15 Supporting Comic Book Movie Characters Who Stole The Show

As you'll see from this list, some of the best and most surprising supporting roles in a comic book movie come from characters you might not of heard of. There's a wealth of quirky, chilling and down right interesting bit players nestled away in the pages, just champing to be brought to life by a talented actor and given a decent run out on screen. So eclectic is the selection on offer, that some of the bigger characters seen over the years - Bane, Doc Ock, Dr. Manhattan's luminous blue knackers - haven't even made the cut. That's how fierce the competition is.

But this celebration of the underdog doesn't stop at the movies, take TV, for instance, where just recently the comic book conversions on the small screen have seen supporting characters get all the plaudits - Daredevil's Punisher and Preacher's Cassidy, both standouts - over the top billing superhero leads they are supporting/terrorising. Just comes to show the actor with top billing isn't guaranteed all the acclaim.

The characters you are about to revisit may be good, they may be cuddly and they might well be all kinds of sadistic, but these talented fifteen did a near impossible thing: they exceeded expectations, stole the show and became (anti)heroes in their own rights.

From lurking in the shadows of Tony Stark's marauding ego in Iron Man and it's sequel, to his heroics in The Avengers, Agent 'Phil' Coulson is the definition of a supporting character brought to the forefront by a terrific performance.

This is courtesy of Clark Gregg, who before entering the MCU was bit parting in the likes of We Were Soldiers and In Good Company. Audiences lapped up his knowing smirks and childish adoration of Captain America and, come his tragic demise on screen, his mark was pertinent enough to merit a rebirth on the small screen with a starring role in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.