We live in the golden age of superhero movies. From standalone films from DC and Fox to Marvel’s unprecedented Cinematic Universe, the past decade presented fresh takes on well-known characters and introduced viewers to people we’ve never even heard of. A handful of superhero movies will still release this year alone. It’s audiences have gotten spoiled with what we can expect from this rapidly growing genre.
Part of the appeal is the big spectacle of watching superheroes fight crime and save the world on the big screen. Whether it’s an origin story or a big team-up, there’s no limit to what filmmakers can do with these iconic characters.
These things are certainly important, but what really makes these movies worth watching are the performances. Some actors can elevate a movie just by being in it. They make a horrible movie watchable, or make an amazing movie that much better. On the flip side, though, some performances are so bad that they completely overshadow all the good things about it.
No movie is perfect, and that goes for superhero movies, too. However, some performances in these movies stand apart — sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worse.
Here are 8 Performances That Ruined Superhero Movies (and 8 That Saved Them)
Ruined: Topher Grace (Spider-Man 3)
What the heck is Eric Foreman from That ’70s Show doing in a Spider-Man movie? That was the question on everyone’s minds when Topher Grace portrayed Eddie Brock/Venom in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3.
There were many things that went wrong in the third installment of this franchise. Arguably, it all starts with the casting of Grace as a supervillain. Antagonists are supposed to challenge the heroes, but Grace’s performance as Venom is so unimposing that it becomes laughable and turns the well-known villain into a caricature.
He is also far too whiny to be believable.
When a villain’s most memorable line is “I like being bad. It makes me happy,” you’ve got a real problem.
Grace really needs to stick to hanging out, down the street, instead.
Saved: Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
When it was announced that Heath Ledger would play the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, no one believed that he could pull off such a role. Today, many consider Ledger’s portrayal to be one of — if not the best — performances in a superhero film.
The Joker has appeared on screen before, but no one has been able to capture the iconic Batman villain’s essence the way Ledger has. He goes all in with this performance, depicting the Joker as a psychotic antagonist that the audience can understand.
The Dark Knight is a great superhero film in its own right, but it would not have been as successful without Ledger. Ledger posthumously won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his work, and he redefined the way we think about villains.
Ruined: Jared Leto (Suicide Squad)
When you know you’ve already gotten the best Joker you’ll ever get with Heath Ledger, it becomes very difficult to root for Jared Leto taking up the mantle. Leto had some big shoes to fill, but he doesn’t even come close in Suicide Squad.
Leto’s Joker seems to be a gangster-type villain in the DCEU. That could have presented an interesting side of the character, but Leto does virtually nothing to try and flesh out the Joker’s motivations. Instead, Leto gives a manic, unfocused performance.
It seems like he’s trying to be edgy, but it just comes off as ridiculous and forced.
Granted, the Joker has a limited role in the film as it is, but Leto only adds to its messiness rather than standing apart from it. He was never going to be as good as Ledger, but Leto falls too short of the mark with this performance.
Saved: Chris Evans (Fantastic Four)
Most superhero fans associate Chris Evans with his role as Steve Rogers/Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, he doesn’t get nearly enough credit for being the best thing about Fantastic Four.
Evans played the literal hotshot Johnny Storm/Human Torch. He brought boyish charm to the role, and never took anything too seriously — which made him a great Human Torch.
He was the only actor in either Fantastic Four movie who seemed to have fun with the character.
These movies were far from perfect — they were cheesy and uneven — but Evans made them enjoyable enough to watch. His role as Captain America is arguably what defines him now, but his performance as Human Torch proved first that he belonged in the superhero world.
Ruined: Edward Norton (The Incredible Hulk)
Bruce Banner/The Hulk has become a prominent supporting character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so it’s easy to forget that the character once had a solo film that starred someone other than Mark Ruffalo.
Edward Norton portrayed the character in Louis Leterrier’s The Incredible Hulk in 2008. The film didn’t completely tank, but it’s widely regarded as one of the weakest MCU movies. A big part of this is that Norton lacks the charisma needed from the lead role. Whereas Ruffalo shows the character’s layers and vulnerability, Norton goes through the motions without delivering any emotional depth.
