Ryan Coogler’s Sinners has been the cinema success story of 2025, and the double performance from Michael B. Jordan at the heart of the film has reminded a wider audience of his leading-man quality. Delving into Jordan’s top five performances to date, Coogler will be a name mentioned over and over—the creative duo have clear star power.
5. Black Panther (2018)
As a body of work, Marvel’s Cinematic Universe massively divides opinion—yet Black Panther does seem to have the cultural significance to bridge the gap. Historically a white-dominated space, the aforementioned Ryan Coogler lead a largely black cast into the new age of the MCU, making 2018’s Black Panther a favourite to many.
Chadwick Boseman, may he rest in peace, steals the show as frontman King T’Challa but he is matched by Jordan’s hugely charismatic Killmonger. It is safe to say that Marvel films rarely bring out the best of their actors, but at the very least, Black Panther serves as a reminder that Jordan is capable of holding his own on the biggest stages.
4. Just Mercy (2019)
Dir. [Destin Daniel Cretton]
Destin Daniel Cretton is another director who has challenged the superhero norms, but it is for a film grounded very much in reality that his work features in this list. He packed a massive, emotional punch with Short Term 12 in 2013, and while 2019’s Just Mercy didn’t receive the same acclaim, it still remains as a powerful—and true—story.
Jordan depicts Bryan Stevenson, a Harvard-educated lawyer who turns to pro bono work in Alabama, looking to make a bigger difference with the skills he possesses. The film follows a relatively familiar formula as he meets Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), a black man wrongly convicted of murdering a white woman in the 1980s, and is able to talk him into accepting representation in the courts.
Without reinventing the wheel per se, Just Mercy still does enough to fully engage the audience with Jordan playing a sizable part in this.
3. Creed (2015)
Returning to that tried-and-tested Coogler and Jordan partnership, we have the advent of the modern-day Rocky franchise in Creed. Sports movies often have a tightrope to walk, a fall on one side plunging them into cringeworthy territory and the other resulting in a stiff story lacking the entertainment factor.
As is to be expected with a movie about boxing, Jordan delivers a very physical performance. Every sinew of his body strains to great effect, the authenticity dispelling any possibilities of that cringe nature setting in. The praise that Tony Bellew, a stalwart of 21st-century boxing in Britain, lauded upon the star for his work during filming tells us all we need to know.
Sylvester Stallone is a cinema icon as Rocky Balboa, and so whilst not being a direct replacement by any means, Jordan had big shoes to fill when it came to ushering this world into its new era with Adonis Creed. Not only do he and Tessa Thompson make for one of the most beautiful on-screen couples that you’re ever likely to see, but the bond that forms between them allows the audience to see Adonis as far more than just a boxing brute— a sentiment that extends into the two subsequent films as well.
2. Fruitvale Station (2013)
The Wire and Friday Night Lights were many people’s first introduction to Michael B. Jordan, but he announced himself to the world in Coogler’s directorial debut, Fruitvale Station. The range of genres that the pair have covered—from sports to superheroes and, most recently, blues music and vampires—is already extensive. Their versatility becomes only more impressive when the gut-wrenching true story of Fruitvale Station enters the fray.
With both being black men hailing from California, the cold-blooded murder of Oscar Grant by BART PD (Bay Art Rapid Transit Police Department) is an event that will have been particularly poignant for them. A question often asked about stories like this is whether they are necessary, but the heart and care that went into Fruitvale Station answer that question immediately.
Coogler and Jordan are able to both celebrate the life of Grant and keep his name and legacy alive with this impactful piece of art. The latter is a figure with major gravitas to the point that it is difficult not to feel everything he feels, from the points of joy in Grant’s life to the moments leading up to his tragic passing. An indelible impression is left on the viewer, with Oscar Grant’s name set to live on forever as a result of this film.
1. Sinners (2025)
Recency bias and reactionary are two terms that could be used to describe the decision to place Sinners at the summit of this list, but best believe that it is, without a doubt, the best work to date from both Jordan and Coogler.
Jordan doesn’t have to lead this film just once but twice as he portrays twins Smoke and Stack. One is a volatile, on-edge figure not afraid to speak his mind whilst the other is a lot more contained and reflective, this duality presenting the actor with an opportunity to really show off his talents. Their differences are most evident when interacting with their respective love interests, Smoke’s poignant and intimate reunion with Annie (Wunmi Mosaku) one of many that helps to add a further layer to the characters.
Many wondered if Jordan had what it took to lead a genre-bending film like Sinners, and they now have their answer. Maybe nobody could have been more perfect for these two roles after all.
Honourable mentions:
That Awkward Moment (2014) and Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse (2021)