Sylvester Stallonehas played his fair share of tough guys throughout his career, with Rocky Balboa and John Rambo as the two most famous. In the 1980s, there were no bigger action movie stars than Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. They were the two biggest names when it came to getting big-budget action movies into theaters, and they remained at the top of the genre until names like Bruce Willis offered a fresh alternative, with an average, more relatable hero thrown into fantastical situations.
However, while the actor was a bankable action hero, even stretching into the 2000s withThe Expendables, his most popular characters were nowhere near as strong asSylvester Stallone’s most powerful movie characters. The actor mostly banked on being an overpowering “regular guy” for much of his career, even in science fiction releases likeDemolition Manand war movies like theRambofranchise. This changed in 2022,when Stallone took on the lead role in a smaller, independent superhero film, playing a man named Joe Smith.
Joe “Samaritan” Smith Is Sylvester Stallone’s Most Powerful Human Character
Joe Smith Is A Retired Superhero WIth A Healing Factor
In 2022, Sylvester Stallone starred inthe superhero filmSamaritan, an Amazon Prime Video exclusive. The movie offers a grittier and darker take on superhero entertainment in a futuristic world where Stallone’s superhero, the Samaritan, is believed to be dead. The storyline features a young boy named Sam, who finds himself targeted by a gang after a deal goes wrong. This leads a stranger named Joe Smith to step in and save the boy, causing Sam to believe that Joe is the long-believed-to-be-dead superhero, the Samaritan.
Sam is right. The film then sees the gang target Joe. As the movie progresses, Joe proves that he is stronger than anyone might have believed, especially those who had only heard the legends of his exploits before his apparent death 25 years prior. The Samaritan has super strength and durability, as well as a healing factor, with one major downfall. When he heals, he starts to overheat and needs something to cool down before he possibly explodes.
The movie also sees the Samaritan’s backstory,including an interesting twist at the endconcerning his twin brother, who was formerly the villain, Nemesis. Throughout the film, Joe shows that he can take a beating, much like most Sylvester Stallone characters. However, his healing factor and super strength make him much more powerful than any of the actor’s previous characters, including the scrappy boxer Rocky and the resilient, yet still human, Rambo.
Sylvester Stallone toldSyFy:
“I thought that this guy, his trait would be in his resolve. He still has great physical power as opposed to speed and he’s not jumping through the air. He can’t fly, he can’t see through walls, and fire doesn’t come out of his mouth. He’s just a unique sort of superhero, like a modern-day Hercules. He’s that kind of a mythic hero and I think those are ones that you can identify with.”
Sylvester Stallone Has Only Played A Couple Of “Super” Characters In His Career
WhileSamaritanoffered Sylvester Stallone the chance to play a superhero as the lead, it wasn’t his first comic book-styled role. In 1995,Stallone played his first super character in the science fiction filmJudge Dredd. Based on the2000 ADcomic character, Judge Dredd is a law enforcement official in a dystopian world, serving as judge, jury, and executioner. While he has no superpowers, he is a larger-than-life figure in an expansive universe.
2000 AD
Guardians of the Galaxy (2017-2023)
Joe Smith
Mythos Comics
AfterJudge Dredd, it took Stallone 22 years to return to the superhero genre withGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, an MCU film with Stallone portraying Stakar Ogord, an alien member of the Ravagers who holds a grudge against Yondu (Michael Rooker). He has no known powers in his two MCU appearances, but the character does have powers in his Marvel Comics appearances.
Finally, the most powerful ofSylvester Stallone’s super characters is King Shark from James Gunn’s 2021 filmThe Suicide Squad. He is a man-eating shark-human hybrid. Standing six feet seven inches, he is invulnerable to almost any weapon used against him and is seen throughout the movie eating nearly every enemy he encounters. WhileThe Samaritanpresents Stallone’s strongest human character, he has taken on some fantastical roles later in his career.
Samaritan
Cast
In Samaritan, Granite City was once protected by a vigilante superhero known as Samaritan, who supposedly died in a battle with his greatest foe, Nemesis. Sam Cleary, a boy who believes Samaritan is still alive, lives with his mother living in poverty and struggling to make ends meet. When Sam accepts a job from a gang leader that goes sideways, Sam is attacked by the gang until a garbage collector shows up and single-handedly stops the gang’s attack. The garbage collector, known as Joe Smith, exhibits superhuman strength in this heroic act, which leads the young boy to believe the older man is Samaritan.
