13 Times Actors Failed as Superheroes

Reviews for 2015's Fantastic Four reboot all say the same thing.Fantastic Four rebootrebootAll reviews say the same thing.The talented cast does a disservice to the film. Miles Teller got the worst criticism for playing Reed Richards. People complain Teller looks bored on screen, whether in a meeting or fighting Doctor Doom.

Previous Reed Richards versions are not widely loved. Teller's detached version did not connect with audiences. That makes sense.The Fantastic FourThe Fantastic Four is a big, bright, golden age comic. Teller's emotionless portrayal suggests he misses the character, even though it matches the film's grim tone. Teller tried something, and it failed. That is fine.

Did anyone think Seth Rogen could play a superhero before 2011's Green Hornet?Green HornetRogen made edgy movies with heart and profanity. A movie about a masked detective with lots of profanityMichel Gondry directed.The Green Hornet sounds great, but audiences did not see that. Instead, audiences got a PG-13 movie full of studio notes.

Audiences disliked Rogen as a crimefighter because it was not his style. His Green Hornet is a watered-down version of what he does best, and audiences were disappointed.Green HornetThe Green Hornet is a weaker version of his best work, and audiences were let down.Rogen blamed Sony for the mistake.Rogen admitted the problem with playing Green Hornet was that the project was outside his area of expertise.

The budget was the issue. We cannot make a really edgy, fun movie for our audience with that much money.

Halle Berry is one actor on this list audiences liked in one superhero role, but they balked when she played another. She performs well as Storm in the X-Men franchise, but her casting as Catwoman became a pop-culture joke.X-MenWhile Halle Berry's casting as Catwoman had potential, the result became a pop-culture punchline.

Audiences might not have been ready for another silly Catwoman portrayal after Pfeiffer's iconic performance in Batman Returns.Batman Returnsor as Berry herself states,as Berry herself puts itthe film just did not help the character.

The story felt wrong. I argued, "Why can't Catwoman save the world like Batman and Superman? Why is she just saving women from a face cream that cracks their faces?"

Ben Affleck filmed Daredevil.DaredevilAffleck filmed Daredevil at the lowest point of his career; his next two films were Gigli and Paycheck.GigliPaycheck,Paycheck,so things can always get worse, but the film is not entirely bad. Supporting actors play their parts, and Colin Farrell looks great with a bald head, but Affleck seems to sleep through the role, which audiences feel.

In 2016,Affleck revealed he hated making Daredevil.DaredevilBen Affleck wished the movie resembled the Netflix series. He did not say much, but he seemed to dislike the film's story and phoned in his performance. This is not what you want with a character like Daredevil.Ben Affleck is on the list '13 Times Actors Failed as Superheroes'.Ben Affleck is on the list '13 Times Actors Failed as Superheroes'.

People love Ryan Reynolds. They love him.Ryan Reynolds is on the list '13 Times Actors Failed as Superheroes'.Audiences said "no way" to his performance in Green Lantern.Ryan Reynolds played Green Lantern.This shows something. Ryan Reynolds does not fake anything. He and the other talented cast try hard to make the film fun, but their work fails.

Many things went wrong with Green Lantern.Ryan Reynolds played Green Lantern.A major mistake is that Reynolds does not fit the character. He plays Green Lantern like Bugs Bunny instead of being serious. Luckily, Reynolds used his silly side with Deadpool later, and that worked out much better.Ryan Reynolds played Deadpool.A few years later, it worked out better.

Audiences really hated David Harbour as Hellboy in the 2019 reboot of this series. People love Harbour in Stranger Things.David Harbour showed love.Harbour in Stranger ThingsDavid Harbour played Stranger Things.Audiences were not ready to see him take over a character from Ron Perlman.

The movie uses comic storylines, opening with a cut version of Hellboy in Mexico.David Harbour played Hellboy in Mexico.Harbour plays a giant, angry demon working for a secret outpost, but audiences did not like it.Harbour thinks the film..., and Guillermo del Toro super-fans judged his portrayal of Hellboy unfairly:

I think it failed before shooting because people did not want the movie. Guillermo del Toro and Ron Perlman made this iconic thing, which we thought we could remake. Fans certainly reacted—the internet noise was, "We do not want you to touch this." Then we made a movie that I think was fun and had issues, but it was fun. People were strongly against it, which is their right, but I learned my lesson many ways.

Harbour's performance has no problem, but taking on a beloved role like Hellboy while the original actor is still active is a risk, and it did not pay off.

There are many mistakes in My Super Ex-Girlfriend.Uma Thurman played My Super Ex-Girlfriend., but the biggest failing is how it handles Thurman's character of G-Girl.Uma Thurman played G-Girl.Audiences wanted Thurman as a complete, relatable superhero without Marvel or DC links, but they got something shallow.

