These days, Marvel is the undisputed home of the biggest and best comic book superhero movies, but that wasn’t always the case. The success of Superman and Batman initially saw DC lead the way, helped by big budgets, visionary directors, and above all else, good casting.
Michael Keaton may not have been the fans’ choice to play Batman, but his, brooding, borderline psychotic portrayal of Bruce Wayne helped paper over the cracks in Tim Burton’s artful Caped Crusader movies.
Reeve, meanwhile, provided the definitive big screen Superman, creating a convincing distinction between Clark Kent and the Man of Steel that both Brandon Routh and Henry Cavill failed to repeat.
Casting really can make or break a superhero movie. Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin represented a low point in the Batman franchise but the movie might have been at least watchable without overbearing ice pun machine Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Likewise, resurrecting the Joker for The Dark Knight might have been a major misstep without Heath Ledger’s involvement.
Good casting has been crucial to Marvel, from the early days of Iron Man and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) through to more recent additions like Black Panther. Sometimes it’s proven to be the making of Marvel, while other times it’s come close to derailing things altogether.
Here are the 8 Casting Decisions That Hurt Marvel Movies (And 7 That Saved Them).
Hurt: Ed Norton as Bruce Banner/The Hulk
There can be no doubting Ed Norton’s abilities as an actor. He’s also rather good as Bruce Banner in Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk. However, it was his hands-on approach to the production that proved disastrous.
Eager to be involved as much as possible, Norton had only signed up on the proviso he be allowed to rewrite the script.
That created a problem in post-production when studio bosses called for a more streamlined cut of the movie.
Norton reacted badly and soon the press got wind of the spat. The result was a film overshadowed by its behind-the-scenes issues and the immediate exit of Norton, who opt against returning for Avengers Assemble or any further Hulk movies.
It was the first major setback that the MCU experienced.
Saved: Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
It’s difficult to think of anyone other than Robert Downey Jr. playing Tony Stark. Though both Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise had previously expressed an interest in playing the Marvel favourite on the big screen, Jon Favreau only ever had Downey Jr. in mind for the part and it’s not difficult to see why.
As Favreau put it at the time: "The best and worst moments of Robert's life have been in the public eye. He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That's Tony Stark."
Casting Downey Jr. was not only a masterstroke in terms of life imitating art, but he was also a respected actor doing something bold, exciting and new.
Marvel gambled on a relatively untested star headlining their first major movie and it paid off.
Hurt: Hugo Weaving as The Red Skull
On paper, the casting of Hugo Weaving as The Red Skull should have been a masterstroke. Weaving was already well-versed in the art of villainy thanks to The Matrix movies, while, as Captain America villains go, they don’t get much bigger or better than The Red Skull.
It’s just a shame that the resulting movie, Captain America: The First Avenger, ends up wasting all of that potential. Weaving’s Johann Schmidt doesn’t feature nearly enough while his Red Skull visage is only glimpsed towards the end of the movie.
The result is that Weaving spends much of his limited screen time playing a by-the-numbers evil Nazi. Worse still, he doesn’t get a proper end, and with Weaving eager to pursue more varied projects, is unlikely to return. An underwhelming waste all round.
Saved: Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk
Marvel was under huge pressure when it came to casting a new actor in the role of Bruce Banner/The Hulk for the first Avengers movie.
Not only would whoever they cast need to live up to the previous efforts of Ed Norton but they would ideally need to be someone willing to leave their ego at the door, with the Hulk playing second fiddle for much of Avengers Assemble's running time.
They got it spot on with Mark Ruffalo. As a fine actor but not too big of a star that he might unbalance proceedings, Ruffalo’s Banner is far more sympathetic and, crucially, likeable than Norton’s.
He’s also entirely comfortable with the fact he may never front a solo Hulk movie, happy instead to make a series of memorable appearances in other superhero movies.
