Superhero movies are probably half of Hollywood’s revenue these days. Marvel alone is bringing out multiple movies each year and the competition isn’t slacking off anytime soon. But trying to make a superhero movie has one small problem: the characters already exist.
Having pre-existing characters leads to some casting issues, as the audience wants the actor to – at least visually – match the superhero they know from the source material. Here’s a few actors that got cast and absolutely nailed the part, but where the audience didn’t have too much faith in it.
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)
It’s hard to imagine this right now, but Hugh Jackman wasn’t very well-received as Wolverine prior to the first X-Men movie. Considering how Wolverine is freakishly short in the comics and has no experience with acting in musicals, it seemed like all he and Hugh Jackman had in common was the facial hair.
Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman)
Anyone that knows Wonder Woman, knows that she’s a pretty muscular and strong woman – some people would even describe her with the modern word “thicc”. Gal Gadot, while athletic, is very skinny and slender. That said, she pretty much saved the DC Universe single handedly so maybe we should’ve given her a fair shot.
Chris Evans (Captain America)
The biggest thing that Chris had against him is that most superhero fans knew him as Johnny Storm from the Fantastic Four franchise. It’s hard to imagine that 20 years after that awful movie, no one would even dare call Chris Evans the Human Torch anymore.
Chris Pratt (Star Lord)
Chris, much like Hugh, pretty much had the wrong prior experience to convince fans that he was up to the task of playing Star Lord in the Guardians of the Galaxy. For one, his character – and Chris himself – was fat in Parks and Recreation, which doesn’t really shout “superhero”. He lost a lot of weight and got his act together, and he’s now one of the most loved characters in the MCU.
Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man)
Yup, many MCU actors weren’t liked – even the very first MCU actor. And let’s be real: who would be a better Tony Stark, in looks and in style, than Robert Downey Jr? Considering his history with drug abuse, it’s no real mystery why people didn’t like him in the role, but his acting as Tony Stark has never let anyone down.
Idris Elba (Heimdall)
Yup – another MCU one. And this one is pretty silly. People didn’t like Idris as Heimdall because, and I’m not making this up, Heimdall should’ve been white because he’s a Scandinavian deity. Thanks, internet.
Ben Affleck (Batman)
Yes, we all know Christian Bale was amazing in the Nolanverse, but we all also knew that that had to end some day. The new Batman had to be an actor that could carry the struggling DC Cinematic Universe, and let’s be honest here: who better to play a rich white man than a rich white man? Ben Affleck was perfect to play an older Bruce Wayne, and despite how bad some of the DC movies were, it was never Ben’s fault.
