The Black action star pantheon
Action movies have a long and storied history with Black stars and Black audiences, and the genre wouldn’t be what it is today without that history. A celebration is perpetually in order.
To build the pantheon of Black action stars, Polygon gathered a group of film critics, academics, authors, and experts to weigh in. Our esteemed panel includes Frankie “Balboa” Diaz, action film critic; Matthew Essary, freelance film critic; Christian Valentin, film reviewer; Lee B. Golden III, Film Combat Syndicate founder and editor; and Josiah Howard, author of Blaxploitation Cinema: The Essential Reference Guide.
Each of them submitted a list of their 10 favorite Black action stars of all time, with thoughts on their favorites. What follows is the culminating list, with actors in descending order of how often they showed up on those individual lists, a few recommendations on the movies to show off their action bona fides, and the runners-up of Black action stars who were nominated and recognized by our committee. Let’s get kicking.
by Christian Valentin
The master thespian Denzel Washington may not prioritize action as often as others on the list (although did you see that sword fight in The Tragedy of Macbeth?), but when he does focus his talents toward bruising, it’s cinematic gold. Just look at pulp maestro Russell Mulcahy’s 1991 film Ricochet, in which Washington’s charm collides with a villainously unhinged John Lithgow for trashy revenge-thriller chaos. It’s a movie that boasts both a prison sword fight against Jesse Ventura and a bathrobed Washington holding a clown at gunpoint.
Washington would grow from the explosive talent at the front of Cry Freedom, Glory, and Malcolm X into a 10-time Oscar nominee. But he’d also
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