12 Great Action Movies on Hulu Right Now (July 2026): ‘Iron Man’ and More

Billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has everything – looks, charisma, women and lots of money. But all that means nothing when he’s kidnapped by terrorists in Afghanistan and forced to make weapons for them. Instead, Stark makes a crude armored suit and escapes, and that’s how a self-involved playboy with a heart problem became Iron Man. But not everyone likes the idea of a high-flying hero who operates by his own rules, and soon, a new enemy rises who could end Iron Man’s superhero career before it has even begun.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe began with Iron Man, and there’s a good reason why – it’s one of the best modern action movies ever made. The still-flawless visual effects really make you believe someone like Iron Man can actually exist, and the early scenes with Stark stuck in a cave building his suit from scratch are some of the movie’s best. The film is also aided by a terrific supporting cast, which includes Gwyneth Paltrow as Stark’s quippy right-hand woman, Pepper Potts. Iron Man 2 is also streaming on Hulu, and while it’s not as good, it’s still an enjoyable action film with a terrific Mickey Rourke performance.

Scientist Will Rodman (James Franco) wants to find a cure for Alzheimer’s so he can save his beloved father, Charles (John Lithgow).  Think he may have found it with ALZ-112, an experimental drug he’s been testing on chimpanzees to see if it’s viable. But the drug has a strange side effect – it rapidly increases the intelligence and cognition of its test subjects, like Caesar (Andy Serkis). Yet what proves to be a breakthrough in modern science turns into a disaster, as Caesar and his super-intelligent ape brethren gradually realize they don’t want to be controlled by their human masters.

When it was released in 2011, Rise of the Planet of the Apes did the impossible – it made the Apes franchise cool again. A good reason why is that the film combines thoughtful character development with well-executed action, particularly the thrilling siege of the Golden Gate Bridge in the third act. Rise spawned a slew of prequels that made more money and have more fans, but it remains a solid sci-fi action flick that stands firmly on its own. 

One of the most exciting action films ever made is nearly 30 years old, but it feels as fresh today as it did back in 1998. In Run Lola Run, the titular pink-haired heroine, Lola (Franka Potente), has to save her no-good boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), from certain death. He intends to rob a grocery store to get some money to pay his dug lord boss, and if Lola wants to stop, she has 20 minutes to find the cash herself. 

That’s the simple setup to the film, which is split into three different narratives detailing all the multiple ways Lola tries to get the money. Director Tom Tykwer plays fast and loose with time and space, allowing his heroine to sometimes bend the rules of reality to get what she wants. It doesn’t always work out for her – in one reality, she winds up [REDACTED]. But the main pleasure of the film is watching Lola thinking of all the ways she can save her lover while running breathlessly around a Berlin populated with screaming babies, philandering fathers and curious nuns. Way ahead of its time, Run Lola Run is an action film with a pulse and a techno beat that you won’t stop humming. It will make you want to get up, channel your inner Lola and find some adventure of your own.

After Cameron Poe (Nicolas Cage) finishes his jail term for involuntary manslaughter, he is placed on a flight with several other convicts who are being transported to a new maximum security prison. Unlike Poe, these guys are very bad people, so when the plane is hijacked by one of them, Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom (John Malkovich), all hell breaks loose. Poe is the only one on board who can stop them from breaking free, but to do that, he’ll have to take them down one by one without crashing the plane.

Con Air has a silly title and an even sillier premise, but with a cast featuring some of the best character actors of the ‘90s, the film works far better than it should. Sporting a buffed-up physique and an ugly mullet, Cage is the grungy action hero we all deserve, while Malkovich and Steve Buscemi compete with who can chew the most scenery as the film’s wild, over-the-top villains. Con Air is pure Hollywood hokum, and it achieves a kind of machismo-fueled perfection that most action films aspire to reach.

Ever wonder how The Kingsmen, that super spy network that was at the center of two middling action blockbusters from director Matthew Vaughn, came to be? Probably not, but you’ll find out anyway in The King’s Man, an unnecessary prequel that is also a pretty decent historical action movie if you throw logic and common sense out of the window.

Ralph Fiennes stars as Orlando, Duke of Oxford, who establishes that spy network just before World War I starts. When the Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination plunges most of the globe into conflict, Orlando and his son, Conrad (Harris Dickinson), discover that a secret society called The Flock is behind it, with Russian mystic Grigori Rasputin (Rhys Ifans) leading the effort to destroy anyone who gets in their way. Orlando and Conrad aren’t going to let that happen, but it will take their entire spy organization to stop The Flock from emerging victorious.

