Highlights
- Jon Bernthal brought vulnerability and edge to his portrayal of The Punisher, making him the best person for the role.
- Ryan Reynolds' natural charm and comedic timing made him the perfect fit to accurately bring Deadpool to life.
- Patrick Stewart's quiet dignity and powerful acting made it difficult for audiences to picture anyone else as Professor X, solidifying his iconic portrayal.
Bringing a superhero to life on the big screen takes a lot of work. Studios need to make sure they have a story that will appeal to a wide audience and the special effects budget to make these heroes come to life in a convincing way. However, the actors chosen to play these roles are also pivotal in making these characters convincing.
5 Polarizing Superhero Movie Castings That Worked Out Great
Some casting in superhero movies may seem legendary now, but when they were first announced, fans believed them to be polarizing.
Fortunately, comic book fans have been spoiled by having some great talent take on these roles in the past. There have been some great choices made in terms of casting throughout the genre's history, but some actors suit their superhero roles to a much greater extent than others.
6 Jon Bernthal: The Punisher
Fourth Time's The Charm
- 2016-2020
The Punisher is an iconic Marvel character who goes to extreme lengths to fight crime. This violent vigilante has had many movie iterations before, with actors like Dolph Lungren, Thomas Jane, and Ray Stevenson all taking on the role in the past. However, fans didn't get to see the most accurate portrayal of this character until Jon Bernthal played the role in Daredevil Season 2.
Frank Castle is a broken man who is trying to get revenge on the people who murdered his family. To do so, he goes to some extreme lengths, many of which make him quite unrelatable to the audience. Jon Bernthal was able to play a more vulnerable and endearing version of The Punisher in some of his scenes, though, and did so without sacrificing any of his harder edges. As such, he easily became the best person to portray this character.
5 Ryan Reynolds: Deadpool
A Difficult Comic Hero To Bring To Life
- 2009-present
Deadpool is an outlandish character from the X-Men comics, one that many fans thought it was impossible to bring into live action. This sentiment is most evident in the subpar version of the character seen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The movie chose to sew the mercenary's mouth shut and make him a random conglomeration of other mutant powers. Before this reveal in the third act of the movie, though, fans seemed to enjoy Ryan Reynolds' quick-witted portrayal of the famed character. It seemed that Reynolds himself agreed, and he pushed for a Deadpool solo movie that was more accurate to the source material.
Marvel: 6 Worst Things Deadpool Has Done
Deadpool seems like an anti-hero, but in reality, with some of the actions he has taken over the years, he could easily be considered a villain.
The actor was finally given the chance to bring Deadpool to life again in 2016, and he did so in the most faithful way possible. Ryan Reynolds' natural charm and great comedic timing made him the perfect fit for the fourth-wall-breaking mutant, and fans will get to see this version of the character again as Disney plans to fold this successful portrayal of Deadpool into the MCU.
4 Patrick Stewart: Professor X
Stoically Leading The X-Men Franchise
- 2000-2022
When Fox was bringing the X-Men to life in the late 90s, the landscape of superhero media was very different. Batman & Robin had just been released to poor reviews, and so, many movie-goers were left thinking that all comic book adaptations were silly ideas purely made for children. However, that all changed when an actor of the caliber of Patrick Stewart took on the role of Professor X.
Fans had noticed the similarities between the legendary stage actor and the bald mutant when X-Men: The Animated Series was airing. However, it was never thought that such a powerful actor would agree to play such a role. Fans were shocked, though, when Stewart was cast, especially when he brought the quiet dignity needed to play the stoic leader of the X-Men. His portrayal was so accurate that it has been difficult for audiences to picture anyone else in the role.
3 Christopher Reeve: Superman
The Original Casting Highlighted How It Should Be Done
- 1978-1987
The first superhero to be brought to the big screen was Superman in 1978. At the time, comic books were leaning very heavily on the impossible feats of superheroes, and it seemed equally impossible to bring any of these characters to life in live-action.
DC: 8 Surprising Characters Who Have Beaten Superman
Superman is known as one of the most unbeatable superheroes in either Marvel or DC, but some surprising names have victories over the Man of Steel.
However, this perception changed when Christopher Reeve first put on the costume to play Superman. Reeve's inherent charm made him instantly likable as the heroic Superman, and he could easily switch between this portrayal to act as the bumbling Clark Kent when necessary. It may have been a different era for the genre, but Christopher Reeve was so good at playing Superman that he had the world believing that a man could actually fly.
2 Robert Downey Junior: Iron Man
He Is Iron Man
- 2008-2019
When it comes to building a successful movie franchise, it helps when studios put their best foot forward. Fortunately, that is exactly what Marvel did when they cast Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man in 2008. This first movie kicked off what fans now know to be the MCU, and the actor kept returning to fight alongside The Avengers for over a decade. As a result, he quickly became the face of the hugely successful franchise.
It seems that Downey's portrayal is linked to the DNA of the MCU, as moviegoers are still waiting for him to reprise the role. The actor's natural swagger and charisma made it easy for him to realistically play the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist. Disney gleefully saw the box office of the movies he appeared in soar.
1 J. K. Simmons: J. Jonah Jameson
It's Hard To Tell Where The Actor Ends And The Character Begins
- 2002-2021
J. Jonah Jameson may not be the most integral part of the Spider-Man mythos. He isn't even someone that fans could call a superhero. However, J. K. Simmons is so great at playing the old newspaper crank that he is still talked about as one of the greatest castings in movie history.
The role of Jameson is a simple one. He is there to blow his lid and yell at people who bring up the name of a certain spider-themed vigilante. J. K. Simmons was first cast as the character in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man movie, and he nailed the portrayal so well that Marvel even folded him into the MCU nearly twenty years later. Everything about the character is done perfectly by Simmons, from the iconic voice and look to the exaggerated mannerisms. Someone else will eventually need to take on this role in the future, and they may be great. However, they will have a great deal going against them due to Simmons' spectacular portrayal.
Star Trek Actors Who Played Superheroes
These Star Trek stars ventured outside the Final Frontier into the realm of comic book heroes.
