We are currently experiencing something of a golden age for the science fiction genre. After years — some might say decades — of underwhelming efforts, the 2010s began a shift in the genre, thanks to directors like Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve. The 2020s have seen a great deal of truly brilliant sci-fi movies, which is particularly impressive since we’re not even six years into the decade.
A large reason behind these movies’ success is the compelling and often unforgettable characters at the center. Indeed, sci-fi has been thriving in the 2020s because it uses classic tropes and setups to explore deeply humane and complex themes through riveting characters, both heroic and antagonistic. This list will rank the best sci-fi characters from the last five years, showcasing a wide range of themes and motives and proving that science fiction is unique among all genres in its capacity to craft timeless cinematic figures.
8
OJ Haywood (Daniel Kaluuya) – ‘Nope’ (2022)
Jordan Peele‘s third movie, 2022’s Nope, is a pretty perfect sci-fi horror that many painfully misunderstood. Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya reunites with Peele, this time playing OJ Haywood, a man whose horse-wrangling ranch is struggling. Alongside his sister, Emerald (Keke Palmer), OJ tries to secure evidence of an apparent UFO that just appeared. However, its presence also attracts the attention of Ricky “Jupe” Park (Steven Yeun), the owner of a nearby theme park.
Combining the sci-fi, Western, and monster genres, Nope is a true one-of-a-kind, the perfect product of Peele’s wildly creative mind. Kaluuya plays OJ like a straight man caught in the middle of an extraordinary and dangerous situation. His main concern is keeping his ranch afloat, making his struggle incredibly relatable even as he goes against a flying, highly territorial UFO. Peele and Kaluuya bring the best in each other, and Nope proves it; there’s a stillness to Kaluuya’s work here that makes OJ magnetic. It’s not a showy character, nor is he the action man in the story — that role actually goes to Palmer’s Em — but OJ is the audience substitute, continuing the tradition of great sci-fi figures like Arthur Dent and Roy Neary.
7
Clark Kent/Superman (David Corenswet) – ‘Superman’ (2025)
Reinventing one of the most popular and enduring superheroes for a new generation is never an easy task, especially if that superhero is often considered the greatest of all time. Against all odds, James Gunn and David Corenswet pulled it off with their take on Superman for the 2025 eponymous movie, which sees the Man of Steel battling Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) to prove both to himself and the world as a whole what it truly means to be a hero.
Superman has several strengths, but Corenswet’s work in the titular role is the main one. The actor fully embraces Big Blue’s famously warm and empathetic persona, completely committing to it; he embodies kindness rather than just playing it. The film isn’t afraid to be sentimental and even schmaltzy at times because that’s who Superman is. At a time when the superhero genre seems to be undergoing an identity crisis, Superman takes it back to its roots with a movie that is proud to be sweet, silly, charming, and ultimately triumphant. From now on, Superman will once again be a symbol of hope, a champion for justice who will beat bad guys and still make it home to dinner, who will put his life on the line to protect those who can’t protect themselves. Honestly, it’s about time.
6
Robot – ‘Robot Dreams’ (2023)
I challenge you to find a more heartbreaking or powerful modern movie about friendship than 2023’s Robot Dreams. This stunning tragicomedy features no dialogue and tells the story of Robot and Dog, two unlikely companions who form a life-changing bond in New York City in 1985. Through their connection, the two characters grow and learn from each other, proving that love truly is a universal emotion.
Equal parts heartwrenching and heartwarming, Robot Dreams is a charming tale about the nature of love and its role in the ever-changing journey of life. Robot is such a special character, endlessly hopeful even when life knocks and kicks him when he’s down. The film is genuinely devastating at points, especially concerning Robot’s story, but through the hardship and all the pain, this unlikely protagonist remains inspiring, embodying the power to see the light even amidst endless darkness. His ultimate acceptance of his separation from Dog is also a powerful testament to the importance of knowing when to move on. It’s truly incredible that a non-human character can display such humane and universal emotions, yet that’s the magic of this character, a worthy successor of the magic first conveyed by WALL-E.
5
Alexia/Adrien (Agathe Rousselle) – ‘Titane’ (2021)
Julia Ducournau‘s Titane might just be the single most daring sci-fi movie of the 2020s. Agathe Rousselle stars as Alexia, a woman with a titanium plate on her head, the result of a car crash in her youth. As an adult, she’s a murderous model with an erotic fascination for automobiles. After having sex with a car, she becomes pregnant, leading her to go on a violent journey of self-discovery.
