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Over the course of the 2020s so far, cinema has given us plenty of excellent characters. Well-written, performed by some of the biggest stars in the industry, and wildly effective at whatever the story of their films requires them to do, these characters will likely go down in history as some of the best and most iconic of 21st-century cinema. Only a few of them, however, will be able to transcend that kind of category.
Indeed, throughout the last six years, the world has seen films with characters that may just end up becoming some of the most beloved in the history of cinema. From players in some of the biggest blockbusters of the 2020s, like Rocky from the recent Project Hail Mary, to action heroes from Oscar-winning indie films, like Everything Everywhere All At Once‘s Evelyn Wang, these are already some of the biggest icons of this decade’s cinema.
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Rocky — ‘Project Hail Mary’ (2026)
With its theatrical run not even over yet as of the time of writing this article, Project Hail Mary is already one of the most acclaimed and highest-grossing hard science fiction movies of the 21st century. Based on Andy Weir‘s 2021 novel of the same name, it follows a school teacher who wakes up aboard a spacecraft with no memory of how he got there, and has to ally with an alien to regain his memory and save the universe.
It’s one of the most perfect sci-fi movies of the last five years, in no small measure thanks to its incredible character writing. Ryan Gosling‘s Ryland Grace is a fantastic protagonist, but it’s the alien Rocky (voiced by James Ortiz and played by a highly elaborate puppet) who steals the spotlight and quickly becomes the heart of the film. He’s funny, he’s visually delightful, he’s surprisingly endearing and complex for a non-verbal rock, and his dynamic with Grace is the emotional fuel that keeps Project Hail Mary going until the credits roll.
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Anthony — ‘The Father’ (2020)
For obvious pandemic-related reasons, 2020 wasn’t exactly a highly prolific or profitable year for cinema. Nonetheless, the Seventh Art still provided us with plenty of movies that have become some of the most beloved of the decade, which certainly includes the British-French psychological drama The Father. Florian Zeller‘s directorial debut, based on his 2012 French stage play, follows an old man who refuses all assistance from his daughter while his mind begins to fail him as he ages.
It’s one of the best father-daughter movies in recent memory, and that’s largely thanks to how incredibly layered and well-realized a character Anthony (played by an Oscar-winning Anthony Hopkins) is. It’s his eyes that we experience this story through, and as his reality begins to crumble around him, so too does our understanding of him as a person. The character’s final moments are among the saddest (and best-acted) moments of any character from the last six years.
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Roz — ‘The Wild Robot’ (2024)
For a while, DreamWorks Animation’s output has been a bit of a mixed bag, but when the studio delivers, it can make some of the greatest animated films out there. Case in point: The Wild Robot, one of the studio’s best outings ever, based on Peter Brown‘s 2016 novel. It’s one of the best family movies of the last 15 years, about a sentient robot who becomes stranded on an island and has to raise an orphaned gosling while trying to fit in with the local wildlife.
The robot, Roz (voiced by Lupita Nyong’o in one of the best voice performances of the decade so far), can already be counted among DreamWorks’ most endearing protagonists. From the character’s design to her compassionate personality, her adorable relationship with her found family to the way she highlights the movie’s themes of motherhood and environmental harmony, everything about this animated masterpiece’s protagonist is virtually perfect.
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Art the Clown — ‘Terrifier 2’ (2022) and ‘Terrifier 3’ (2024)
We’re only a little over halfway through the decade, and we’ve already gotten some pretty scary horror movie villains. David Howard Thornton‘s Art the Clown, from Damien Leone‘s Terrifier franchise, actually originated all the way back in 2008, but it’s through his appearances in Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3 that he’s become the new face of the slasher genre.
From Thornton’s pitch-perfect performance to the many ways in which Leone makes Art seem as mysterious and oddly amusing as he is horrifying, it’s no wonder that Art has become such a pop-cultural sensation. A couple of decades from now, fans of the genre will very likely look back at the 2020s and think of this terrifying clown as one of horror’s biggest modern icons, a slasher villain who refuses to ever play by the rules.
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Paul Hunham — ‘The Holdovers’ (2023)
As soon as it was released in late October of 2023, Alexander Payne‘s The Holdovers almost immediately became a new certified Christmas classic. Set in a 1970s New England boarding school, the story follows a cantankerous history teacher who remains on campus during Christmas break to supervise a brainy but damaged troublemaker. Played by Paul Giamatti at his Oscar-nominated best, Professor Paul Hunham immediately joined the ranks of the best Christmas movie characters of all time.
As far as feel-good movies go, few find a balance between feel-goodness and deeply poignant bittersweetness quite as well as The Holdovers does. Even still, it’s one of the most heartwarming slice-of-life movies from recent years, with a character whose arc toward becoming a more protective and caring figure is an absolute delight. Never has the trope of the inspirational teacher been subverted quite this effectively.
