1) Ryan Reynolds
There has never been an actor more tailor made to be a superhero than Ryan Reynolds. He's good-looking, funny, in perfect hero shape, and seems like a genuinely fun-loving guy. Unfortunately, his comedic timing and charming presence have been squandered on projects that had so much potential, but ultimately flopped hard.
His first venture was 2004's Blade: Trinity, which gave us a younger, bearded Reynolds tackling a lesser known comic character, Hannibal King, in the final installment to the Blade series. While his performance was charming and bad-ass, the movie was eventually forgotten by most. His later projects brought him from Marvel to DC with 2011's Green Lantern, which was underwhelming, inaccurate to the comics, and a completely disorganized mess, overly reliant on simply having Reynolds on the cast and the extravagant, but confusing use of CGI throughout. Spiraling through a barrage of failed comic adaptations, including 2013's abysmal R.I.P.D., it seemed that all promise was lost for Ryan Reynolds and his hopes to don the mantle of a successful comic franchise.
With everyone (including Ryan Reynolds) agreeing to forget these movies happened, there was one character that was salvaged from the wreckage of 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine — the wise-cracking assassin, Deadpool. While it was attached to a terribly misguided attempt at an X-Men spin-off series, this was the one character that seemed to be an absolute waste of Reynold's talents without a proper rendition, and inexplicably sewing up the mouth of a character known as 'The Merc with the Mouth'. After the roaring success of the CG test footage that made its rounds on the internet last year, the Deadpool movie is finally underway. If the official red band HD trailer released for Comic-Con 2015 is anything to go by, it seems that Ryan Reynolds' own personal curse of the bambino will finally be lifted and a beloved comic character is finally getting the Reynolds treatment it deserves.
Deadpool releases February 12, 2016
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice releases March 25, 2016
Suicide Squad releases August 5, 2015
2) Ben Affleck
Comic book fans are always the hardest to please. Usually when a non-traditional actor is cast to play one of the most iconic characters in history, there's usually an uproar that will never really be quelled until the actual release of the movie.
Case in point, the casting of Ben Affleck as Batman. The general disdain arose from Affleck's previous body of work. While there were a lot of bombs and a lot of successes, just like most actors, the one project that comes to mind is 2003's Daredevil. It was Affleck's first attempt at a superhero franchise and it was a disappointing, leather-clad, poorly plotted snore-fest with nowhere to go but back to the drawing board.
Fortunately, Ben Affleck's career has taken a more dignified turn and he has really come into his own as an actor and director. It was recently announced that he would not only be portraying Batman in next year's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and a cameo in Suicide Squad, but he's indefinitely involved in the upcoming Justice League: Part I and Part II, as well as signing on to both star in AND direct a new solo Batman trilogy tying into the rest of the new DCU. That brings his contribution to a whopping SEVEN announced Batman projects! With commitment like that, he's earned the chance to prove his worth as the Caped Crusader.
3) Charlie Cox
British born actor Charlie Cox has never been well known in the States. His most prominent project recently has been the 2007 adaptation of the Neil Gaiman graphic novel, Stardust. While the film was critically acclaimed and well-received by audiences, it was a commercial flop, only reeling in $9 million opening weekend against its $70 million budget. That was despite having the involvement of Neil Gaiman himself, as well as being directed by Matthew Vaughn, who will later be known as a master of adapting comic movies such as the Kick-Ass series, X-Men: First Class, and the recent hit, Kingsman: The Secret Service. Not to mention Cox's co-stars, who were or will have been known for their comic roles like Michelle Pfeiffer (Batman Returns), Mark Strong (Kick-Ass, Green Lantern, Kingsman: The Secret Service), Ian McKellan (X-Men series), and even Henry Cavill (Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice)!
It wasn't until the success of Netflix's Daredevil series that Charlie Cox became a household name. The series also contributed a dark, edgy superhero story to the currently expanding MCU, while also redeeming the Daredevil franchise from the laughable interpretation from the 2003 Ben Affleck film.
4) Brandon Routh
Since the original Superman series starring the late Christopher Reeve, it has always been a challenge to find an actor who could do justice to the most iconic superhero of all time, outside of the occasional TV series. In 2006, Brandon Routh was given the opportunity to don the red cape in the first Superman movie since 1987, Superman Returns. While the film did commercially well and wasn't necessarily a bad movie, the filmmakers clearly played it safe and the movie fell flat of the charm we were expecting. Routh's comic book portrayal choices became increasingly more erratic in 2010, starring in both the terrible across the board adaptation of the Italian supernatural comic, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, and the charming and quirky, Scott Pilgrim vs The World.
It seems that in 2014, Routh felt it was in his best interest to fall back onto his DC roots and began starring as a new series regular on the CW's Arrow, playing the eccentric millionaire inventor Ray Palmer, aka The Atom. Once the jokes about Superman's Justice League demotion subsided, it quickly became clear that Brandon Routh may have found his calling and a new place to call home.
The comic book film industry has been hit or miss since its beginning. There have been good films, just okay ones, the sleeper hits that come out of nowhere, and of course, the bombs so terrible, most people forget they exist (or at least try to).
It's not very often a highly respected actor decides to throw on a cape and talk to a tennis ball on a stick for a few months, but when they do, we can only hope the final product is memorable, or at least tolerable. When a project like that falls short of the charm and magic that comes so easy to others, it's almost tragic that a great actor was wasted on a poorly written or directed pile of schlock. Sometimes, however, those actors are given another chance on a different comic based title and, despite the memes and twitter haters, we get a decent movie, usually good enough to erase the half-remembered nightmare we got from them the first time.
These are the top five actors who redeemed their initially terrible comic adaptations with truly unforgettable ones.
5) Chris Evans
It must be said that Chris Evans is one modern actor perfect for a superhero role. His farmboy looks and build, as well as his natural comedic timing make him the perfect candidate. His first venture into the superhero mythos was in 2004's Fantastic Four as the young, hot-headed Johnny Storm, aka Human Torch. The film had its quirks and was overall a valiant attempt at a FF movie, but its sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, ultimately killed the franchise.
Playing it close to the chest, Evans did later star in 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs The World opposite former Superman, Brandon Routh, but his superhero career didn't really take off until he was given the chance to portray the star-spangled, Sentinel of Liberty in Captain America: The First Avenger. Being the true moral compass and the unflappable leader of the Avengers helped make Chris Evans a necessary staple of not only the MCU, but the rapidly growing ideology to take risks and try new things with comic book movies, especially ones that most studios were afraid to even attempt before recently.
