One of the Best Western Movies of All-Time Has Major Comic Book Movie Connections

James Mangold has one of the more impressive and consistent filmographies. Consistent not because he sticks to the same genre, if anything he never does, but rather because you can always expect a certain level of quality from a Mangold project. Even Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which has been deemed by some to be unnecessary, truly was the send-off that Harrison Ford’s title character deserved, and it went a long way towards washing the sour taste of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull out of fans’ collective mouth. Even when a movie like that or 2003’s Identity underperforms, it ends up being appreciated to a degree.

But it seems to be the Western genre that he understands the best. He’s delved into it twice, and both times resulted in a modern classic of the genre. The first time was with a more straightforward Western in 3:10 to Yuma. The second was technically part of the superhero subgenre but had heavy Western undertones. But more on that in a bit. Speaking of the superhero subgenre, it’s hard to imagine a movie with more future (and in some cases past) actors from Marvel and DC projects than Yuma. Let’s unpack them.

Which Comic Book Movies Have Featured the Stars of 3:10 to Yuma?

After Girl, Interrupted, Kate & Leopold, Identity, and Walk the Line, James Mangold cemented the notion that he could bring something to every genre with this Western. It was his best film to date and set the stage for a similar project in the future. Specifically, Logan, which like Yuma envelops you in its world with gorgeous cinematography and committed performances.

After giving Wolverine a fantastic solo movie with The Wolverine, Mangold and Hugh Jackman one-upped themselves with Logan. The film was written with the intention of harkening back to the Western genre when it was at its peak with movies like Shane and when Clint Eastwood was ruling the roost. It succeeds in that, and one wonders if Mangold could have pulled it off as well as he did had he not cut his teeth helming the best Western of the 2000s.

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Along with Mangold, just about every actor in 3:10 to Yuma has been in at least one superhero film. Six years after Yuma, Crowe starred as Jor-El in Man of Steel. And, after an uncredited performance in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Crowe made his true return to superhero movies via a far less serious role: Zeus in the disappointing Thor: Love and Thunder. Then, two years after Love and Thunder, he again took on a more serious comic book movie role as Nikolai Kravinoff, the overbearing and cruel father of the title character in Kraven the Hunter.

Then there’s Bale, who, of course, fronted Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy. Then, a full 10 years after that trilogy concluded, he returned to the subgenre with the aforementioned Thor: Love and Thunder. He and Crowe may not have shared the screen, but this marked their second (and still most recent) collaboration.

Then there’s the Ghost Rider connection. The late Peter Fonda played the role of Mephisto in the original film, which is now inhabited by Sacha Baron Cohen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yuma also features Johnny Whitworth, who played another adversary to Nicolas Cage’s title character in 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance: Ray Carrigan, aka Blackout.

Rounding out the cast of Yuma is Kevin Durand, who fans might recognize as The Blob in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Alan Tudyk, who voiced Alistair Krei in Big Hero 6, multiple roles in multiple animated DC movies, and Superman Robot 4 in James Gunn’s Superman. Tudyk also had a live-action cameo as Luke the Redneck in Deadpool 2.

But that’s not all, as Yuma scene-stealer Ben Foster played roles in multiple Marvel movies. First he was Spacker Dave in 2004’s The Punisher and then Angel in X-Men: The Last Stand. Foster could also be seen as The Stranger in 30 Days of Night. Furthermore, Luke Wilson joined a small-screen DC project as S.T.R.I.P.E. on Stargirl.

Have you seen 3:10 to Yuma yet? Check it out and let us know what you thought of it in the comments.