10 Most Intense Comic Book Movie Performances Ever
7. Brian Cox As William Stryker
The X-Men movie franchise appears to have attracted more intense performances than any other. Perhaps that's down to Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart signing up for the first film, a seal of approval from a couple of legit actors that inspired others of equal talent to give this comic book stuff a go. Maybe it's because the source material is frequently histrionic, bombastic and melodramatic, its soap opera stylings affording actors a chance to go bigger and more intense than most other projects. Brian Cox certainly took that opportunity in X-2 as the genocidal Colonel Stryker. Loosely based on a character from the iconic X-Men story God Loves, Man Kills, Cox's Stryker is an anti-mutant activist who takes things a bit further than most planning to kill everyone with an X chromosome and with a credible motivation his son's a mutant. That Bryan Singer cast Cox because of his turn as Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter should tell you everything.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