We have seen Thurman play the grounded heroine in Kill Bill.Uma Thurman was in Kill Bill., but this movie has nothing to hold onto. G-Girl could have been a cool character, but she is burdened with being a quirky ex-girlfriend, which hurts viewers looking for a strong female character.Uma Thurman is a strong female character.When asked why the film portrays her negatively, she replied:

A man wrote this. A man directed it. Men produced it. Then there was me. Is this a male nightmare?

Billy Zane rocks. He makes a meal out of the scenery in.Tales from the Crypt: Demon KnightHe seems like he's down for anything. Being down for anything means agreeing to star inThe PhantomThis film is based on a superhero from the 1930s.

The PhantomKit Walker (Zane) fights sky pirates and a wealthy businessman to control magical skulls in the fictional jungle of Bengalia. The movie mixes wild ideas with slow pacing.

Zane and his co-stars were not bad; everyone tried hard. They lacked a chance in the 1996 action scene. It came out the same weekend as Michael Bay'sThe RockThe RockThe PhantomTheater audiences felt The Phantom, and Zane's performance, felt like something from the 19th century. The film did not connect with the current mood.

Alec Baldwin should have played Batman. In the '90s, he had the millionaire look. He had a great voice for a masked character. He did not get to wear the cowl, but he played another comic-strip detective in the 1994 filmThe Shadow.

The Shadow follows Lamont Cranston, AKA the Shadow. He learns the art of clouding minds in Tibet. He moves to New York, working as a supernatural private detective facing the last heir of Genghis Khan.

LikeThe PhantomThe ShadowThe ShadowBaldwin suffered from being a relic of the Great Depression. Baldwin played Cranston with charm. '90s audiences did not need that kind of entertainment like the '30s. The movie is fun and campy. Aside from Baldwin's nose prosthetic, it looks good. The timing was just wrong.

Audiences will accept Sylvester Stallone as a Vietnam vet with PTSD. They will accept him as a boxer who can beat a Soviet superman. They will not accept him as a Mega-City One street judge.

Stallone's biggest mistake inJudge Dreddis that heremoves his helmetStallone removed his helmet early in the film, something the character does not do. Forget the film's other errors—Stallone broke the main rule of a superhero adaptation and did the opposite of what the audience expected.

Superman ReturnsBrandon Routh wore the red and yellow shield for Superman Returns. Routh looked like an actual drawing of Superman, not just Christopher Reeve. Audiences did not come to the film because the resemblance was not good enough.

The film earned $391.1 million worldwide. This result seems decent, though it falls short of modern superhero franchise expectations. Warner Bros. did not greenlight a reboot seven years later. Routh's Superman performance failed to connect with audiences because he acted like the 1978 version, not the 2006 one.Routh later described the situation.He called the slow death of his Superman version a fizzle.

I consider the end of my Superman run inSuperman ReturnsThat movie did not go as I expected. People around me thought it would. I had to accept that. There was no sequel. The movie got good reviews; people liked it. It made almost $400 million worldwide, but that was not enough. It was a slow fizzle toward a sequel over the next two or three years. I did everything I could in my world to make it happen.

Pinpointing why Aaron Taylor-Johnson failed to connect with audiences as Quicksilver inAge of Ultron.He gives Pietro Maximoff a brooding air. This reads like someone affected by an evil A.I., but audiences did not care much.

The main issue with Taylor-Johnson is his part in the now-defunct 20th Century FoxX-MenEvan Peters also played Quicksilver in the series, and he got much more praise. Peters's Quicksilver scene is one of the most fun and exciting sequences inDays of Future Past, and that overshadowed Taylor-Johnson's work inAge Of UltronThe following year. Audiences seemed to vote for which Quicksilver they wanted, and Peters won by a large margin.

Thomas Jane may not be Hollywood's most famous actor, but Thomas Jane has taken dramatic roles in genre films likeThe Mist, and as a quirky/super creepy character actor in the sprawling, Altman-styleBoogie Nights, but audiences did not care about his portrayal of Frank Castle inThe Punisher.

The film has a mixed tone, but Jane plays Castle with the right brooding look. Punisher fans, however, did not find him Punisher-like enough.The biggest complaint online is that Jane plays the character as if he seeks revenge for lost family members, which is true. He does not punish a group of villains unrelated to his family's death.

Perhaps if Jane was not in aPunisher origin story he would have been accepted more easily. However, Dolph Lundgren and Ray Stevenson suffered similar fates in their respectivePunisher Although Jon Bernthal's Netflix version received good reviews, the Punisher character has not found a place in movies.