Start SlideshowStart SlideshowMichael B Jordan is one of those actors with a physique that looks like he was carved from marble while in the gym, staring at a collage of buff action heroes. And he’s put it to good use in his 20-plus year career, playing everything from a flying ball of fire in Fantastic Four to a fireman-turned-revolutionary running through fire in Fahrenheit 451, with a bunch more ass kicking in between. So, when he pulled off playing twin vampire and savior in Sinners, it wasn’t surprising when the biceps came out, the bullets started flying, and undead punches were swinging. That’s just what Michael B Jordan does.As we all collectively bask in Jordan’s Oscar-worthy performance in the year’s best film, it’s appropriate to look back at the most physically badass roles in his career.Previous SlideNext Slide2 / 9List slidesJohnny Storm in Fantastic FourList slidesJohnny Storm in Fantastic FourImage: 20th Century FoxThere’s almost nothing redeemable about Fantastic Four—except for the fact that Michael B. Jordan somehow turned a flaming CGI mess into a showcase of raw, physical swagger. As Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch, Jordan isn’t just tossing fireballs or flying through collapsing debris; he’s owning every chaotic second with the kind of athletic command usually reserved for action heroes in better movies. Between landing with thunderous force after mid-air combustion and confidently walking out of infernos like it’s just another Tuesday, Jordan makes you believe that setting yourself on fire might actually be cool if you’ve got the abs for it. The movie might crash and burn, but MBJ rises from it like a fireproof phoenix—cocky, kinetic, and built for the heat.Previous SlideNext Slide3 / 9List slidesGuy Montag in Fahrenheit 451List slidesGuy Montag in Fahrenheit 451Image: HBORunning through fire, smashing through walls, and igniting more than just books, Michael B. Jordan’s turn as Guy Montag in Fahrenheit 451 is a slow-burn kind of badass. You don’t expect a dystopian fireman-turned-revolutionary to be this physically commanding, but Jordan makes rebellion look like a contact sport. Whether he’s barreling through surveillance drones, sprinting across flaming streets, or wrestling with his own morality as violently as he does his enemies, his body moves like a weapon sharpened by rage and purpose. It’s not the kind of superheroic muscle-flexing you see in Creed or Black Panther, but it’s every bit as intense—just cloaked in ash, smoke, and the weight of dismantling a broken system.Previous SlideNext Slide4 / 9List slidesMaurice “Bumps” Wilson in Red TailsList slidesMaurice “Bumps” Wilson in Red TailsImage: 20th Century FoxYou don’t usually think of a fighter pilot role as a physical showcase, but Michael B. Jordan made sure his turn as Maurice “Bumps” Wilson in Red Tails hit different. Right out the gate, he’s throwing hands in the barracks, turning a playful scuffle into a display of fast fists and sharp footwork that shows he’s got more than just pilot skills. Once he’s in the air, that energy doesn’t let up. He’s yanking the controls like he’s in a street brawl with gravity, barking into the radio while dodging enemy fire, and pulling G-forces like it’s personal. In one brutal dogfight, Bumps takes a hit and nearly blacks out—but Jordan grits through it, clutching the stick like it’s life or death, sweat pouring and muscles flexed. Even when he’s grounded, he’s all tension and twitchy readiness—pacing, punching the air, never still. Jordan was a fighter in every sense of the word.Previous SlideNext Slide5 / 9List slidesVince Howard in Friday Night Lights List slidesVince Howard in Friday Night Lights Image: Universal TelevsionThere’s a moment in Friday Night Lights where Vince Howard takes off on a broken play, jukes two defenders out of their cleats, stiff-arms a third into the turf, and dives headfirst into the end zone like it’s life or death—and in Howard’s world, it kind of is. It’s in scenes like that where Michael B. Jordan’s physicality erupts. As one of his few true sports roles, Howard captures the raw athleticism Jordan brought to Friday Night Lights. It wasn’t just football; it was survival dressed in pads. And Jordan made sure you felt every yard he earned.Previous SlideNext Slide6 / 9List slidesKillmonger in Black PantherList slidesKillmonger in Black PantherImage: MarvelJordan’s Killmonger yelling “Is this your king?” is forever embedded in the collective consciousness of everyone who’s seen Black Panther, because it’s a declaration of dominance he backs up with every ounce of muscle and menace in his performance. From the moment he enters Wakanda, he moves like a man who’s trained for war his entire life—because he has. Every strike is calculated, every fight brutal, whether he’s dismantling T’Challa in ritual combat or walking through Wakanda’s royal court with the swagger of someone who’s already won. Coogler expertly weaponizes Jordan’s physique, making every flex and clash of spears feel like a reckoning. Previous SlideNext Slide7 / 9List slidesAdonis Creed in Creed 1-3 List slidesAdonis Creed in Creed 1-3 Image: Warner Bros. PicturesYou ever watch someone train so hard on screen you start rethinking your gym membership? That’s what it’s like watching Michael B. Jordan as Adonis Creed. Across three films, he doesn’t just play a boxer—he is one, chiseled out of grief, grit, and legacy. Whether he’s hammering tires in back-alley training montages or trading blows with human tanks in the ring, Jordan’s body looks war-ready. And under Ryan Coogler’s direction, every punch, flex, and sweat-drenched stare tells you this isn’t just about titles—it’s about identity, redemption, and proving he’s more than Apollo’s son. This is Jordan at his most locked-in, most lethal, and most legendary. Putting on a performance worthy of being attached to the Rocky legacy is one of the highest honors any badass actor can receive.Previous SlideNext Slide8 / 9List slidesSmoke and Stack in Sinners (2025)List slidesSmoke and Stack in Sinners (2025)Image: Warner Bros. PicturesSplitting oneself into two distinctively different characters doesn’t necessarily require physical prowess unless both of them are fighting for their lives. As twin brothers Elijah “Smoke” Moore and Elias “Stack” Moore in Ryan Coogler’s magnum opus horror flick Sinners, Jordan wasn’t only body slamming, shooting and leaping over waves of blood thirsty vampires, he was also taking bullet shots, rumbling, and trying to sink his teeth into...himself. Coogler made sure you could see his bulging biceps as he unloaded rounds of ammo onto racist Klansmen to reinforce the notion that Jordan’s characters were built to do battle with the evils of the world, because survival is the only way they’ve known how to live. Whether you see Sinners in the panoramic brilliance of IMAX 70mm or on your phone, you’ll recognize that Michael B Jordan is a badass regardless of the era.