10 Awesome Actors Totally Wasted By The MCU

5. Karl Urban - Thor: Ragnarok

Heimdall Thor
Marvel Studios

Between his deliciously stoic performance in Dredd and his more effervescent recent work in R-rated superhero series The Boys, Karl Urban has proven himself an immensely entertaining performer with a firm range.

The prospect of Urban being cast as Thor's comic book arch-nemesis Skurge the Executioner was incredibly appealing, and Thor: Ragnarok's marketing made it abundantly clear he looked totally the part.

But in typical MCU fashion, Skurge was yet another secondary villain who had limited screen time, little in the way of an actual persona, and was scrubbed out before we knew it.

Though Urban tried his best to lend some vivacity to Skurge, he had a simple, predictable character arc - joining Hela (Cate Blanchett) before changing his mind at the end - which ended up falling totally flat emotionally.

He was ultimately only in the film for a few minutes of significance, and like so many great actors was simply part of the MCU tentpole machine, unable to stand out amid a huge ensemble cast and lashings of CGI.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.