A while back, I wrote an article detailing my top ten best comic book castings of all time. Now I present its polar opposite, the ten worst castings in comic-book film history (listed from bad to worse).
I want to preface this list by saying that most of these casting choices are victims of bad film-making, and no amount of good acting could save their roles. There was one role I really wanted to put on this list, but I just couldn’t do it–Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. Most people hate him for the role, but few actors can pull of a good, cocky attitude and still be awesome like Reynolds, so he doesn’t make the ten worst for that role (though he does for another). Another notable exclusion is Ben Affleck as Daredevil. Many critics hate his casting, but I thought he worked out pretty well in the role. This article, however, is not about what I liked—it’s about what I dislike, so read away and let me know how much you agree/disagree with my picks. Enjoy!
Dishonorable Mention: Bryan Singer for leaving the third X-Men film
Bryan Singer is not an actor, and he wasn’t cast to play any comic book based roles, but he deserves to be on this list for successfully delivering a killer blow on two films at once. On one hand, his absence from the X-Men franchise in “X-Men: The Last Stand,” is a notable tragedy that ended with a train-wreck that should have been awesome. The third X-Men film had issues on every front, and I blame Bryan Singer, even though the studio could have picked up someone that could do a better job. The other film Singer ruined was Superman Returns, which, if it would have tried to be a film that could stand alone, might have succeeded. Instead, we get a film that parallels Richard Donner’s: “Superman: The Movie” and his “Superman II” so much that I wondered if it was an over-glorified late night comedy sketch. Hopefully Mr. Singer learned something here—don’t leave something awesome to try and copy something amazing. It just doesn’t work. For obliterating two awesome things, Mr. Singer, you get the Dishonorable Mention on this list.
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62 Comments
I see your point with some of the actors you have placed on this list but you have missed the worst piece of ‘acting’ in a super hero movie and the worst film Marvel has made and there have been a few. I of course refer to the character of Elektra played by Jennifer Garner in both the Elektra and Daredevil film franchises. Elektra is meant to be an unstoppable assassin who shows no emotion to get her job done, a fearless and blood thirst warrior. Garner shows none of this acting more of a helpless maiden role. One of my main problems is she also dies ridiculously quickly in the Daredevil film she is meant to be a brilliant assassin. I agree with most of your choices but Garners portrayal of a brilliant heroine has to be first, she makes some of the actors portrayals above look like Oscar winning renditions.
This is a decent list but with some major errors. Sam Jackson was cast because of his likeness to Nick Fury in the Ultimate Marvel comics. He is spot on. Jim Carrey is a fantastic actor, contrary to your thoughts, who brought humerous villainy to what was written. Your idea of a CGI Riddler wouldnt be too great with 1990′s technology. Ryan Reynolds played Hal Jordan very well for what he was given.
Fun list overall, though. I love the last one haha
Only thing is Nick Fury was always a white guy with hair. Samuel doesn’t look or act like Fury would. Fury is one cocky SOB.
Once again, check out an issue of the Ultimate Marvel series, he was re-imagined as Sam Jackson, as in exactly like him. They moved away from the Clint Eastwood look.
Only an idiot would think Fury’s “reimagining” wasn’t done after the wheels began turning on the movies.
But… It wasn’t?
The Ultimate universe depiction predates the Iron Man movie by about 7 years. At first he was simply reimagined as a stereotypical “tough bald black dude” but eventually morphed into a Sam Jackson caricature. To avoid legal trouble they went to Sam for permission to get his likeness (after the fact) and he agreed, on the condition that he get to portray him in any future films.
The majority of this list is more the fault of poor script-writing and/or directing, not poor actor choice. The only real Mis-matched characters to actors would be Ncholos Cage & Halle Berry, the rest of this list could have been saved by a better director, better script, and/or less studio involvement.
UGH. When are you going to realize that Nathan Fillion should not play everyone?