Hurt: Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One
Tilda Swinton’s talents are already well established but regardless of this, Marvel really dropped the ball in casting her as The Ancient One in Dr. Strange, a role previously occupied by a Tibetan man.
Casting anyone in the role of The Ancient One was always likely to be problematic – the depiction of the character from the comics was already seriously outdated to the point where some would accuse the character of being racist.
However, in recruiting Swinton, Marvel managed to embroil themselves in a whole other controversy.
The Media Action for Asian Americans was among a group that accused the filmmakers of whitewashing.
Though Marvel defended the decision, insisting Swinton’s incarnation of the character was of Celtic descent, the negative press reaction generated by the casting overshadowed the resulting movie.
Saved: Tom Holland as Spider-Man
After Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, Spider-Man fans were looking for something new from their next Peter Parker.
When it first emerged that the new Spidey would be significantly younger than his web-slinging predecessors, there was some understandable scepticism. Any new Spider-Man would need to fly in from the off, given that their first appearance would be as part of a cameo-of-sorts in Captain America: Civil War.
However, they needn’t have worried too much.
In Tom Holland, Marvel hit upon something rather special.
He created a charismatic teenager capable of delivering an authentic Peter Parker who, in turn, was capable of delivering high octane action alongside the occasional quip.
In the solid if slightly unspectacular Captain America: Civil War, Holland’s Spider-Man steals the show in a movie dominated by big superhero names. He’s fun, funny, and a breath of fresh air after Garfield.
Hurt: Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes
Captain America: Winter Soldier undoubtedly ranks among the best standalone Marvel movies to date, but that’s got little to do with Sebastian Stan.
As a jobbing actor best known for guest appearances on Gossip Girl and teen horror misfire The Covenant, Stan doesn’t bring much to the role of Bucky.
As a limited actor who can pull off brooding but very little in between, Stan has always been the weak link in the Captain America movies.
A charisma vacuum with a pretty face, the casting of Stan as Bucky Barnes has made it very difficult to care about the character’s fate. Why would Cap care so much about such a non-entity?
It’s only going to get worse too, if those rumours about Stan replacing Evans as Captain America come to fruition.
Saved: Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie
The pressure was on Marvel following the release of DC’s surprisingly powerful Wonder Woman movie. The film had earned plaudits for bucking the trend for female comic book movie characters and it was time for their rivals to follow suit.
Until then, Marvel had made a habit of creating female character who either served as love interests or genetically engineered superheroines.
That all changed with Thor: Ragnarok, which effectively threw out the Marvel rule book for their freshest film outing to date. Nowhere is this better highlighted than with Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie.
Combining vulnerable sincerity with self-aware humour, the American actress delivers a modern three-dimensional female heroine.
Thompson, meanwhile, deserves extra credit for taking to social media to confirm that Valkyrie is bi, bringing Marvel kicking and screaming into the 21st century in the process.
Hurt: Kat Dennings as Darcy Lewis
As anyone who has ever seen an episode of 2 Broke Girls knows, Kat Dennings is an acquired taste. So casting her as Darcy Lewis, the whip-smart intern to Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster, was always likely to be a divisive move.
With much of the action in Thor split between Asgard and Earth, Dennings adds little to the latter setting, with her penchant for sarcastic quips falling flat on this occasion.
The character of Darcy is entirely unnecessary. You could take pretty much all of her scenes and lines out of the movie and it wouldn’t make a difference.
Dennings, meanwhile, plays her part in making the character the most annoying aspect of the Thor universe. A cinematic one trick pony that has hopefully been put out to pasture following her no-show in Thor: Ragnarok.
Saved: Vin Diesel as Groot
The casting of Vin Diesel as Groot wasn’t only a shrewd move by James Gunn, it may have ended up saving the Guardians of the Galaxy movie from disaster altogether.
Prior to Vin’s arrival, Gunn was having seriously problems casting the part. "All of the 'I am Groots' that were earlier voices didn't sound very good at all, they sounded like s**t. It just didn't really work," Gunn recalled to CinemaBlend.
