15 Bravest Creative Decisions In Comic Book Movie History

13. Idris Elba As Heimdall - Thor

Race is always going to be a big issue with comic book movie casting, as we learned arguably no better than when Idris Elba was cast as the guardian of the Bifrost, Heimdall, for Kenneth Branagh's Thor. Much like when Michael Clarke Duncan was cast as Kingpin in Daredevil, many fans were up in arms that the black actor was cast as a character who is usually about as white as white can be, even being nicknamed "the whitest of the gods". Did It Work? Absolutely. Elba did well to confront the criticism prior to the movie's release, and while Heimdall isn't exactly a huge part of these movies, Elba did a great job in the role, which for most fans was probably enough to calm the controversy down anyway. Huge Thor fans might still take umbrage with the choice, but given how Heimdall isn't a massively well-known comic book character to casual audiences, it's not exactly tantamount to changing the race of Superman or something...