Comic book movies have taken over Hollywood completely, but even before Iron Man changed the world of cinema forever there’d been quite a few attempts to create comic book stories on the silver screen. Some were successful, but most really weren’t.
And with the repetition of certain movies and superhero stories, comes the repetition of having the same character played by another actor. Let’s take a look at some of the characters that’ve been played by multiple actors and try to figure out who did better.
The Hulk
We now currently have Eric Bana, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo that have been The Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Before that, there was the immortal performance of Lou Ferrigno. We can all agree Lou was definitely the campiest of the Hulks and nobody wants to be reminded of the Eric Bana version, but we can’t help but wonder the Ed Norton version had a lot of potential that we’ll never see. Not that anyone will be complaining about that, considering how amazing Mark Ruffalo is.
Batman
Batman is possibly the most casted superhero in cinema history. There’s Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Ben Affleck and now Robert Pattinson all suiting up as the Caped Crusader. While the latest movie, The Batman, is still too early to tell, we can all agree that whoever wins the “best Batman” contest won’t be Val Kilmer or George Clooney. We could add Adam West in here for good measure, but we’re not fooling anyone with that – we only remember that version because of the sheer shlock factor of it, not because it was good.
Superman
If we’d have to choose between Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh or Henry Cavill to figure out who the best Superman was, Christopher Reeve definitely takes the cake. Well, Christopher was a far better Clark Kent at any rate. The Henry Cavill Superman feels more like a super-powered alien than the Reeve version does. We don’t talk about the Brandon Routh movie. It was bad.
Joker
With each new Batman seems to come a new Joker. If we’d have to choose between Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto or Joaquin Phoenix, well, Joaquin Phoenix added a certain depth and empathy to the character that it never had before. That probably has more to do with how the story was written, but it does make his version into the best one.
Spider-Man
This one’s pretty easy, since they all show up in the latest Spider-Man movie. And as much as we love Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, Tom Holland does seem to nail the typical Peter Parker a lot better than his two predecessors. I wouldn’t say no to a new Spider-Man movie starring either of the other actors though, all three were great.
Catwoman
Well, we know it isn’t going to be Halle Berry here. Anne Hathaway did a good job and I’m sure Zoë Kravitz does an excellent job, but let us not forget about the amazing version Michelle Pfeiffer did in the Tim Burton’s movie. She can definitely win this round.
Professor X
This is a rough one to get through since James McAvoy is an amazing actor by any measurable standard, but there’s no denying that sir Patrick Stewart just oozes “Charles Xavier” through every pore. It’s definitely going to be hard to get that soothing voice out of our heads whenever we think of Professor Charles Xavier.