Kevin Feige and Marvel’s creative team infamously chose not to bring back Norton for The Avengers in 2012. Given the success they’ve found with the character since, that was definitely the right decision.
Saved: Hugh Jackman (X-Men: The Last Stand)
Having played the character for a total of seventeen years, Hugh Jackman is pretty much always the best part of any X-Men film — even the stinkers like X-Men: The Last Stand.
The first two films in the original trilogy — X-Men and X2 — were both critical successes, but the story took a sharp downward turn with The Last Stand. In spite of the weak payoffs and needless story arcs with other characters sprinkled in, Jackman brings it once again as Logan/The Wolverine. His particular action sequences are good, and even though the Dark Phoenix storyline was wasted, Jackman delivered on the emotional punch of killing Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey at the climax.
Few actors embody their roles the way Jackman did for the Wolverine.
The Last Stand was a disappointing follow-up to its predecessors, but that doesn’t take away from Jackman’s amazing performance.
Ruined: Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men: Apocalypse)
Before Jennifer Lawrence rose to prominence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games franchise, she played the mutant Raven Darkholme/Mystique in the latest X-Men movies. It’s very disappointing to see her role decline in quality throughout these films, particularly in X-Men: Apocalypse.
In X-Men: First Class, Raven was the bright but misunderstood shapeshifting mutant who’s role turns villainous. Rather than coming off as hardened by her past in this third film, Lawrence seems completely uninterested in what’s going on.
Seemingly, she just showed up for her paycheck and phoned it in with her performance.
X-Men: Apocalypse suffered from a generic villain and too many characters, but Lawrence seemed to put no effort into developing her character. As talented as she is, she lets this whole film down.
Saved: Tessa Thompson (Thor: Ragnarok)
Thor: Ragnarok is one of the rare instances where the third installment of a trilogy is actually the best one. Tessa Thompson deserves some of the credit for that with her performance as Valkyrie.
From the moment Valkyrie is introduced in the film, it became clear that Thompson was going to be one of the best parts of this movie. Her character is an alcoholic warrior who at first provides comedic relief, but deepens the film on an emotional level as well.
Thompson makes her character’s arc believable and impactful.
Thompson gave us an awesome female hero who elevates Ragnarok. On top of that, she has a fun onscreen dynamic with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor and Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk. Valkyrie is one of the best additions to the MCU, and Thompson is the one responsible.
Ruined: Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern)
Ryan Reynolds found major success with his standalone Deadpool movie. It’s a good thing, too, because before that, he had a few heroic duds — the biggest of which was Green Lantern.
This 2011 film marked the first live action outing for the DC hero Hal Jordan/Green Lantern. Reynolds has been a big name in Hollywood for a while, so this casting choice wasn’t totally out of left field. However, when the movie released, it crashed and burned very hard.
Reynolds is good at comedy, but he makes Hal Jordan an annoying jerk no one would want to root for.
In his hands, the emotional climax of the movie — that willpower is stronger than fear — falls flat on its face. It’s a good thing Reynolds found redemption, because he’s certainly not meant to be the Green Lantern.
Saved: Andrew Garfield (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 gets a bad rap for being an overstuffed superhero movie with a bad villain. While those things are hard to argue with, Andrew Garfield doesn’t get enough credit for his portrayal of Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
Following the events of the first movie, Peter must balance his responsibilities as a superhero and his relationship with Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone). This is really the central part of the story, and it put a lot of pressure on Garfield to make this relationship believable.
Regardless of the rest of the movie’s pitfalls, Garfield keeps it from falling apart.
His onscreen chemistry with Stone also shines through, especially during Gwen’s final scene. Garfield often gets overshadowed by other actors who have played Spider-Man, but he was the best part of this movie.
Ruined: Katie Holmes (Batman Begins)
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy revolutionized the superhero genre in many ways. The first film, Batman Begins, played a huge role in that, but Katie Holmes deserves none of the credit for its success.
