Jason Statham has built a career out of playing a tough guy action hero, but not all of his roles are equal when it comes to power and deadliness. Jason Statham got his start acting when he appeared as a dancer and an extra in music videos during the 90s. However, he soon got his start acting in action crime movies when he began working with Guy Ritchie. His first two feature films saw him prominently cast in Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch.

Then, just two years after Snatch was released, Statham starred in a new action film, The Transporter, where he firmly cemented his status as an action hero in Hollywood. Statham has since gone on to star in dozens of films, with a significant number of leading roles across different action properties. Despite his proficiency at playing outrageously heroic characters, however, Statham has played characters who dramatically vary in their level of deadliness.

10

Ethan Greer

Cellular

Coming in at the bottom of the pile is Cellular from 2004. As one of Statham’s earlier films, he landed a prominent background role as the primary antagonist in the story opposite Chris Evans’ hero. Statham plays a corrupt cop by the name of Ethan Greer who has been involved in a string of incidents that would see him removed from his position and sent to prison if he were to be discovered.

However, while Greer has the sense and power to get a team together and try to get rid of any evidence that could result in his being locked up, he ultimately loses to a civilian. Ryan (Evans) does not have special training or insider knowledge. He is simply a civilian who randomly gets a phone call from a woman who has been kidnapped. He is then able to follow instructions and get a gun and a car to rescue the woman when other avenues fail. Despite Greer’s status as a trained professional, he is outsmarted and taken down by civilians.

9

Phil Broker

Homefront

In 2013, Statham starred in a film penned by none other than Sylvester Stallone, Homefront. The movie follows a retired DEA agent and his young daughter after they move to a small community in Middle America. However, when Phil Broker’s (Statham) daughter is caught up in a fight at school, it unlocks the door for Broker’s past to come back and bite him.

Statham is clearly playing a more efficient and well-trained government agent in Homefront, with his role swapped from villain to hero. As a result, the character is much more effective in his efforts to fight off attackers, and to use his specialist knowledge to gain the advantage. Unlike Greer, Broker has a solid plan for escaping from harm and protecting the people he cares about most.

8

Joseph Smith

Hummingbird

Also in 2013, Statham starred in the film Hummingbird, where he played a former Special Forces soldier by the name of Joseph Smith. However, he has fallen on hard times and is now a homeless man living in London. Throughout the film, Smith takes on a new identity, begins squatting in a wealthy person’s empty home, and gets involved in a life of crime and vengeance. And despite his bad luck, Smith continues to utilize his Special Forces training to become a deadly criminal.

Statham shows off his incredible skills in this role as he takes down his rivals with extreme proficiency and brutality. He is a weapon who is highly capable of seriously injuring and killing enemies with his bare hands, or whatever he can find conveniently located nearby. Ultimately, he remains one of Statham’s tougher and more gritty characters throughout his career.

7

Jonas Taylor

The Meg

The Meg is one of the first roles on this list that features a character played by Statham reaching the status of a superhero. While Jonas Taylor is not technically super, and the film portrays him as a simple diver and conservationist, Taylor is much more capable than the average man or soldier. Throughout the first film, Taylor is seen taking down a massive Megalodon shark under the water in their home environment.

However, things get even crazier in the second movie when Taylor is able to wield a huge helicopter blade like a sword and impale the Alpha Meg in a feat of heroism that is beyond anything seen in the above movies. His enormous strength and ability to compete with sea-dwelling creatures of monolithic size guarantees him a spot as one of Statham’s most deadly characters of all time.

6

Adam Clay

The Beekeeper

The 2024 film directed by David Ayer, The Beekeeper, sees Statham tackle a different role as a former agent within a secret and mysterious organization that operates above the law. The film establishes how dangerous and efficient these special agents are, as members of the FBI, CIA and Secret Service all tremble at the mention of the Beekeepers. However, Statham’s character, Adam Clay, appears to be a step above even his peers in the organization as he takes out a current Beekeeper.