That all changed the minute Vin Diesel, who had already done fine voice work on The Iron Giant, read for the part.
“His voice is so rich and so beautiful and he really opened up and was this character.” Groot suddenly found his voice and, in doing so, created arguably the most beloved character of the entire Guardians of the Galaxy stable.
Hurt: Christopher Eccleston as Malekith
After a fine first Thor outing, fans were hoping for something bigger and better from Thor: The Dark World. It didn’t exactly go to plan and at least some of the blame for that has to go on Christopher Eccleston as Malekith, arguably the most forgettable villain in the MCU.
Eccleston was clearly going through the motions on this one and made no secret of that fact.
He later told The Guardian that the movie left him feeling like he wanted to put a gun somewhere and that he wasn't a good person for doing the movie.
His bland villain did at least create plenty of space for the intriguing relationship between Chris Hemworth’s Thor and Tom Hiddleston’s Loki to be explored. So at least there’s that.
Saved: Letita Wright as Shuri
If Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie represented a major win for the representation of women in the MCU, then Letita Wright’s super-intelligent inventor Shuri is a veritable slam dunk.
As the infectiously engaging 16-year-old sister of King T’Challa, she steals the show in a movie full of memorable performances.
Much of the credit for that should go to Letita Wright, who gives the character an infectious, playful quality, best embodied in her smile alone.
It’s a performance that serves as an effective counter balance to the more sombre T’Challa while her intelligence and central role to proceedings sends a positive message to viewers that’s in line with the overall ethos of the movie.
Confident, cool, and something rarely seen at the cinema, Shuri’s success is testament to the efforts of all those involved in the character’s creation.
Hurt: Aaron Taylor Johnson as Quicksilver
There’s no better example of the importance of casting than Quicksilver, mainly because two different actors have played the part at the same time.
However, while Evan Peters’ fun, playful portrayal in X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men Apocalypse hits all the right notes, Aaron Taylor Johnson falls a little flat during his one and only appearance in Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Johnson’s Quicksilver is far more joyless character, lacking in any notable depth.
He pales in comparison to his sibling, Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch.
Johnson’s approach also means that – spoiler alert – when Quicksilver does meet his demise, few fans-- if any-- care. Now imagine if Peters’ Quicksilver was the one to pass away – would that be more of a shock? Would you care more? The answers to both are undoubtedly yes.
Saved: Michael Keaton as The Vulture
Arguably the biggest criticism of the Marvel movies to date has been that they have often lacked a truly memorable villain. That all changed the moment Michael Keaton emerged as Adrian Toomes, aka The Vulture, for Spider-Man Homecoming.
With the pressure very much on Marvel to deliver a fresh and exciting take on the world famous web0slinger, Keaton was recruited to provide the movie with its most intriguing aspect: a villain both fearsome and somehow sympathetic.
Much of the credit for that must go to Keaton and his innate ability to switch from charming everyman to sinister crime lord at the drop of a hat.
Keaton’s screen time is limited but he steals pretty much every frame he’s in and has surely laid down the blueprint for Marvel villains from here on out.
Hurt: Don Cheadle as Col. James Rhodes
Don Cheadle has done a decent enough job as Colonel James Rhodes there will always be a sense of “what if” hanging over the character and the sudden departure of Terrence Howard from the role in between Iron Man and Iron Man 2.
Without getting into the politics of how Howard ended up being ditched, you have to wonder what his version of Rhodes would have been like in the movies that followed.
While both Howard and Cheadle are capable performers, shows like Empire have highlighted the depth and range at Howard’s disposal.
He can do funny, he can do charming, and he can also do dark and brooding. Cheadle’s Rhodes has been solid but unspectacular up until this point. Would Howard have added something more to the character? We will never know.
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Can you think of any other casting decisions that ruined or saved Marvel movies? Have your say in the comment box!