HAHAHA
Jimmy Carrey would have been awesome as the riddler if it was a more serious script and if schumaker wasn’t directing,I think he could even be the riddler in a Nolan Batman film.watch Truman Show and 27. But David Hasselhoff??!! NOOOOO
Agreed. Jim Carrey was going for psychopath that found his own jokes hilarious, and Tim Burton just went the wrong way with the whole movie.
*I meant the number 23,he a psycho
Tommy Lee Jones is a good actor and could have pulled off a good Harvey Dent had the script and direction been decent.
Hasselhoff played Nick Fury back in `98. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119781/
#s 4 and 7 should have just been rolled into 1 if you were going to do that (which would have freed up space for more on the list).
@Jon, have you considered that Nick Fury in the comic was modeled after Samuel L. Jackson and not the other way around?
Mostly, yeah, these are were just the result of terrible writing and not quite just the casting.
Btw, my comments were primarily to the comments and not the author, per se. The author clearly knew that Hasselhoff played the role in the past so good on him for paying attention. That validated this list to me. He knew his stuff! My note on 4 and 7 is just my way of saying I want to read more and see more of this list.
Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan was like dream casting. To quote the author exactly “few actors can pull of a good, cocky attitude and still be awesome like Reynolds.” Hal Jordan is a cocky, irresponsible test pilot. Nathan Fillion should stick to B movies where he belongs.
How did Kevin Spacey (or even Gene Hackman) not make the list for being horrible Lex Luthors?
I am so over people getting bent out of shape about Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. When they started the Ultimate universe reboot, Nick Fury’s new character design WAS Samuel L Jackson. It’s practically canon. If you’ve got an issue, take it up with the Ultimate universe, not the casting of a character as himself…
While we’re on the subject of Samuel L. Jackson, I had far less trouble with him as Fury than as the Octopus in The Spirit. That movie could have been great, and Frank Miller destroyed Eisner’s characters so badly, I thought he’d brought in Joel Schumacher. A couple more “for instances:”
Brandon Routh- a cardboard cutout of Chris Reeve (or even a two dimensional Curt Swan image) would have been a more believable and emotional Man of Steel; Billy Crudup (an actor I like) made for a horrific Dr. Manhattan in “The Watchmen,” and Julian McMahon was almost as bad as the ham that played Dr. Doom in the unreleased (and unreleasable) Roger Corman bomb of an FF movie.
Reading this was a waste of time. David hasselhoff? Smh
For the record, Halle Berry didn’t play as Selina Kyle in Catwoman. There is a reference to Michelle Pfeiffers Catwoman (Selina Kyle) during the film.
Wow. I mean it. Seriously, on so many levels you have completely read my mind. With issues such as Brian “the sell-out” Singer and his blame in the demise of the xmen trilogy. To almost all of your top ten, yet you leave gaping holes in certain areas and forget major facts. For one Thomas Jane was a much worse Punisher, David Hasselhoff had already played the part of Nick Fury and was indeed far greater at this role than Samuel L. Jackson. Replacing Nicholas Cage in the role of Ghost Rider with Mark Walhberg, Is like painting a wall just slightly off white as opposed to white. In other words they both only have one very bland character that follows them in every role they play. Other than that, you forgot that even Adam West’s Batman there was a black Catwoman. Oh and Ryan Reynolds would be perfect for the file of Wall West aka The Flash. I couldn’t agree
more with you. But you missed a few that should have been on the list. Vinny Jones as Juggernaut, yet this was due to Brian Singer. Kirsty Dunst as Mary Jane Watson. Michael Caine as Alfred. Michael Clark as Kingpin. Eric Bana as Bruce Banner (The Incredible Hulk). Probably a few more, but these are the ones are needed to get of my chest. Oh one last thing, you said.comic book film. G.I Joe was a cartoon before a comic, so doesn’t fall into this section.
Interestingly enough, I actually kicked around throwing Michael Caine on the list for Alfred. He’s always just seemed like Michael Cain as a father figure rather than a long-time butler who is a close friend. The more I think about it, however, the more I like Cain as Alfred. A new dimension has been added to the character in his role as father-figure, a dimension that seems to give Alfred’s character more of an impact on Bruce Wayne and Batman alike. Oh, and G.I. Joe was indeed a cartoon before comic book, but comic book it remains, so on the list it is. Thanks for the comment!
