SpandexFan
Civilian
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2003
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NOTE: THIS LIST ONLY INCLUDES ACTORS AND ACTRESSES WHO CONTINUED THE SAME STORYLINE. COMPLETE REBOOTS NOT INCLUDED!
#7 Brian Cox to Danny Huston as William Stryker
VERDICT: PHAIL
This one is probably a toss-up. X-Men Origins needed a younger William Stryker so it made sense to replace him in the same superhero franchise, and both did great jobs in their roles. Huston had more of the crazy off-the-wall Stryker to him in X-Men Origins, but Cox's Stryker had depth that Huston lacked. You could genuinely see the pain that drove Stryker crazy in Cox's X2 version, but some of that was lacking in Huston's version in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
#6 Tyler Mane to Liev Schrieber as Sabretooth
VERDICT: SUCCESS
A disappointment to comic book fans that the Origins version of Sabretooth didn't look much like the comic book version, but let's face it... Liev Schrieber is 10x the actor Tyler Mane will ever hope to be. The storyline was all screwed up compared to the comics, but if there was to be any drama between Logan and Sabretooth, there had to be not only a good actor, but an actor who made a great bad guy, and Schrieber was that man, not Mane. It wasn't as much of an impact as other superhero franchises either since we last saw Sabretooth in a small part in only one of the previous X-Men movies.
#5 Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle as Rhodey
VERDICT: UNKNOWN BUT PROBABLY A SUCCESS
Cheadle is a fine performer, but Howard isn't a bad actor himself. Howard definitely has more of the superhero commanding officer physique to him, and it remains to be seen if skinny Cheadle can pull off the role of War Machine, but chances are he will since the Iron Man CGI and metal costumes are far less dependent on the actor's physicality compared to other superhero installments. There are few roles that Cheadle has not prospered in during his acting career.
#4 Katie Holmes to Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel
VERDICT: SUCCESS
Losing the same cast never helps, and the death of Rachel might have been just a little bit more meaningful if we saw the same actress from the Nolan Batman franchise bite the dust. Gyllenhaal was also not as cute as Holmes, and lacked a little bit of that innocent-looking spunk that made Katie Holmes a good fit for the part. But in the end, Gyllenhaal was a far better actress, and that was what made it work.
#3 Val Kilmer to George Clooney as Batman
VERDICT: PHAIL
Clooney actually made a half-decent Bruce Wayne, unfortunately he wasn't trying to purposefully pass off Wayne as a cocky playboy -- that was just the natural Clooney acting style! And while Bruce Wayne sometimes worked, he didn't do much to change his persona as Batman and the result was one of the worst big budget superhero movies ever made.
#2 Michael Keaton to Val Kilmer as Batman
VERDICT: SUCCESS
Michael Keaton was a better Bruce Wayne and Batman, but the underrated Kilmer did make us forget Keaton as the Dark Knight and managed to pull off a skillful portrayal of Batman, right before Joel Schumacher destroyed the franchise. The third Batman movie had box office success and good reviews, although some of that was because of Jim Carrey as the Riddler who was just becoming one of the biggest stars in the world. Maybe Kilmer's biggest phail was his small chin didn't seem to mold to the costume as well as other actors?
#1 Christopher Reeve to Brandon Routh as Superman
VERDICT: PHAIL
Yes, Superman Returns was its own reboot just like Batman Begins, which is why you won't see Keaton/Kilmer/Clooney to Bale on this list, because Nolan chose to completely ignore previous movie history. But when Singer chose to continue after the events of Superman II, model Routh's Clark Kent after Reeve's version, insert many famous lines from the Donner Superman versions and such... well, you basically have a movie that is still part of the original Superman franchise, and that's probably where it all went wrong. What sounded like a great idea ended up in complete phail because audiences were forever reminded that Routh (who did pull off an admirable job) was trying to imitate Christopher Reeve, who may go down as the most typecast and memorable superhero portrayal in film history.
#7 Brian Cox to Danny Huston as William Stryker
VERDICT: PHAIL
This one is probably a toss-up. X-Men Origins needed a younger William Stryker so it made sense to replace him in the same superhero franchise, and both did great jobs in their roles. Huston had more of the crazy off-the-wall Stryker to him in X-Men Origins, but Cox's Stryker had depth that Huston lacked. You could genuinely see the pain that drove Stryker crazy in Cox's X2 version, but some of that was lacking in Huston's version in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
#6 Tyler Mane to Liev Schrieber as Sabretooth
VERDICT: SUCCESS
A disappointment to comic book fans that the Origins version of Sabretooth didn't look much like the comic book version, but let's face it... Liev Schrieber is 10x the actor Tyler Mane will ever hope to be. The storyline was all screwed up compared to the comics, but if there was to be any drama between Logan and Sabretooth, there had to be not only a good actor, but an actor who made a great bad guy, and Schrieber was that man, not Mane. It wasn't as much of an impact as other superhero franchises either since we last saw Sabretooth in a small part in only one of the previous X-Men movies.
#5 Terrence Howard to Don Cheadle as Rhodey
VERDICT: UNKNOWN BUT PROBABLY A SUCCESS
Cheadle is a fine performer, but Howard isn't a bad actor himself. Howard definitely has more of the superhero commanding officer physique to him, and it remains to be seen if skinny Cheadle can pull off the role of War Machine, but chances are he will since the Iron Man CGI and metal costumes are far less dependent on the actor's physicality compared to other superhero installments. There are few roles that Cheadle has not prospered in during his acting career.
#4 Katie Holmes to Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel
VERDICT: SUCCESS
Losing the same cast never helps, and the death of Rachel might have been just a little bit more meaningful if we saw the same actress from the Nolan Batman franchise bite the dust. Gyllenhaal was also not as cute as Holmes, and lacked a little bit of that innocent-looking spunk that made Katie Holmes a good fit for the part. But in the end, Gyllenhaal was a far better actress, and that was what made it work.
#3 Val Kilmer to George Clooney as Batman
VERDICT: PHAIL
Clooney actually made a half-decent Bruce Wayne, unfortunately he wasn't trying to purposefully pass off Wayne as a cocky playboy -- that was just the natural Clooney acting style! And while Bruce Wayne sometimes worked, he didn't do much to change his persona as Batman and the result was one of the worst big budget superhero movies ever made.
#2 Michael Keaton to Val Kilmer as Batman
VERDICT: SUCCESS
Michael Keaton was a better Bruce Wayne and Batman, but the underrated Kilmer did make us forget Keaton as the Dark Knight and managed to pull off a skillful portrayal of Batman, right before Joel Schumacher destroyed the franchise. The third Batman movie had box office success and good reviews, although some of that was because of Jim Carrey as the Riddler who was just becoming one of the biggest stars in the world. Maybe Kilmer's biggest phail was his small chin didn't seem to mold to the costume as well as other actors?
#1 Christopher Reeve to Brandon Routh as Superman
VERDICT: PHAIL
Yes, Superman Returns was its own reboot just like Batman Begins, which is why you won't see Keaton/Kilmer/Clooney to Bale on this list, because Nolan chose to completely ignore previous movie history. But when Singer chose to continue after the events of Superman II, model Routh's Clark Kent after Reeve's version, insert many famous lines from the Donner Superman versions and such... well, you basically have a movie that is still part of the original Superman franchise, and that's probably where it all went wrong. What sounded like a great idea ended up in complete phail because audiences were forever reminded that Routh (who did pull off an admirable job) was trying to imitate Christopher Reeve, who may go down as the most typecast and memorable superhero portrayal in film history.
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