The Most Awesome Superheroines in Screen History, Ranked

8. Supergirl/Kara Zor-El/Kara Danvers

(Left to right) Helen Slater, Laura Vandervoort and Melissa Benoist

TriStar Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection; Warner Brothers Television/Courtesy Everett Collection; Robert Voets/CBS via Getty Images

Notable portrayals: Helen Slater (now 57) in Supergirl (1984), Laura Vandervoort in Smallville (2007-11), Melissa Benoist in Supergirl (2015-)

Who is she?: In the critically maligned 1984 film, Slater starred as the Kryptonian cousin of Superman, who travels to Earth to recover the city-powering Omegahedron. While the character later appeared on the show Smallville, she really gets her due on the CW's Supergirl. Glee and Broadway star Melissa Benoist plays the reimagined Kara, who — like her cousin — works as a reporter and boasts a handy array of superpowers, including accelerated healing, flight, heat vision, invulnerability and superhuman senses.

Where to watch: Supergirl (the film), on HBO Max; 10 seasons of Smallville on Hulu; five seasons of Supergirl on Netflix

7. Shuri

Marvel/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection

Notable portrayals: Letitia Wright in Black Panther (2018)

Who is she?: Talk about a role model for girls who want to pursue STEM! The Wakandan princess and little sister of T'Challa (or Black Panther) is a supremely intelligent master inventor who harnesses the power of Vibranium to revolutionize their African kingdom. She creates Black Panther's energy-absorbing suit, her own energy blast gauntlets and even Wakanda's high-speed magnetic levitation train. Following the untimely death of actor Chadwick Boseman last August, Wright is expected to step into a bigger role in the 2022 sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — might she even become Black Panther?

Watch it: Black Panther, on Disney+

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6. Jean Grey

Famke Janssen (left) in "X2: X-Men United" and Sophie Turner in "Dark Phoenix."

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection; TCD/Prod.DB/Alamy Stock Photo

Notable portrayals: Famke Janssen, 56, in X-Men (2000) and its sequels (2003-14); Sophie Turner in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and Dark Phoenix (2019)

Who is she?: Born with the powers of telepathy and telekinesis, Jean Grey works as a doctor at Professor Xavier's School for the Gifted and advocates for mutant rights. But despite her altruistic nature, she possesses a dark alter ego inside, called the Phoenix, who operates purely on instinct and can prove destructive and malevolent. Sophie Turner — whom you might know as Sansa Stark from Game of Thrones — picked up the role in the 2016 prequel.

Watch it: The X-Men movies are available on Disney+'s Marvel channel

5. Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers

Notable portrayals: Brie Larson in Captain Marvel (2019)

Her backstory and superpowers: The Marvel Cinematic Universe's first female-led film stars Oscar winner Brie Larson as a superheroine with a very complicated history. She lives her life as Vers, a warrior member of the militaristic Kree alien race — but flashes in her memory suggest there may be more to her story. Later, she learns that (spoiler alert!) she had been a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who gained superpowers after absorbing the energy from an exploding engine, and a blood transfusion turned her into a human-Kree hybrid.

Where to watch: Captain Marvel, on Disney+

4. Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff

Notable portrayals: Elizabeth Olsen in WandaVision (2021)

Who is she?: Along with her twin brother, Pietro (aka Quicksilver), the refugee from the fictional country of Sokovia joins the villainous HYDRA organization to defeat Iron Man after a Stark-brand missile kills their parents, but they eventually switch sides and become Avengers. And it's a good thing, because you really don't want Wanda mad at you: She has the powers of telekinesis, energy manipulation, telepathy and more. This year, she stepped out from the shadows of the other Avengers with her own hit Disney+ show, in which she and her husband (Vision, an advanced android played by Paul Bettany, 50) move through decades of sitcom history.

Watch it: WandaVision, on Disney+

3. Storm/Ororo Munroe

Alexandra Shipp (left) in "X-Men: Apocalypse" and Halle Berry in "X-Men: The Last Stand."

20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy Everett Collection (2)

Notable portrayals: Halle Berry, 54, in X-Men (2000) and its sequels (2003-14); Alexandra Shipp in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and its sequels (2018-19)

Who is she?: As her name implies, this literal force of nature can control the weather, sending lightning bolts crashing toward her enemies and brewing up mighty wind storms. According to the comics, Storm descends from a line of white-haired Kenyan priestesses and got her start as a pickpocket in Cairo until she was recruited by Professor Charles Xavier to join the X-Men.

Watch it: The X-Men movies are available on Disney+'s Marvel channel

2. Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff

Notable portrayals: Scarlet Johansson in Black Widow (2021)

Who is she?: Trained in hand-to-hand combat as a KGB spy and assassin, Romanoff later joins the counterterrorism agency S.H.I.E.L.D. and then goes on to become an Avenger. Sure, she's armed with her Widow's Bite — a pair of bracelets that deliver a powerful electroshock — but what makes Natasha truly stand out are her very human skills: She's a master of disguise, an acrobat, an assassin, a polyglot and one of the smartest Avengers.

Watch it: Black Widow, on Disney+ Premier Access

1. Wonder Woman/Diana Prince

Lynda Carter (left) and Gal Gadot

Walt Disney Television via Getty Images Photo Archives/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images; Clay Enos/DC Comics

Notable portrayals: Lynda Carter, 69, in Wonder Woman (1975-79), Gal Gadot in Wonder Woman (2017) and Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Who is she?: The original series may be best remembered for some kitschy elements, such as Wonder Woman's spinning transformation move, golden lasso of truth and invisible airplane — but that didn't stop the Amazonian princess from fighting the Nazis as a Navy yeoman and later joining the fictional Inter-Agency Defense Command. In the 2017 reboot film, the future Justice League member is recast as a full-fledged demigoddess (the daughter of Zeus!), played by former Israeli soldier Gal Gadot.

Where to watch: four seasons of the TV show and both movies on HBO Max

Nicholas DeRenzo is a contributing writer who covers entertainment and travel. Previously he was executive editor of United Airlines’ Hemispheres magazine and his work has appeared in The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Sunset and New York magazine.