A couple of weeks ago Ben Affleck was announced as the latest actor to strap on the Batcowl and rumbly voice. The internet burst into a righteous hissy fit because he was in Daredevil, and our long term memory tells us that he wasn’t wasn’t very good in it. Never mind all that great acting, writing and directing he’s been doing in recent years, he was Daredevil eleven years ago!
Once upon a time the unofficial policy round Hollywood was that everyone got their one superhero franchise. With the current market flood of superhero films there just aren’t enough suitable actors available for all the characters. Time to list a couple (because we like lists!) and pick out the best hero for each actor!
Seeing as there is so bloody many we expect to revisit this in the futre. And for the sake of completion we’re factoring in all comic book characters, not just the superpowered ones.
Ben Affleck
Who You Remember Him As: Back in 2003 Ben Affleck has at the height of his fame and donned the red latex for Mark Steven Johnson’s adaptation of Daredevil. With the up and coming cast of stars and slick trailer it did moderately well in cinemas, but was hated by fans and was an early flop in what would be a rough couple of years for Affleck’s career.
But He’s Also: The Dark Knight himself. In the upcoming Batman vs Superman he’ll team up with Henry Cavill’s Superman to lay the ground for the anticipated Justice League team-up.
And He Was Best As: Batman. Ok, fine, we haven’t seen it yet, but there’s no reason he won’t be fine in the role and it’s sure to be better than anything crapped out by Mark Steven Johnson. Your opinion?
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163373">Take Our Poll</a>Nicolas Cage
Who You Remember Him As: Amazingly they let Mark Steven Johnson direct another superhero movie, this time featuring Hollywood’s favorite bug-eyed crazy man as the titular Ghost Rider. When night falls he reverts into a flaming skeleton on a motorbike, dealing vengeance down upon sinners and general being metal as fuck.
But He’s Also: Big Daddy. Hit-Girl was easily the most memorable character from 2010′s Kick-Ass, but she’d be nothing without Big Daddy training her, getting her used to being shot and giving her a reason to fight.
And He Was Best As: Easily Big Daddy. In an era when Cage is becoming more and more unhinged it was refreshing to see him turn in a solid performance. He ranged from caring and considerate father to Adam West-esque vigilante.
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163405">Take Our Poll</a>Chris Evans
Who You Remember Him As: It’s hard to forget Evans as the man who strapped on the stars and stripes. Captain America may not be the most popular of the Marvel A-Listers, but he is one of the most iconic and Evans brought him to life perfectly.
But He’s Also: Turns out Evan’s is quite a fan of comic book movies! At the beginning of his career in the big league he flamed on as Human Torch in Fantastic Four before going techie as Jensen in The Losers and brilliantly parodying Hollywood actors as evil-ex Lucas Lee in Scott Pilgrim vs The World.
And He Was Best As: As much as we loved Lucas Lee and Jensen it’s really hard to ignore such a perfect performance as the Cap.
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163433">Take Our Poll</a>Jessica Alba
Who You Remember Her As: Jessica Alba’s star was rising fast when the big budget Fantastic Four movie came knocking. Although it was ultimately a critical flop the role of Susan Storm afforded Alba a massive amount of publicity and she became a driving force for the movie’s box office take.
But She’s Also: Nancy Callahan is an icon of the adult comic circuit. The cowgirl stripper is one of the only consistently recurring characters in the world of Sin City. With the ensemble cast and adult content this was a less publicised role.
And She Was Best As: The vengeance driven Nancy easily beats out bland Sue Storm in the cinematic stakes.
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163460">Take Our Poll</a>Ryan Reynolds
Who You Remember Him As: Glowing bright green as the fighter pilot turned space patrol man Hal Jordan in Green Lantern. With his magic ring and lantern he can fly and summon anything that springs to mind.
But He’s Also: Wind back the clock a bit and he featured as the dual sword swinging blabbermouth fan favorite Deadpool in Wolverine. A rumoured spin-off is yet to materialise unfortunately. Wind back further and we see him teaming up with Blade to hunt vampires as Hannibal King in Blade Trinity. Man…Reynolds’ has not had great luck picking comic book movies…
And He Was Best As: The movie may have sucked but he was a damn good Green Lantern. Deadpool was a shallow version of the character and Hannibal King was generic action wise-cracker – I’m giving this one to Hal.
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163500">Take Our Poll</a>Halle Berry
Who You Remember Her As: You’d have to be actively avoiding superhero movies not to have seen Halle Berry playing Storm in X-Men, X-Men United, X-Men The Last Stand and X-Men: Days of Future Past. She’s been putting on the white wig and contacts for over a decade.
But She’s Also: After taking home an Oscar Berry decided to take on the part of Catwoman, possibly hoping for a role akin to Michelle Pfeiffer’s turn. It didn’t go well.
And She Was Best As: Urgh, it has to be Storm. Catwoman was awful.
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163521">Take Our Poll</a>Brandon Routh
Who You Remember Him As: The man who was briefly Superman. Christopher Reeve filled the role so well it seemed like no-one would ever be Superman, but Routh did a solid job in the tights. Shame about the rest of the movie.
But He’s Also: From Krypton powers to Vegan powers. Routh was the telekinetic bass playing third evil ex in Scott Pilgrim vs The World.
And He Was Best As: The terrible one-liners, the Super-Siayan hair, the bass powers, the smoking eyes – it’s Todd.
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163558">Take Our Poll</a>Ray Stevenson
Who You Remember Him As: Ray Stevenson followed Thomas Jayne and Dolph Lundgren in strapping on the skull shirt and waging a one man war on organised crime. Considering Stevenson has made a career of playing scary men it’s a good casting choice.
But He’s Also: It’s hard to big it under the beard, but Stevenson also backed up Thor as Volstagg, the heavyweight member of Asgard.
And He Was Best As: Stevenson has come closer than anyone else at delivering a truly solid performance as the Punisher. It’s a shame no-one seems capable of writing a script to do the character justice.
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163595">Take Our Poll</a>Hugo Weaving
Who You Remember Him As: It’s hard to forget an actor after they’ve peeled the skin off their face to reveal a hideous red skull. There really wasn’t a better actor to play Captain America’s most iconic villain.
But He’s Also: It’s easy to forget that Weaving played V in spite of the character becoming a pop culture icon, as he never removes his mask.
And He Was Best As: It’s gotta be V. It’s a powerful performance and a memorable character, all delivered with facial expression – one of an actors primary tools.
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163620">Take Our Poll</a>Jim Carrey
Who You Remember Him As: Most people don’t think of the funny man as a comic movie actor but he’s already chalked up three different roles, all in big productions. Of the three he’s best remembered for Stanley Ipkiss in The Mask, donning the rubber green face and taking on cartoon physics.
But He’s Also: During the dark time, when Schumacher was making Batman movies, Carrey won out over many comedians to wear the skin tight one-piece as The Riddler. More recently he played Colonel Stars and Stripes, a deranged version of Captain America in Kick-Ass 2.
And He Was Best As: You need to ask? Do I need to play the Cuban Pete clip? As to the Riddler…I’m still hanging out for a serious take on the character.
<a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/8163663">Take Our Poll</a>