Jim Carrey a bad actor? You are off your rocker, give the guy a good script and there are few, if any, actors out there with the same range. How many people could go from Ace Ventura to a movie like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Maybe you should do some research before you say somebody can’t act, it makes your article look amateurish.
Hey Tim,
Thanks for the comment. I did plenty of research before I wrote this article, and I stand by my opinion on Jim Carrey. I’m sure Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a fine specimen of Carrey’s ability to act–he just didn’t bring his A-game in Batman Forever. Few did. He basically took his Ace Ventura personality and put on a green suit with question marks, then called himself The Riddler. It just didn’t work. As a side-note, my editor added the line: “someone who can act,” because I didn’t offer an alternative to Carrey’s casting. I thought it was a pretty good line, so I rolled with it without argument. I may not be a professional writer, but I’ve written enough at a college level to know that all articles, big and small, need research before publishing. Thanks for disagreeing with me–I like that and I’m happy to see that it is generating discussion.
I may disagree with Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor’s attack toward you good sir, but I do think that line was a bit harsh.
Carrey is an excellent actor, if he is directed well. His natural inclination is towards way over-the-top, high energy performances, but if you have a talented director like say, Peter Weir, Milos Forman or Michel Gondry, who can reign in the craziness, then he is capable of delivering excellent, nuanced work. Joel Schumacher is not such a director and I imagine the script and the studio weren’t much help either.
I agree partially with you on Stevenson, he’s a really good actor and he could have been a good Castle, after all he did have the look down. It’s just that the script, direction, acting were all lacking. Jane was lucky to jump that sinking ship of a movie, it made less money than Howard the Duck.
Reynolds is more suited to play Wally West than Hal Jordan, hell he probably could work better as Kyle Rayner or Guy Gardner.
The funny thing about Alba is how much they seemed to have whited up her skin in the sequel.
Hey Jim Carrey should not be there in the list .. and he can act . He proved it in Eternal Sunshine .. The Truman Show.. and recently in Yes Man
I just wanted to say I absolutely agree with you on Thomas Jane as Punisher and don’t understand why people consider him so bad. I thought even Dolph Lundgren made a better Punisher than Ray Stevenson. I just have to say Thomas Jane is an underrated actor and the 2004 Punisher was an underrated movie. The only bad casting in that flick was John Travolta.
Your Nick Fury comment shows that you probably haven’t read a Marvel comic since before 1999, as Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch’s Ultimate Nick Fury IS Sam Jackson. It’s nothing like the original character, but Marvel Studios seems to have chosen to follow the ultimate universe more closely, as those origin stories are more contemporary (and frankly better for today’s audience.)
I completely disagree on Ray Stevenson as The Punisher. Thomas Jane’s version was written better, had more Punisher-esque badass lines, and Jane was good for that movie… But Ray Stevenson IS the part. He is much more intimidating physically, has a face that says “Do no [mess] with me”, has the gritty voice to scwol out some better lines if he had them, is technically proficient enough in the guns n such to make it look like he knows what he is doing, and understands the role and was dedicated to it. Ray Stevenson = badass. One of the most underrated, underused badasses out there and if I had to pick, my favorite Punisher.
Really? Deadpool fans hate Ryan Reynolds? Since when? They hate what FOX did to the character in that WOLVERINE movie, but I never met a Deadpool fan, who didn’t like the idea of playing him.
Also it’s not that Bryan Singer didn’t want to do X-Men 3. It was FOX (again) who decided to rush it into production without him, although he begged them to wait until he had finished SUPERMAN RETURNS.
I didn’t make it to your list. No offense, but you seem to be the wrong person to write something like that.
I can’t believe you bagged on Ray Stevenson in The Punisher. War Zone is the best Punisher movie made. Its ludicrous over the top violence at its finest. Ray Stevenson plays it straight out and nails Frank Castle. Non of the BS from “the original” as you call it, where Castle announces he’s still alive (WTF?) and then goes all Yojimbo in a personal vendetta against the Mafia Don who killed his family. Thats it. There is no greater spirit of vengeance storyline. And thats The Punisher. its not something simple, revenge storyline. Shame on you.
