From tuxedoed icons to amnesiac assassins and gritty Cold War operatives, the greatest movie spies span every style of espionage. Who deserves the top slot? Cast your vote!
1Jason BourneThe amnesiac CIA assassin of the Bourne franchise, played by Matt Damon.1000pts
2Harry HartThe impeccably tailored Kingsman mentor agent, played by Colin Firth.835pts
3Xander CageThe extreme-sports rebel recruited as an NSA agent in xXx.762pts
4James BondMI6's suave 007, the most enduring spy in film across six decades and 25 films.735pts
5Evelyn SaltThe accused double-agent CIA officer of Salt, played by Angelina Jolie.659pts
6NikitaThe convict remade into a government assassin in Luc Besson's Nikita.571pts
7Ethan HuntThe daredevil IMF agent of the Mission: Impossible series, played by Tom Cruise.467pts
8Harry PalmerThe reluctant, bespectacled British spy of The Ipcress File, played by Michael Caine.467pts
9Natasha RomanoffMarvel's Black Widow, a former Russian operative turned Avenger.343pts
10Napoleon SoloThe debonair CIA agent of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.343pts
11Austin PowersThe swinging-sixties parody super-spy played by Mike Myers.343pts
12George SmileyJohn le Carre's cerebral, understated British intelligence master.0pts
13Jack RyanTom Clancy's CIA analyst turned field operative across several films.0pts
14Harry TaskerArnold Schwarzenegger's secret agent in True Lies who hides his double life from his wife while battling terrorists.
15Derek FlintJames Coburn's suave, all-knowing super-spy of Our Man Flint and In Like Flint, the 1960s American answer to Bond.
16Matt HelmDean Martin's laid-back, wisecracking agent of the 1960s spy spoofs starting with The Silencers.
17Alec LeamasRichard Burton's weary British agent in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, a bleak masterpiece of Cold War espionage.
18Illya KuryakinThe cool Russian partner of Napoleon Solo in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., first played by David McCallum.
19Felix LeiterJames Bond's loyal CIA friend and ally across the 007 films, played most memorably by Jeffrey Wright.
20Eggsy UnwinTaron Egerton's street-smart London recruit who becomes a gentleman spy of the secret Kingsman service.
21Lorraine BroughtonCharlize Theron's lethal MI6 agent in Atomic Blonde, sent into Berlin as the Wall falls.
22Ilsa FaustRebecca Ferguson's enigmatic British agent who matches Ethan Hunt move for move in the Mission: Impossible films.
23Dominika EgorovaJennifer Lawrence's Bolshoi ballerina forced into Russian intelligence as a trained seductress spy in Red Sparrow.
24Maxwell SmartThe bumbling but lucky Agent 86 of CONTROL, brought to the big screen by Steve Carell in Get Smart.
25Johnny EnglishRowan Atkinson's hopelessly overconfident British agent in the Johnny English spy comedies.
26Susan CooperMelissa McCarthy's desk-bound CIA analyst who goes undercover and proves herself in the comedy Spy.
27Nick FurySamuel L. Jackson's eyepatch-wearing spymaster and director of S.H.I.E.L.D. across the Marvel films.
28Nathan MuirRobert Redford's veteran CIA operative who outwits his own agency to save his protégé in Spy Game.
29Court GentryRyan Gosling's CIA black-ops agent Sierra Six, hunted across the globe in The Gray Man.
30Aaron CrossJeremy Renner's genetically enhanced operative from a sister programme of Treadstone in The Bourne Legacy.
Photo credits
- James Bond — big-ashb, CC BY 2.0
- Harry Tasker — Bernhard Holub, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Felix Leiter — Harald Krichel, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Eggsy Unwin — Gabriel Hutchinson, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Lorraine Broughton — PhilipRomano, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Ilsa Faust — Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Maxwell Smart — Kevin Paul, CC BY 4.0
- Johnny English — Eva Rinaldi, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Susan Cooper — https://www.flickr.com/photos/greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Nick Fury — Daltoncitys, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Court Gentry — Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0
- Aaron Cross — Max Surprenant, CC BY 4.0
Comments 1
Bourne has no gadgets and four films; Bond has six actors and more than twenty, which is the arithmetic against him: https://youpick.best/articles/how-many-ways-to-rank-matt-damon
YP
ypb-teamAug 21
