Inspired by this post.
Is there a character you love or like that you think has a less likable - loathed presentation on screen?
First of all, Cheers dude, they say that he who is thinking of something, is passed by he who is doing it, so thanks for setting up the thread.
Now who was I thinking of when I said that............. well George Clooney's Batman almost put me off Batman for good. Brandon Routh almost turned me off Superman, but that may have been more Bryan Singer's fault.
Anyway, these are one-offs in series that have had pretty good performances by the main character (I'm thinking Christian Bale, Michael Keaton, Christopher Reeve and Henry Cavill).
Probably the least likeable versions, IMO, are:
1) Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern. In the comics Hal Jordan is a cocky, hotheaded but tough and likeable character. We believe his will is second to none, and that even if he doesn't think his way out of every situation. He's a guy we can cheer for.
In the film Hal was a *****e bag without enough cockiness or balls to be charming and who kind of gives up halfway through - something comic Hal never does, no matter what the situation.
Maybe it was the film as a whole, but I think the comic version of Green Lantern is like a Greek God compared to the film version.
2) Andrew Garfield's Peter Parker, in the first film. At the end of ASM there's that "best kind of promises " line, and I thought "Peter Parker would never do that. What an ass-wipe." Yeah, Peter Parker in the comics screws up all the time and is far from perfect, but we can all cheer for him. Garfield was okay when in the suit, as performing as Spider Man, but as PP he made me cringe.
Strangely, the one thing I thought was better about ASM 2 was that Garfield was much better as Peter, much more likeable anyway.
3) Aldrich Killian as the Mandarin: I hesitated to bring this one up, as there have been threads dealing with all the issues around Iron Man 3.
Anyway, I would have been okay with Sir Ben as the Mandarin, but the way it played out annoyed me. I guess I'm stuck on the classic mandarin depiction - and while for some other characters Shane Black's interpretation would have been funny and very clever, for this one it just didn't work. But that's just my opinion.
In the comics, MJ is wonderful, charming, extremely likable, fun and outgoing. The film version was none of those things. She was selfish, obnoxious and she literally managed to suck the energy out of every scene she was in.
Yeah, I agree with that. MJ was not a good love interest at all. Sadly, Iris West is just as bad in the Flash TV series.
I agree that Sabretooth was also badly adapted, but nowhere as cringeworthy as Green Lantern or Garfield's PP.
Just for the record, I did think Renolds was a great Deadpool (in fact his character from Blade III was pretty much Deadpool without the superpowers) As for Last Stand's Juggernaut, well it was different, but it worked for me because it pretty much captured who the Juggernaut is, a big thug who likes smashing things.