Titane is not an easy watch, featuring some of the most bizarre and off-putting visuals in modern sci-fi. Such a challenging watch requires an equally courageous, unrestrained performance, which is exactly what Agathe Rousselle delivers. As the murderous Alexia, she’s eerie, commanding, disturbing, and ultimately mesmerizing. It’s genius work on her part, balancing tones with skill as she descends further into Ducournau’s singular, unsettling vision. Nihilistic and calculating, Alexia is a villainous protagonist who toys with the audience, almost daring them to look away. It’s a one-of-a-kind performance in service of a one-of-a-kind character who’s completely unafraid to break the mold and challenge convention.
4
Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) – ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ (2022)
Few movies live up to their title as well as Everything Everywhere All at Once. The Daniels‘ singular movie juggles multiple genres simultaneously, but perhaps relies mostly on sci-fi to tell its multiversal story. Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, an overworked laundromat owner with a tenuous relationship with her husband and daughter. Her life changes when she learns she has the unique power to inhabit parallel versions of herself and must defend the multiverse from a powerful being seeking to destroy it.
Evelyn Wang is such an interesting character. Initially presented as an overstressed and highly inflexible woman, Evelyn can come across as unlikable, insensitive, and perhaps even slightly bigoted. Yeoh doesn’t shy away from the character’s sharper edges, instead grounding them in the everyday struggle of trying to thrive as a small-business owner. The character is an ordinary working woman who finds herself in an extraordinary situation and does her best to make it work. Despite the multiversal implications of the story, there’s something remarkably humane about Evelyn’s struggle to connect, not only with her variants but also with the people in her everyday life. It’s here that Yeoh’s work soars, showing the full range of her abilities and rightfully earning the 2023 Best Actress Oscar.
3
Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) – ‘The Substance’ (2024)
Sci-fi and horror go hand-in-hand, and few recent movies have handled them better than Coralie Fargeat‘s The Substance. A scathing critique of modern beauty standards and the cosmetic industry, the film follows Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), a fading actress who takes a black market drug that creates a newer, younger version of herself, Sue (Margaret Qualley). The balance between the two soon shifts, leading to unexpected and gruesome consequences.
The Substance forgoes subtlety and instead opts for a balls-to-the-wall approach to its themes. At the center of this chaos is Demi Moore in a career-best, Oscar-nominated performance that brings much vulnerability and realism to what is an otherwise volcanic and exaggerated tale. At times heartbreaking and at times delightfully absurd, Moore’s Elisabeth is a modern icon of horror, a woman whose struggle is painfully relatable. The actress commits fully to The Substance‘s audacious, unforgiving approach, and the result is mesmerizing. Through all the shock, blood, gore, and outright gross visuals, Moore remains The Substance‘s strongest asset, grounding the story and becoming the embodiment of the all-consuming and all-too-familiar fear of watching one’s body decay.
2
Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) – ‘Dune’ (2021) and ‘Dune: Part Two’ (2024)
Denis Villeneuve proved that Frank Herbert‘s seminal sci-fi masterwork, Dune, could indeed thrive on the big screen with his 2021 adaptation and the subsequent 2024 sequel. The saga follows the journey of Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet), a young man who seeks to avenge his father’s death and liberate the desert planet of Arrakis from the tyrannical rule of House Harkonnen. In the process, he emerges as an unlikely savior for Arrakis’ people, the Fremen.
In many ways, Paul Atreides is quite the thankless character. He’s a messianic figure who’s not exactly inspiring, compelling but not necessarily easy to root for. Chalamet never tries to make Paul “likable” in the traditional sense, instead playing him as a near-monolithic figure shaped by destiny and caught in a battle of mysticism versus reality, free will versus fate. In Chalamet’s hands, Paul is less a driven leader and more a predetermined savior, an antihero for the modern age. Chalamet fully leans into that aspect, creating a challenging figure who is as unyielding as the source material that spawned him. Both Dune movies are modern masterpieces of sci-fi, and Paul is the perfect protagonist: ever-evolving, haunted, and buried under a burden he never asked for.
1
Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) – ‘Poor Things’ (2023)
Frankenstein adaptations are almost as common in cinema as a new Marvel movie, but few are as bold, absurd, and refreshing as Yorgos Lanthimos‘ Poor Things. Adapted from the novel by Alasdair Gray, the film tells the story of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman who, following her suicide, is reanimated using the brain of her unborn child. Bella then goes on a wild and exciting adventure of self-discovery through sex, knowledge, and self-actualization.
To put it quite simply, Poor Things excels because of Emma Stone. The actress delivers the performance of a lifetime as the instantly endearing and endlessly fascinating Bella, a shifting character who goes through the full extent of the human experience in just 142 minutes. Poor Things is among the most life-affirming movies ever, and Stone’s Bella is the perfect subject to explore it; she’s liberated but inexperienced, terribly excited to explore everything the world has to offer. Her journey towards self-fulfillment is inspiring and ridiculously entertaining, and Stone is living for every minute of Bella’s unrestrained and contagiously spirited persona.
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