

All due respect to Ricardo Montalbán’s take on the character, but I’m a bigger fan of Benedict Cumberbatch’s version. That’s mostly because I can’t stop thinking about “rich Corinthian leather” every time I see Montalbán. Both have similar back stories, in which Khan is a group of genetically engineered super soldiers designed for a war centuries ago and then frozen when they became a threat. He’s thawed out in secret by Star Fleet and forced to design horrific new weapons and warships. Khan is so interesting because he’s not really a villain. In his mind, he was woken up and told that if he didn’t design weapons, his crew would be executed. He’s just trying to save his people and secure a peaceful future for them away from war. Sure, Khan kinda from zero to rampage pretty quickly, but that’s what happens with super soldiers.   

3. Jason Bourne- The Bourne Series

Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne is probably the most “realistic” character on this list of super soldiers. Before he was recruited by Treadstone or put through the “Blackbriar” program, Jason Bourne was a member of Delta Force, arguably one of the most elite military units on the planet. They are trained to resist interrogation and brainwashing, defined by their ability to push themselves beyond the limits of mere mortals. Then Blackbriar broke him and turned him into the greatest Black Ops asset Treadstone ever utilized. Bourne is a brilliant strategist, who excels at lateral thinking, and constantly adapts to the battlefield. Once activated, he becomes a ghost no one ever sees coming unless he wants them too. Some people think it’s brawn or training that makes a super soldier, but Bourne was selected because he had the intelligence that could be crafted into the skills neccesary to become the ultimate super soldier. It helps that he had the other two already.    

2. Deadpool- Deadpool and Deadpool 2

Before he was Deadpool, Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) was just your everyday former Special Forces operator turned mercenary. No powers to speak of, except for an impressive gift of gab. That is until he was left speechless by a diagnosis of the “Big C.” With no other options, he enrolled in an experimental program to unlock the mutant potential dormant in his D.N.A. Thus, Deadpool was born! His impressive new powers include an impressive healing factor, enhanced physiology, and an epic “Justicebody.” Now his business is murder and business is good. Despite playing it fast and loose with his ethics, he’s got a strong sense of morals that always end up forcing him to do the right thing in the end. Deadpool is one of a kind, even for super soldiers, which is for the best since his favorite murder method is talking people to death.

1. Captain America- The MCU

The MCU is littered with super soldiers these days, from Buckie Barnes (Sebastian Stan) to Emil Blonsky (Tim Roth), and a dozen in between. None of them hold a candle to the original Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). Rogers was a man with an unwavering sense of moral justice that went beyond the laws of man. Peggy Carter (as quoted by Sharon Carter) described the philosophy Rogers shared with her best in her advice, “Compromise where you can. Where you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say, ‘No, *you* move’.” Before they ever injected him with the super soldier serum, Steve Rogers was the guy who always got back up. No matter the odds he faced, he refused to let injustice triumph while there was still breath in his body. The serum only made the outside match what was already inside.

Honorable Mention: Death Troopers- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Imagine you’re a Rebel fighting the good fight against the Empire. You’re sorely outnumbered, but you know that Storm Troopers couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with their blasters. But wait, what’s going on? These Storm Troopers are wearing black armor and are seven feet tall… AND ARE HITTING PEOPLE WITH THEIR SHOTS!?! Those would be the Death Troopers. The best of the best that the Empire has to offer, shipped off to be cybernetically and genetically enhanced to be Rebel killing machines. Once they hit the battlefield, no protagonist is safe. They might even slow a Jedi down if an entire squad got the drop on them. Well, that might be a bit of a stretch, but Death Troopers are still pretty impressive super soldiers within the Star Wars universe.. 

Shout-Out: Lyn Cassady- The Men Who Stare At Goats

You didn’t think that super soldiers were purely fictional, did you? Because if you did, you’re kind of right. Lyn Casady (George Cloony) is an amalgam of real-life people who were allegedly associated with a program in the U.S. Army that trained soldiers to master their psychic potential. The goal was to turn them into Jedi warriors, but they never quite got that far with the program. Casady wasn’t exactly qualified to earn a spot with the super soldiers above since the practical battlefield applications of his abilities were unreliable at best. Still, he killed a goat just by staring at it and none of the super soldiers that made the list can say that. For that reason alone, I thought the guy deserved at least a shout-out.

There you have the best super soldiers to ever grace the silver screen. There are a lot of one man armies out there though and I’d love to hear some of your favorites in the comments below. There are bound to be plenty more enhanced cinematic commandos enlisting for service in the future. So, be sure to check back from time to time in order to see how the rankings might change. Until then, here’s to the brave fictional men and women of movie militaries who volunteer to become super soldiers.