Holmes played Rachel Dawes, Bruce’s lifelong friend and love interest. Their shared history should have been a compelling part of the film, especially for Bruce. However, Holmes is a wooden lead in this movie.
Her line delivery is clunky and makes the character feel condescending rather than helpful.
Nolan and the creative team created Rachel for this particular series, and it’s a shame that she got off to a rocky start in Holmes’ hands. Thankfully, Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Holmes in The Dark Knight and gave the character a second - if brief- shot.
Saved: Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man 2)
Iron Man 2 had a lot of expectations thrown on it after the successes of Iron Man, which launched the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it. The sequel didn’t match the quality of the first installment, but Robert Downey Jr. grounds it as a pitch perfect Tony Stark/Iron Man.
Playing Iron Man revitalized RDJ’s career. With Iron Man 2, he cements the fact that no one else could have played the character as well.
Tony deals with the pressures of being Iron Man and the fact that the palladium core in his chest that keeps him alive is also damaging him. RDJ navigates these sides of Tony in a way that’s realistic but also true to the character.
This movie didn’t have the personal stakes or consistency of the first Iron Man, but RDJ is so good in the titular role that it really doesn’t matter.
Ruined: Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man)
Mary Jane “MJ” Watson is a well-known part of Spider-Man lore. Besides Gwen Stacy, she’s Peter’s most prominent love interest. In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man, though, Kirsten Dunst is a miscast MJ.
Dunst embodies none of the flare or personality that MJ traditionally has in the comics. It’s not always a bad thing to add a new spin on a character, but this version of MJ has virtually no distinguishing qualities.
She tries to be the “girl next door,” but she’s not interesting enough to care about.
On top of that, Dunst lacks chemistry with Tobey Maguire. MJ is a motivating factor for Peter Parker, but if the audience isn’t invested in her, they’re less likely to believe that relationship.
Dunst is a talented actress, but she shows none of that talent as MJ.
Saved: Margot Robbie (Suicide Squad)
Suicide Squad is a mess on pretty much every level. The story doesn’t make sense, the editing is choppy, and the villain is a CGI headache.
The one thing that makes this movie watchable is Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.
Robbie is one of the most talented actresses working today, and Suicide Squad was one of her first blockbuster roles. Because it underperformed critically, her performance doesn’t get nearly enough credit.
She captures Harley’s insanity and vulnerability while still injecting some much needed fun into the story. Robbie even makes scenes with Leto’s Joker more interesting.
If Suicide Squad were better received, Robbie would likely be in the conversation of performers who were “born to play” their roles like Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool or Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man. Robbie is a bright spot in a dreary DCEU.
Ruined: Jesse Eisenberg (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice)
Lex Luthor is probably Superman’s most infamous antagonist. He’s an evil mastermind and a real threat to Superman’s goals. Jesse Eisenberg was woefully miscast as Lex in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Eisenberg presents a younger, less experienced version of the character whose relationship with Superman is still forming. A character’s beginnings is always interesting to explore, but Eisenberg’s acting decisions are completely bizarre and squander this idea.
His Lex is neurotic, cocky, and sometimes cringe-inducing.
There’s no doubt that Lex is insane, but Eisenberg’s take on the character makes him awkward rather than imposing. For someone who’s supposed to be Superman’s arch enemy, Eisenberg’s Lex doesn’t fit that mold.
Saved: Gal Gadot (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice)
Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman tried to set up too many characters and plotlines at once. It failed at most of those things, but it did introduce the world to Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.
Although her moments in the movie are fleeting, Gadot steals every scene she’s in — including the ones with Ben Affleck’s Batman and Henry Cavill’s Superman.
She embodies the role on every level. She’s powerful, fun, and proves she’s more than up to the task of bringing this character to life.
Batman v Superman polarized both fans and critics, but one thing people could generally agree on was that they were excited for the Wonder Woman movie — for good reason, it turns out.
Gadot provides relief from the grimness of the DCEU and gives viewers a hero they can get behind.
What’s your favorite superhero movie performance? Let us know in the comments!
