Europeans seems to have established a monopoly on the principal roles in American superhero films.

In recent years, the most popular superhero movie characters are primarily European, often of the British persuasion.

Batman Begins (2005) starred 5 prominent European actors.

Christian Bale took the title role with Sir Michael Caine  and Gary Oldman as his allies.  Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy portrayed the main antagonists Henri Ducard/Ra’s al Ghul and Dr. Jonathan Crane/the Scarecrow.

Bale, Oldman, Neeson and Murphy spoke with American accents in the film, disguising their English and Irish accents respectively.

Bale, Caine, Murphy, and Oldman reprised their roles in The Dark Knight (2008).

English actor Tom Hardy will portray the new villain and French actress Marion Cotillard will also star in the conclusion to the Batman Trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Iron Man (2008) featured Paul Bettany as the voice of JARVIS, Tony Stark’s computerized butler.

Bettany reprised his role in Iron Man 2 (2010) and The Avengers (2012).

Thor (2011) featured several European actors.

Though Thor himself was played by an Australian, Chris Hemsworth, the main antagonist was played by English actor Tom Hiddleston.  Welsh Sir Anthony Hopkins and Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård co-starred as supporting characters.  Minor roles were filled by English actors Idris Elba and Ray Stevenson.

Hiddleston and Skarsgård returned in The Avengers.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) starred English actress/actor Hayley Atwell as the romantic lead and Hugo Weaving as the antagonist.

The X-Men films have featured two prominent English actors.

The original X-Men Trilogy starred Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan from 2000-2006.  They were then replaced by Scottish actor James McAvoy and Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender in the origin story X-Men film(s).

And I conclude with the latest superhero movie release (as of Wednesday, July 12, 2012), the 2012 reboot: The Amazing Spider-Man.

English actor Andrew Garfield threw out his accent during the film, while Rhys Ifans got to keep his.

I don’t know why, but European actors have cornered the market on American superhero movies.

Although many of them have to hide their devastatingly attractive accents (or use different devastatingly attractive accents), they often emerge as the most popular characters in their respective films.

Ok.  Favorite character rant time:

I know that even with an ensemble cast of huge Hollywood stars, relative newcomer Tom Hiddleston came out on top as the most popular character in The Avengers.  

He was also the favorite in Thor. 

Watch that ^^^; it will give you chills. Go to 0:39 if you’re pressed for time.

Tom Hiddleston is perfect.  Period.

I, personally, liked Cillian Murphy the best of all the characters in Batman Begins.

Look at him.  Isn’t he beautiful?

Sorry, Christian.  You’re very close second.

Then, of course, there are the leading men in X-Men: First Class.

Their relationship in this movie is just hilarious.  They’re so sassy and British; I LOVE IT!

And how about that new kid in The Amazing Spider-Man, huh?

He’s just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

I’m not sure if Europeans expect more out of their actors or what.

But I do know that I enjoy watching them immensely.

The way they carry themselves, how they articulate, their mannerisms and their depth of emotion seem better to me somehow.

(With the exception of Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, and Mira Sorvino).

As you can see, “superhero” is my favorite movie genre.