The ’80s were the time of the buffed action hero, and since then, many kinds of actors have played such roles with great results: from Keanu Reeves (in two different decades) to Charlize Theron, to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. All those actors are well over forty, so who could take those kinds of roles and make them unique and fun for a new generation? We have some ideas, that don’t include Tom Holland, as we believe between his Spider-Man role and Uncharted, he’s already an action star. Here are eight modern actors who could be the next great action movie hero:

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8 Angus Cloud

     Warner Bros. Television Distribution

Angus Cloud hasn’t done many things other than Euphoria, but he had some of the better moments in season two, showing off his range. He can be menacing; he can be a goofy weed guy; he can be romantic, and he can be the best of friends. All those qualities could make him the newest rom-com action star in movies that follow the style of Romancing the Stone or Six Days and Seven Nights, where he should be playing the urban guy to the other more jungle-friendly love interest.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

7 Glenn Powell

     Paramount Pictures

With charisma, sarcasm, cockiness, action hero quips, and showy physique, Glen Powell already has in his arsenal all the ingredients that could make him an action hero in the Bruce Willis mold. His best performances come when he’s sparring with a great scene partner, be it Miles Teller in Top Gun: Maverick or Zoey Deutsch in Set It Up, so it’s a good idea that in his just-announced next project, he’ll star with Regé-Jean Page in a new retelling of the Butch and Sundance story. Page as the stoic charismatic one, while Powell talks and talks, sounds like a match made in Hollywood heaven.

6 Keke Palmer

     Vertical Entertainment

Keke Palmer is an actress, singer, host, and producer, and she’s done it all greatly. Getting ready for an action role wouldn’t be a problem for her, as she could use her dynamite screen presence. Palmer’s performance in Nope showed how many registries she has as an actress: she can both play comedy and drama, be brave, fake brave, smart, funny, charismatic, genuine, and loving; all ingredients that should make her a great action movie hero to lead her own franchise, be it as a super-hero with a cape or just, a real normal hero.

5 Saoirse Ronan

     Focus Features

Four Oscar nominations before the age of thirty shows that Saoirse Ronan is an actor’s actor. In all her roles, she always makes you believe in the character she’s playing, be it a teenager in Sacramento, a young kid in Victorian England, or the Queen of Scotland. That’s why seeing her become an awesome action hero would be so fun. She’s done it before, as she was the lead in Hanna, and had many incredible action scenes.

About those scenes, Ronan told MTV: “Of course, I had to train and strengthen and things like that, but I’ve always been quite an athletic person and my dad really did karate when he was younger, and he was an All-Ireland champion, and stuff. I’ve always seen him do things like that… so I kind of got the movements and the energy easily enough.” Let’s hope for a future where she plays this kind of character again, maybe with her favorite director Greta Gerwig, that would be a unique action movie we would love to see.

4 Quincy Isaiah

     HBO

Quincy Isaiah is still pretty unknown unless you’ve seen Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, where he plays Ervin “Magic” Johnson, and shows off his charisma and athleticism, both essential characteristics for an action hero of this century. He used to be an athlete, and as such, he could follow the John David Washington path of an ex-athlete who becomes an action hero. We could also see him in a buddy cop movie, where he’s the charismatic, charming one while some other actor plays de more silenced type.

About being athletic and playing “Magic” Johnson, Isaiah told GQ: “Honestly, what I think he wanted to see more than anything was am I athletic enough to at least get certain things down and was I going to work hard enough to get it down if I didn’t have it. And I like to think he saw both. But coming from being a football player, I kind of knew what it was going to be, so I knew to bust my butt and make it hard for him to be like, ‘Nah.’”

3 Florence Pugh

     Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Florence Pugh can do it all and has been doing it all, from earning an Oscar Nomination for her role in Little Women, to making us cry in Midsommar while showing she can be an athletic presence in both Fighting With My Family and Black Widow. She might already be a superhero with action stunts (and a hero landing), but we want even more for Pugh. What about a movie in the Atomic Blonde style where she’s a force to be reckoned with (and also fight with)? We could also see her as a new John McClane sarcastic hero, as she can do no wrong in our book.

2 Zendaya

         Sony Pictures Releasing

Zendaya has already been in the action and franchise world, albeit always as the love interest. We want her to pack some punch while showing all the acting prowess we know she has after her incredible performance in Euphoria. We want a movie where Tom Holland is her love interest, the man in distress, while she’s at the heart of all the action. We could see her as an adventurer type in the mold of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider, where her smartness is as important as her toughness, while also knowing how to fight the worst villains.

1 Anya Taylor-Joy

     20th Century Studios

Anya Taylor-Joy has shown range in her performances, although she’s always been attracted to darker roles. Many directors cast her in characters who lived centuries ago, because of her milky skin and big eyes, but we believe she could do great in a spy movie, one where she starts as an antihero, where there’s both intrigue but also some action, and where Taylor-Joy could use her language skills (she speaks Spanish with an Argentinean accent because she has family there).

Showing both her acting skills while learning to fight some villains sounds like a perfect combination for any new franchise; maybe a Bourne-like one could be best. We’re not the only ones who think she should be an action star, as she’s already been cast as a young Furiosa in the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel for which there are big expectations. Following the steps of Theron, another great, and talented actress who won an Oscar, but has also been an action movie hero, is not a bad idea to start with, that’s for sure.