You should have included Brandon Routh for his splinter-inducingly bad turn as “Superman”. The guy wouldn’t know the meaning of the word “talent”, if you hit him repeatedly in the face with a dictionary.
‘Dylan Dog’, anyone?
While you have a few bright(or is that low?) spots, over all this list is pretty bad. Sam Jackson was cast because the character from the Ultimate universe was based on him. And Jim Carrey did a bang up job channeling his inner Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. I dare to even say Carrey would have pulled it off in a Nolan version of the character.
Here’s my list just FYI. Worst to “Worstest”.
10. Tommy Lee Jones – Two-Face(Love Jones, but the basis for the character is that he was originally good looking. And Jones already looked ragged before the accident)
9. Katie Holmes – Rachel Dawes(Sure, she’s an original character, but Katie Holmes just looks so out of place in the Nolan Bat-Universe, she has to be included.)
8. George Clooney – Batman(‘Nuff said)
7. Alicia SIlverstone – Batgirl(Ditto)
6. Jessica Alba – Invisible Woman(Especially in the second one. Everyone complained about her ethnicity in the first one so their solution was to make her even blonder and give her blue contacts??? Genius of the Wile E. Coyote level)
5. Doctor Doom – Fantastic Four(While I like Julian McMahon, he’s NOT Victor Von Doom…Doom doesn’t whine.)
4. Ben Affleck – Daredevil(When people who are watching the film long for your best friend in the role, it’s never a good sign)
3. Topher Grace – Eddie Brock/Venom(The point to Eddie Brock was that he was a polar opposite character to Peter…not a clone.)
2. Halle Berry – Catwoman(While I think Carrey successfully channeled Gorshin, Berry failed to channel Eartha Kitt or even herself)
1. CGI Cloud – Galactus(You include Sam Jackson as Fury but leave this utter debacle off??? For shame.)
I thought about putting the CGI Galactus cloud in, but that was more of a computer effect than a casting. Besides, something had to be a progenitor for the giant poop cloud with a face in Green Lantern.
they should have dennis quaid as nick fury. this is not a joke.
I will repost this comment because it echoes my exact sentiment.
Your Nick Fury comment shows that you probably haven’t read a Marvel comic since before 1999, as Mark Millar & Bryan Hitch’s Ultimate Nick Fury IS Sam Jackson. It’s nothing like the original character, but Marvel Studios seems to have chosen to follow the ultimate universe more closely, as those origin stories are more contemporary (and frankly better for today’s audience.)
Halle Berry wasn’t cast as Selina Kyle in CATWOMAN. She was Patience Phillips. A completely different Catwoman. So while you can say the film is bad, it is not a miscast of the character, because it is a totally new character not affiliated in any way with any former Catwoman besides the name.
The person who wrote this article is an A-1 nutjob who didn’t do much research.
Top among the many things wrong with this brain dead, stupid list is that Halle Berry didn’t play Selina Kyle at all !!!!
The GI Joe movie was awful, but Dennis Quaid was excellent as Hawk (one of the few things they got right), and who doesn’t love Sam Jackson as Nick Fury??
This is one jackassy article!
Three comments:
1. Great reference to Tim Burton’s version of Batman, although I don’t think I have much in common with the Joker in being an A-1 nutjob, and Grissom knows it.
2. Where did I ever suggest that Selina Kyle was Halle Berry’s character? I remember talking about Catwoman and then looking forward to the Christopher Nolan film, but I don’t recall every accusing Halle Berry of playing Selina Kyle. Read a little closer.
3. To answer your question: “Who doesn’t love Sam Jackson as Nick Fury?” Well me, actually.
“Read a little closer”??? you have got to be kidding me… the tagline even says “Halle Berry as Selina Kyle in Catwoman” You’re the definiton of incompetent…
Hmmm, interesting. I didn’t actually write the titles to the individual sections of the list. I’ll fix it and talk to my editor about the error.
