Skip to main content

The 7 best Tom Hardy movies to stream

Dunkirk, Mad Max, and more feature in this star's catalog

Tom Hardy and Christian Bale in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
DC Entertainment / Legendary / Warner Bros.

Tom Hardy combines an eclectic mix of superstar traits and uses them in a variety of film types. This combination of talent and willingness to appear in anything from a major blockbuster to a smaller production as a supporting character makes him as likable as anyone in Hollywood. It also doesn’t hurt that his charismatic smile and sexual ambiguity in his personal life have turned him into a defining heartthrob of his generation.

He started on TV in HBO’s great miniseries Band of Brothers before turning to the big screen in the early 2000s. By the time the 2010s hit, Hardy was becoming a favorite of Christopher Nolan and became one of Marvel’s secret weapons. Looking at the best Tom Hardy movies gives audiences a fascinating look at the rise of a deservedly acclaimed acting icon of the last decade.

Recommended Videos

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

The Dark Knight Rises
165m
Genre
Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Stars
Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman
Directed by
Christopher Nolan
Watch on max

The Dark Knight Rises gets overlooked due to the greatness of The Dark Knight, but the third and final Nolan film featuring Batman actually features much of the same incredible acting and special effects that its predecessor does. Tom Hardy plays Bane, a hulking terrorist with a more exacting bluntness than Heath Ledger’s Joker. The contrast between the villains is evident in both their physicality on the screen and in the ways they deliver their lines. Hardy’s performance here allowed him to excel in future superhero movies and would have been given more credit without the legacy of Ledger hanging in the background. The movie features other great performances from Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman.

Dunkirk (2017)

Dunkirk
107m
Genre
War, Action, Drama
Stars
Fionn Whitehead, Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance
Directed by
Christopher Nolan
Watch on Amazon

Dunkirk is a war movie for the true enthusiasts of World War II history. If you were ever in social studies class wondering what exactly fighting in the biggest battles of humankind looked like, this is your type of film. Christopher Nolan’s intensity and dedication to his craft are all realized here with 106 minutes of realistic special effects and actors who fit right into the aesthetic of the time period. Hardy doesn’t have to say much to convey his emotions in a story about brotherhood, desperation, and hope. Pop star Harry Styles also makes an appearance.

Capone (2020)

Capone
103m
Genre
Crime, Drama
Stars
Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon
Directed by
Josh Trank
Watch on Amazon

Capone puts Tom Hardy in the familiar position of physically transforming into a completely different looking person, this time the famous gangster Al Capone in his later years. The movie makes the interesting decision to not show Capone at the height of his criminal career, but rather after the downfall of his enterprise, and this results in a mixed bag of storytelling. America’s obsession with mobsters and organized crime always leaves room for these types of movies, but Hardy’s performance might be the only thing that makes someone want to watch Capone instead of a Martin Scorcese vehicle like Goodfellas.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Mad Max: Fury Road
121m
Genre
Action, Adventure, Science Fiction
Stars
Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
Directed by
George Miller
Watch on max

Mad Max: Fury Road is just as famous for its long and drawn out production process as it is for the end result. Director George Miller literally needed decades to complete this movie from the time of inception to its culmination, but this also allowed major tweaks in the casting that resulted in Tom Hardy getting the starring nod as Max. The film follows a battle between two factions of society during the end times for resources and land. Sequels and prequels haven’t lived up to the greatness of this 2015 flick.

Inception (2010)

Inception
148m
Genre
Action, Science Fiction, Adventure
Stars
Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe
Directed by
Christopher Nolan
Watch on Amazon

Inception is Leonardo DiCaprio’s film, but Tom Hardy proves our previous point about his supporting abilities tenfold. Christopher Nolan’s plot moves at a weird, rapid, and confusing pace yet again in a story about a dream infiltrator. Inception dives into humanity’s fear of the subconscious and inspects the impact it would have on our lives in an alternate universe. It became a defining sci-fi flick of the 2010s and encouraged Nolan to collaborate with Hardy twice more.

Venom (2018)

Venom
112m
Genre
Science Fiction, Action
Stars
Tom Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed
Directed by
Ruben Fleischer
Watch on Amazon

Tom Hardy elevates the comic book source material in Venom to give Eddie Brock a newfound vitality ready for the big screen. Other actors such as Topher Grace failed to make Venom a captivating presence, but Hardy’s antihero journey rushes through the audience’s eyes and has given life to multiple sequels. This first film follows Eddie’s origins as a man who struggles with being infected by an alien presence. It splits his personality and forces him to choose between his alter ego and true self . . .  if he can decipher the difference.

The Revenant (2015)

The Revenant
157m
Genre
Western, Drama, Adventure
Stars
Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson
Directed by
Alejandro González Iñárritu
Watch on max

DiCaprio and Hardy connect again in the award-winning, exhausting adventure tale The Revenant. This movie is most known for getting Leo his long-awaited Academy Award, but Hardy gets to flex his antagonistic acting as DiCaprio’s rival in a tale of two men fighting each other and nature’s wrath. A famous bear fight in the woods gets a lot of attention, but the climactic fight between Hugh Glass and John S. Fitzgerald is bloody and palpably violent. This one isn’t exactly a rewatchable classic, but every fan of high-level cinema should watch The Revenant.

Movie images and data from:
Shawn Laib
Shawn Laib is a freelance writer with publications such as Den of Geek, Quote.com, Edge Media Network, diaTribe, SUPERJUMP…
Ryan Reynolds pitched an R-rated Star Wars movie, but not for him to star in
Star Wars has never released an R-rated movie.
star wars qui-gon jinn

Ryan Reynolds has been more than willing to push the envelope at major studios. His Deadpool & Wolverine was a major success for Marvel Studios even though it was also their first R-rated movie, and now, he's revealed that he's interested in doing something similar for Star Wars.

In a recent interview on the “The Box Office” podcast with host Scott Mendelson, Reynolds revealed that he had pitched the studio on its first R-rated film in a galaxy far, far away.

Read more
9 shows to watch if you love The Walking Dead
AMC's zombie show was a phenomenon. These shows will help you revisit that thrill
Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.

The Walking Dead started as a niche zombie series in the early 2010s, but it built up steam and transformed into a runaway hit just a few seasons after its inception. By the middle of the decade, Robert Kirkman's post-apocalyptic series was the most popular program on basic cable TV. It revolutionized long-form storytelling and created a rabid fandom that allowed it to run for over a decade and spawn many spinoffs.

Undead monsters aren't the only thing that made The Walking Dead such a fascinating and addictive watch, though. The depth of the characters and the survivalist strategies of the entire group made for thrilling, adrenaline-filled episodes that other shows had a hard time matching. We have the best shows like The Walking Dead to watch next if you love the binge-worthiness of world-ending drama in this comic book adaptation.

Read more
Nobody 2: Everything we know so far
Bob Odenkirk is back for another action adventure
Bob Odenkirk in Nobody 2

Before Bob Odenkirk turned in a seminal performance of TV's prestige era playing Jimmy McGill and Saul Goodman in Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, he was most known for his comedy chops. People were surprised to see him step out of his comfort zone in the world of drama television, but it helped usher in a new reputation for the veteran, everyman star.

Odenkirk got to play an action hero in 2021's Nobody, and the sequel is finally on the way. Nobody 2 might just be one of the best movies of the summer. Here is everything we know about it so far, from the cast to the trailer and the release date.
Is there a trailer for Nobody 2?

Read more