You know things have gone terribly wrong for Detective Lt. Mike Lowrey (Will Smith) and Detective Lt. Marcus Burnett (Martin Lawrence) when Miami’s finest suddenly find themselves Miami’s most wanted in Bad Boys: Ride or Die. Their only real crime was trying to posthumously clear the good name of their late captain, Conrad Howard (Joe Pantoliano).

The boys should have known that whoever framed Captain Howard could frame them as well. To be “ride or die” for someone is to be there for them when the chips are down, no matter what. Mike and Marcus are for each other, and now they’ll learn who’s ride or die for them during their darkest hour.

Bad Boys Ride or Die is streaming on Hulu.

All of The Hunger Games movies are really solid action flicks, but there’s something about the first one that sticks out. Jennifer Lawrence fully came into her own as Katniss Everdeen, a teenager who volunteered to take part in the lethal Hunger Games if it meant saving her sister from the same fate.

There can only be one winner in the games, which is why Katniss doesn’t really believe that her fellow tribute, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), is in love with her. When the games start, it’s everyone for themselves. To survive, Katniss has to embrace her killer instincts, and that might not be all she’ll have to give up.

The Hunger Games will stream on Hulu on April 14.

Before Predator: Badlands, the titular creatures were always the villains of their own franchise. This film flips the script by placing a young Predator named Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) in the leading role. Dek’s father, Njohrr (Reuben de Jong), believes that his son is weak and deserves to be put down for the good of the clan. 

Rather than submit to certain death, Dek embarks on the hunt of a lifetime to prove his worth. What he soon finds is an entire world that’s weaponized against outsiders. Dek’s lone ally is Thia (Elle Fanning), a damaged Weyland-Yutani Corporation synthetic who wants to reunite with her android sister, Tessa (Fanning). Thia and Dek have common ground, but their goals may not be mutually beneficial.

Predator: Badlands is streaming on Hulu.

The leading character of The Amateur is about as far from a traditional action hero as you can get. Charlie Heller (Rami Malek) is just a normal guy who works for the CIA as a cryptographer. He was also happily married to Sarah Heller (Rachel Brosnahan) until she was murdered by terrorists.

Charlie’s desire for revenge is so great that he blackmails his boss at the CIA, Alex Moore (Holt McCallany), to give him the training he needs to target the men who killed his wife. Robert “Hendo” Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) gives Charlie some guidance, but this is a path that he may not be able to come back from.

The Amateur is streaming on Hulu.

Many of Uncharted’s best action scenes were directly lifted from the video games that inspired the film. Unsurprisingly, those sequences work really well in live-action blockbusters like this one. The MCU’s Spider-Man, Tom Holland, stars as Nathan Drake, an orphan who is recruited by treasure hunter Victor “Sully” Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg) with the promise of a potential fortune and a lead in tracking down Nate’s missing brother, Sam (Rudy Pankow).

Nate and Sully soon find themselves in a race to beat millionaire Santiago Moncada (Antonio Banderas) to the treasure of a lifetime. There’s a team of mercenaries under Santiago’s command, and they’re more than willing to kill Nate and Sully if they stand between them and the treasure.

Uncharted is streaming on Hulu.

Even among action comedies, Bullet Train is uncommonly funny. A lot of the credit for that has to go to Brad Pitt’s hysterical performance as an aging assassin codenamed Ladybug. He’s had enough killing for one lifetime, but he’s stuck on a super-fast bullet train in Japan with several other assassins — some of whom really want Ladybug dead.

The irony is that Ladybug wasn’t even supposed to be on the train. He’s just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not that the other killers are going to care when it’s a choice between their survival or Ladybug’s life.

Bullet Train is streaming on Hulu.

Every Predator movie is currently streaming on Hulu, but the standalone prequel Prey brings a welcome modern touch to the classic franchise. In 1719, Naru (Amber Midthunder) is a young Comanche woman who yearns to be a warrior like her brother. But the rest of the tribe has no time or patience for Naru’s ambitions.

When a primitive Predator (Dane DiLiegro) arrives, the men in Naru’s tribe are easy targets for the intergalactic hunter. To stop this threat, Naru has to succeed where the other warriors failed. When fighting this Predator, there is no room for error.

Prey is streaming on Hulu.