Thanks!
I could see Bruce Campbell playing Nick Fury. Put an eye patch on Sam Axe and tell me he wouldn’t look right. And no, I haven’t read a comic book since before 1999. So I don’t know from “Ultimates”.
Oh heck yea! “Hey punk, come get some.” or “Give me some sugar baby.” That would be so freaking hilarious. Maybe a parody of the Avengers would be great for that one.
Number 9 is incorrect, sir. Samuel L. Jackson as Fury was one of the best superhero casting choices seeing as how Ultimate Nick Fury was designed with him in mind. It was the role literally made for Samuel L. Jackson.
However, Nathon Fillion as Hal Jordan would have been astounding.
why didn’t you do a “who they should have cast” for batman and robin?
I really disagree with your overall assessment of Nick Fury, I mean the Nick Fury he’s playing is a completely different one from the one Hasslehoff played, and the character was essentially written as him anyway.
However, as far as thinking of somebody that should play the grizzled Fury, how could you not have suggested Kurt Russell?
Whoever wrote this article did absolutely no research and is apparently not well-versed in cinema lore. Carrey can’t act? Did you miss The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, and Eternal Sunshine? How Sam Jackson is the exact Nick Fury Marvel CRAFTED from The Ultimates, the comic that follows The Avengers super closely? Have you ever even picked up a Punisher comic?
Vapid list. Easy picking, and yet horrendous reasoning.
Dude you wish you could act! Jim carry was the best batman villain ever next to bane in the originals!
maybe we should start a web page asking 10 better writers of this rag of an artical
Rubbish article, Sammy J is the man, agreed with some, but generally a pathetic attempt
This list really sucks to me. It left out topher grace as venom from spider-man 3, the ultimate cast fail. The F4 movies were lame, but the cast did great. Samuel L. Jackson was playing the Ultimate Nick Fury (who in turn was based on SLJ). Ray Stevenson was an awesome Punisher. I agree on the Batman castings, but that’s about it.
There is one thing wrong with this list: It assumes Marvel characters can be convincing on large screens, when in reality, the multiplex always dwarfs all of them, with absolutely NO exceptions whatsoever, to far smaller than life-size. Even Captain America, “iconic” as he may otherwise be, is still far too small for the big screens, has always been so, and will always remain so, and the less said about any of the thus far three–read: three too many–big-screen bungles with the Hulk the better.
Marvel characters are best suited to, for, and by TELEVISION!!! They can leave big screens to DC Comics characters; even with “wide-screen” receivers, television still allows such intimacy, such me-and-you relatability, as Marvel characters need to be appreciated properly, and always will. Big screens don’t and never will.
I doubt the fact if you actually has seen DAREDEVIL . . . . .Bullseye (Colin farell) should be on the list . . . . . ..and u should be punished for including samual jackson as nick fury. . . . . . .
You really think Jim Carrey can’t act? The guy can do everything, if there is someone who knows what to ask of him…
Agree with (almost) everything else, although Mark Wahlberg for the Green Lantern isn’t the solution. They should have gone with a less recognizable actor with authoritative voice or give Ryan Reynolds considerably less screen time, or at least not from his perspective and less screen time and he and the movie would have been far better.
Your article about Nick Fury is dumb as hell. Marvel bought the rights for Samuel L Jackson’s likeness when they released the Ultimate comics. He always had the attitude and face of Jackson in the comics. Saying he was not cast good for Nick Fury proves this article is a waste of my time. And I’m a DC fan.
You have no idea which level’s of actor Jim Carrey is!!!
You are such a moron to take a question about Jim Carrey’s performance!! He is legendary..And you are no one to tell how good or bad he is…
Joel Schumacher sucks. He ruined Batman franchise. He doesnt deserve even a mention.
I was done reading after seeing Jackson as Fury on the list.
Renolds was awesome. Jackson was awesome. Carrey was awesome. Jones was awesome. This author probably thinks ledger was a bad joker. I truly regret wasting my time on reading this as i could really only agree with no. 1 and no. 2