Throughout the movie, this one-man murder machine is able to tear through countless special agents in his quest for revenge. However, he also appears to lack motivation, as the killings appear to be largely inconsequential to Clay. Regardless, there is no denying just how dangerous Clay is as a combatant and agent of espionage.

5

Lee Christmas

The Expendables

Moving on to a more light-hearted action role, but arguably one that is even more dangerous, Statham has featured prominently in all four of the currently released Expendables movies, where he appears prominently alongside Stallone. While the movies are less serious than other entries listed here, the action and heroics are amped all the way up throughout the series to make these action stars truly great.

Statham plays a former SAS agent, Lee Christmas, who now works alongside Barney Ross (Stallone) and his team. Christmas is highly skilled in many forms of combat, and he is the second-in-command within the team. While he may not be as immediately dangerous or intimidating as Adam Clay, his ability to work in a team, and the growth of his character over four movies make him a serious contender. The films feature the team performing increasingly wild and impossible stunts, which make Christmas just edge out the overall efficiency of Clay.

4

Arthur Bishop

The Mechanic

One of the franchises where Statham puts on a great show as an extraordinary man capable of impossible feats is The Mechanic. While many of Statham’s characters dig into their past and connections to major agencies, Arthur Bishop (Statham) is much more mysterious. Bishop is an assassin for hire, and his particular skill set makes him especially proficient at making murders look like accidents.

However, in the original 2011 film and the 2016 sequel, he elevates his skills to another level. While performing astonishing feats that appear impossible, Bishop is capable of being extremely precise, powerful, and creative, while still controlling situations that appear uncontrollable. The character excels in most areas of fighting and sabotage, making him particularly dangerous.

3

Deckard Shaw

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw

Once again, upping the ante, Statham had a prominent role within the Fast & Furious franchise just as the series entered a new era of superheroics. While earlier films in the series maintained some sense of realism and normalcy, the later movies where Shaw appears lean fully into the ridiculous, over-the-top action that makes the series popular. Here, Statham plays a villain turned ally by the name of Deckard Shaw.

Shaw is originally the primary antagonist in Furious 7, where he seeks revenge on Dom Toretto and his crew for hospitalizing his brother. However, by the end of the film, Dom and the gang welcome him in as they recognize their shared values of family first. Shaw then continues to be a prominent part of the series for the remaining films, where he continues to pull off stunts that appear outside the realm of what is humanly possible, along with the crew.

2

Chev Chelios

Crank

Crank is one of the more unusual films in Statham’s backlog, but it also provides one of the most interesting and dangerous leading characters. Chev Chelios is a hitman, and for all intents and purposes, he is extremely good at what he does. However, when some of the criminals he works with want to take him off the board, they inject him with a powerful synthetic drug that will eventually kill him once his adrenaline drops below a certain level.

For many, this would be a quick death sentence, but for Chelios, he takes the opportunity to keep his heart racing and his adrenaline at a hig through murder, crime, picking fights, assaulting police, and public sex. Chelios is dangerous because of how unpredictable and wild he is in his methods. Not to mention the fact that he is capable of snapping someone’s neck with incredible ease while hanging out of a helicopter. Chelios is dangerous, and willing to do whatever it takes to stay alive.

1

Frank Martin

The Transporter

However, the top spot has to go to one of Statham’s first ever leading roles, The Transporter. While The Transporter films are marginally more grounded than some of the other entries on this list, the character of Frank Martin is an absolute tank who can get up and walk away unharmed from multiple explosions, car collisions, chase down speeding cars on a bike, get air from a car tire to survive underwater, and generally complete a long list of impossible tasks.

It may be one of Statham’s earliest roles as a leading action hero, but it stands out as one of his all time best and most lethal characters. Martin works as a for-hire mercenary and transporter, as suggested by the name, but his resourcefulness, willingness to kill to survive, and his intelligence make him elite. Were Martin pitted against other characters played by Jason Statham, there is a good chance he would come out on top.