10 Actors Who Deserve Superhero Movie Redemption

The superhero film genre, while sometimes lucrative, fun, and immensely popular, can be an unforgiving thing for those who fail to achieve greatness. While successful films like The Avengers or The Dark Knight trilogy are lauded for their achievements behind and in front of the camera, the genre's various flops and disappointments have left an undeniable mark. Yet, occasionally, those who've fallen victim to superhero failure are given the chance of redemption. Nicolas Cage was a pretty terrible Ghost Rider, but received much praise for his role as Big Daddy in Kick-Ass. Ben Affleck made audiences cringe when he donned the red leather suit of Daredevil in 2003, but has been given another chance at comic book success with the mack daddy of them all, Batman. Then, of course, there's Ryan Reynolds, who starred in not one, not two, but three terrible superhero movies (Blade: Trinity, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Green Lantern), but has been given one more shot at the big time. He'll even have the unprecedented chance of doing so as one of the characters that once caused his exile: Deadpool. So, who else in the expansive pantheon of comic book adaptations deserves another shot at donning a cape or cowl? Here are ten suggestions... 10) Arnold Schwarzenegger Yes, Schwarzenegger is perhaps the worst thing about one of the worst superhero films of all-time. His pun-happy role as Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin will be the subject of ridicule for the foreseeable future, but is it really his fault? After all, Arnie made a career out of similarly cheesy roles, and is beloved to this day for being one of the most iconic action heroes in cinema history. He was never right for the role of Mr. Freeze - the brilliant cryogenics expert with one of the most heartbreaking love stories in comics - but a bad script and terrible direction from Joel Schumacher didn't do him any favors. Schwarzenegger would be great in a role better suited for his talents. Now that he's acting again, and now that the superhero genre is in such an upswing, perhaps the timing is perfect for his redemption. I, for one, could easily picture him as Suicide Squad's Rick Flagg Sr. (he has worked with David Ayer before...), or some other military-based officer. Or, was his performance in Batman & Robin so bad that he's been iced out of the genre completely? Time will tell... 9) Taylor Kitsch Last year's X-Men: Days of Future Past went out of its way to clean up some of the franchise's muddy continuity and erase middling entries like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, yet still managed to bring back key actors in the franchise like James Marsden, Famke Janssen and Halle Berry for the parts of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm, respectively. Unfortunately, one actor who hasn't survived the time-shifting revamp is Origins: Wolverine's Taylor Kitsch, who is getting replaced by Channing Tatum when the Gambit solo film hits theaters next fall. Kitsch was one of the few highlights in Origins, and could have made a fine Ragin' Cajun had he been given a better script and screentime in a follow-up film. He's had a string of box office disappointments since then, so hopefully his new role in True Detective will help reshape his career. And who knows, with a bit of time, perhaps his card will be in play once more and he can take a role in one of the other burgeoning superhero cinematic universes. 8) Lee Pace Like a few other names on this list, Lee Pace wasn't actually involved in a bad superhero movie, but was instead given a weak part in an otherwise successful film, and deserves to let his talent shine elsewhere in the cosmos. Once in the running for the part of Peter Quill/Star Lord, Lee Pace instead landed on the opposing side of the Guardians of the Galaxy and played the film's forgettable antagonist, Ronan the Accuser. Pace was great in the thankless role, but will otherwise disappear into the ether and join the ranks of the MCU's various forgettable one-note foes. Pace was luckily covered in blue makeup throughout the film, so if he ever wants to land a superhero role someday - which he hopefully will - it'll be quite easy for him to distance himself from his Kree past. 7) Colin Farrell Farrell is the second current True Detective actor on this list, but delivered his cringe-worthy performance of Daredevil nemesis Bullseye six years before Kitsch's Gambit came onto the scene. On paper, Farrell starring as the deadly psychopathic assassin sounds like a homerun. But, like most everything in the 2003 disaster, Farrell's performance was terrible and will forever be remembered as one of the biggest misfires in comic book movie history. In the years since, Farrell has proven himself to be a pretty good character actor, so perhaps with a better script and less campy role, he could actually hit his mark. 6) Andrew Garfield Of all the complaints lauded at Marc Webb's two Amazing Spider-Man films, the casting of Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker was not one of them. In fact, many consider Garfield's casting to be one of the best the superhero genre has had to offer. Unfortunately, Garfield's charisma and talent were not enough to keep The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from delivering disappointing box office returns (by Spider-Man standards at least, as $700 million is nothing to shake a stick at) and bad