10 Superhero Actors Who Bounced Back From Poor Performances

10. Chris Evans €“ The Fantastic Four

Captain Torch In possibly the easiest entry of this article, I give you Chris Evans. Before he donned the spangly red-white-and-blue outfit and proceeded to rock the socks off The First Avenger, Chris Evans was known for a very different role €“ Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch in the Fantastic Four movie. Now, I know this movie has its fans, but for my money, it was just quite awful. Not in the same vein as The Room or other notable ultra-failures, but it didn't ring my bell at all. The characterisation was weak, the whole thing was gimmicky and the main villain was so tragically bad that I felt damned uncomfortable watching it. While the blame can't all be laid at Chris Evans' door €“ lord knows Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba and Michael Chiklis all played their parts €“ his cocksure turn was extremely annoying at best and migrane-inducing at worst €“ it's the sort of performance that belongs in the hall of shame on a CV. Yet what did that mean when it came to playing Captain America? Absolutely nothing, that's what. The fact of the matter was that Evans shook off this notable misfire and nailed playing a humble, altruistic guy who was almost a polar opposite to the cocky, headstrong Storm shown on-screen. The man bounced back from a role that could've torpedo-ed his career, and managed to do it within the same superhero studio. You've got to hand it to him, really.
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Contributor

Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.