10 Key Characters Created Specifically For Comic Book Movies

10. Ross Webster (Superman III)

Believing that Alexander and Ilya Salkind - the father and son duo who were heavily involved in the production of the first two Superman movies - had mistreated director Richard Donner by taking him off the Superman II project 75% of the way through production and not giving him any credit for his work up to that point, Gene Hackman refused to reprise his role as Lex Luthor in Superman III. As a result, Ross Webster was created as a direct Luthor replacement, as the people behind the film believed Superman needed a "brain" villain to rival their "brawn" hero. Played by Robert Vaughn, Webster's ploy was to control the supply of the world's coffee and oil in order to essentially control the world's finances. He was generally received by fans and critics alike as a poor replacement for Hackman's Luthor and the film in general was panned.