reviews from fans and critics alike. So, despite being the best Peter Parker we've seen on screen, Garfield has been forced to hand over the wall-crawler's red and blue spandex to another actor, young Tom Holland, who will take the reins of the second Spider-Man reboot in five years. Unlike many of the actors on this list, Garfield did not deliver a bad performance, but was instead cursed with leading a doomed franchise. He completely deserves another shot at a superhero film - it'll just take some time for us to get over the loss. 5) Chris Cooper Chris Cooper is another casualty of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, though his loss is due more to a missed opportunity than anything else. Cooper, who has made a career out of playing disappointed fathers, was given the chance to portray the most quintessential disapproving patriarch in comics: Norman Osborn. Unfortunately for Cooper (and for the audience), he was never given the opportunity to chew the scenery and only expressed is disdain for his son Harry in one single scene before being unceremoniously killed offscreen. His character had the chance of returning for The Amazing Spider-Man 3, as his disembodied frozen head is seen in a deleted scene - but that possibility is now gone thanks to the upcoming reboot of the franchise. So, should the opportunity arise for another angry father to show up in a comic book film, give Cooper a call, would you? 4) Wes Bentley Wes Bentley has the misforunte of showing up in not one, but two of the worst comic book films ever made: Jonah Hex and Ghost Rider. His roles in both are nothing to write home about, but Bentley has become a better actor over the years and deserves the chance at some redemption. The Hunger Games and Interstellar alum has wound up on countless wishlists for roles in upcoming superhero projects, like Warner Brothers' Shazam adaptation. And, despite those aforementioned rocky patches on his resume, it's hard to disagree that he could handle another role. He's got the acting chops, charisma, looks, and stage presence to play a superhero. Perhaps he's just been circling the wrong roles and bad scripts. He might not be right for Shazam (could you really see him beating up The Rock?), but with over thirty comic book adaptations on the horizon, there's bound to be something out there for him. 3) Bryce Dallas Howard We considered adding The Amazing Spider-Man's Emma Stone to this list, but if there's one former Gwen Stacy in need of another shot at a superhero project, it's Spider-Man 3 actress Bryce Dallas Howard. Howard wasn't bad as Stacy, but was given a terrible script and absolutely no character development to work with, making her role one of the most forgettable comic book movie parts in recent memory. Now that she's matured a bit as an actress and proven that she can handle a successful tentpole installment (as evidenced by Jurassic World's record-shattering run at the box office), perhaps Marvel Studios should have her on speed dial. Howard herself has stated that she'd love the chance to play Captain Marvel, and we'd definitely be on board with that. 2) Edward Norton Many of the stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have enjoyed long, successful careers as some of the world's most beloved superheroes. One of the MCU's earliest stars, however, Edward Norton, wasn't so lucky. Norton played Bruce Banner in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, but was ousted from the MCU just before the Avengers assembled for the first time on the stage of San Diego Comic-Con in 2010. Just before the convention, Norton was replaced by Mark Ruffalo, and the rest, as they say, was history. Norton's ousting happened thanks to some behind-the-scenes Incredible Hulk drama, as he reportedly clashed with the studio and director Louis Leterrier over the final cut of the film. Marvel is famously protective of its properties and overall creative vision, and Norton's problems with the studio are part of why The Incredible Hulk remains the least referenced or important film in the larger MCU. Despite whatever happened behind the scenes, there's no denying that Norton did a great job with the role and deserved the chance to continue playing Banner as the MCU expanded. He did get some redemption with his Academy Award-nominated role in Birdman last year, but if there's ever a chance for Norton to play another superhero or supervillain, we hope he puts the jolly green rage monster behind him and jumps at the opportunity. 1) Mark Strong Of all the actors on this list, Mark Strong is perhaps the one most worthy of another shot at a superhero property. He played Sinestro in 2011's Green Lantern, and was, quite frankly, the only redeeming thing about that film. Unfortunately, the movie was a critical and commercial bomb, and is something that Warner Brothers would rather not think about as it moves forward with the DC Cinematic Universe. As such, the role of Green Lantern will be recast, and so will Sinestro. Strong delivered one of the most enjoyable and faithful supervillain performances in the superhero genre, but did so in the wrong movie. Like Norton, Strong did get a bit of redemption with another role; he was a key player in this year's Kingsman: The Secret Service. However, all that did was convince us once again of Strong's brilliance and sink us back into mourning for the red-skinned, yellow-ringed Sinestro. Perhaps he can take on another DC movie role instead, like that of Brainiac? Please?