MCU: 10 Actors Who Redefined Their Characters
It's hard to translate from page to screen, but these actors took it one step beyond.
It's a tough task to translate a beloved comic book character to the screen. Sometimes, it's an absolutely perfect adaptation that makes any of the following attempts an impossible task (such as Christopher Reeve in the '70s Superman films), and sometimes, the performance is so wretched, future attempts need to try as hard as they can to disassociate from them (such as Jared Leto as the Joker).
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is turning ten years old with this week's release of Infinity War, and for the most part, it's done a great job of translating the adventures of the comics to the silver screen. A big reason for that success is the fantastic selection of actors. From Hollywood mainstays to London thespians to obscure television journeymen, the characters of the MCU have been portrayed by a motley crew of performers who add their own unique spins to these decades-old roles.
Some of them are so good, in fact, they've been able to redefine how these characters are seen. Whether it's popular Marvel A-listers or low-rent side characters, these actors have taken their characters and made them their own, and any future performance of said characters will have to live up to these.
10. Dave Bautista (Drax The Destroyer)
Nobody thought former WWE mainstay Dave "The Animal" Bautista would set the world on fire as Drax the Destroyer. Namely because they didn't know who the heck Drax was. Like the rest of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the character had spent decades in relative obscurity as part of Marvel's sprawling cosmic lineup. In addition, aside from Dwayne Johnson, the history of pro wrestlers turned actors is pretty poor.
However, none of that was gonna stop Batista from stealing the show.
In what could have been a generic big man performance, Bautista, aided by James Gunn's script, turned Drax into a household name with his charisma and comedic energy. In both Guardians films thus far, Drax's character has managed to balance his absurd and quirky personality ticks with genuine pathos. In addition, Bautista's paradoxically stone-faced yet entirely tongue-in-cheek delivery of such lines as "I have sensitive nipples" and "My father would tell the story of impregnating my mother every winter solstice" has generated some of the MCU's biggest howlers.
While it's true that The Animal was a superstar in WWE, he's become an icon as The Destroyer.