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Marcel — ‘Marcel the Shell With Shoes On’ (2021)
A24’s mockumentary dramedy Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is one of the best family movies of the decade so far, a follow-up to Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate‘s trilogy of stop-motion shorts from the 2010s. Its story follows a documentary filmmaker who decides to make his newest movie about a small shell he finds living in his Airbnb. The result is one of the sweetest, most beautifully life-affirming family films that indie Hollywood has ever produced.
Marcel (voiced by Slate) is the type of character who doesn’t really need much of a transformative arc.
It’s also one of the best low-budget fantasy movies ever made, and the reason it works so well is that its protagonist is so profoundly lovable. Marcel (voiced by Slate) is the type of character who doesn’t really need much of a transformative arc, because it’s how his “glass-half-full” approach to life impacts the audience that’s the whole point of the movie. Optimistic, resilient, innocent, and irresistibly cute from beginning to end, Marcel is the sort of wholesome character that people can’t get enough of.
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Miles Morales — ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ (2023)
Miles Morales first appeared in Marvel Comics back in 2011, and he made his big-screen debut in Sony Animation’s surprise smash-hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in 2018. Expectations were set sky-high, and somehow, Across the Spider-Verse managed to surpass them. This sequel follows Miles meeting a new team of Spider-People while traveling across the multiverse. But when the heroes clash over how to deal with a new threat, Miles finds himself at a crossroads.
The entirety of Across the Spider-Verse‘s narrative is a delectably meta study of the very concept of superheroes, as well as a deconstruction of the Spider-Man mythos, and it’s through Miles’ eyes that we experience such a complex narrative. We couldn’t have possibly gotten a better pair of eyes for that. Across the Spider-Verse is one of the most perfect animated movies of the last 10 years, largely because its protagonist’s arc of finding his own path is so immensely effective.
3
Evelyn Wang — ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ (2022)
A hyper-ambitious martial arts sci-fi comedy about multiversal travel? It’s not exactly the kind of premise that screams “prestige film,” but somehow, the Daniels‘s Everything Everywhere All At Once managed to make its way to tremendous financial success and a whopping seven Oscar victories, including Best Picture. It’s the story of Evelyn (played by an Oscar-winning Michelle Yeoh), a middle-aged Chinese immigrant who’s swept up into a multiversal adventure in which only she can save existence by exploring other universes and connecting with the lives she could have led.
This is one of the truest action movie masterpieces of the 2020s, and like any action movie masterpiece, the character writing is fantastic here. That leaves us with one of the decade’s strongest and most compelling protagonists. Evelyn is a vehicle for Everything Everywhere‘s meditations on family, existential dread, and the search for meaning, and her journey is a celebration of how kindness can save the world. As much of a badass action heroine as she is a deeply complex and emotionally engaging protagonist, Evelyn carries the weight of the film on her shoulders with ease.
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Willa Ferguson — ‘One Battle After Another’ (2025)
Paul Thomas Anderson had been trying to claw his way to an Academy Award victory for years, and with 2025’s One Battle After Another, he finally obtained three. Many people’s favorite PTA masterpiece, One Battle follows Bob, an ex-revolutionary who has to try and rescue his daughter after an enemy of his old revolutionary cell resurfaces after 16 years. The result? One of the best crime thrillers of the last 10 years.
Bob’s daughter is Willa, played by breakout star Chase Infiniti. Subverting the usual trope of the child being the damsel-in-distress that must be rescued by her brave father, Willa is a powerhouse in her own right. Complex, resilient, and determined, she transcends the revolutionary ideals of her father’s generation and ends up rescuing herself throughout the entire story. Partly through PTA’s brilliant writing and partly through Infiniti’s exceptional performance, Willa becomes one of the most fascinating characters of any 21st-century film.
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Paul Atreides — ‘Dune’ (2021) and ‘Dune: Part Two’ (2024)
Paul Atreides originated in Frank Herbert‘s Dune, one of the most important works of science fiction literature in history. It was believed to be impossible to make a Dune adaptation truly worthy of the source material’s legacy for years — until Denis Villeneuve came along. His Dune and Dune: Part Two brilliantly follow the story of Paul, a ducal heir who unites with the indigenous people of Arrakis to seek revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.
In creating two of the most perfect sci-fi movies of the 21st century, Villeneuve flawlessly understood what the character of Paul is all about: He’s not a hero, but rather a walking cautionary tale against blind faith in charismatic leaders who manipulate religion for political power. Played impeccably by Timothée Chalamet at his best, Villeneuve’s version of Paul is a delightfully complex anti-hero who’s as fun to watch as he is to analyze. These will go down in history as two of the greatest sci-fi films of the 21st century, and Paul Atreides will be right at the center of all that praise.
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https://collider.com/greatest-movie-characters-2020s-ranked/
Diego Pineda Pacheco
Almontather Rassoul
