8 Perfectly Cast Superhero Movie Actors Who Don’t Get Enough Credit

Fans have very strong opinions on the actors who are chosen to bring their favourite comic book characters to life on the big screen. Sometimes they're blown away by them and the lucky actors go on to become beloved by the fandom - here's to you Robert Downey Jr., Hugh Jackman, Gal Gadot, etc. Other times, however, everyone seems to collectively hate them - commiserations to George Clooney, Nicolas Cage, Halle Berry et al. Most of the time you can see where the fandom hive mind is coming from - it's a cast-iron fact that Heath Ledger is superb in The Dark Knight and undeniable that, say, Vinnie Jones is awful in X-Men: The Last Stand. Sometimes, though, there are actors who are unfairly dismissed for their performances in comic book movies. Whether popular opinion says they're outright bad or just shrugs at their efforts, either way they deserve a little more credit for their work. In fact, the following bunch of underrated comic book movie stars were actually perfectly cast in their roles. So, without further ado, here are our picks for superhero movie actors that we think deserve to be re-evaluated. As always, if you disagree or have another you think should be added, let us know in the comments section. 8) Paul Rudd When Ant-Man came out in 2015, it was largely overshadowed by the high-profile exit of Edgar Wright from the director's chair, with many so crushed by the loss of his version of the movie that they immediately dismissed the final product. Fast forward a couple of years and Ant-Man is generally ranked as a middle-of-the-road kind of MCU effort. That's a great shame, as there's much to enjoy in the film. Not least is Paul Rudd's lead performance as Scott Lang, a good-natured ex-con who inherits the Ant-Man suit from Michael Douglas' Hank Pym. It might have been difficult for us to get on the side of this criminal and deadbeat dad, but Rudd ensures that Scott is thoroughly likeable. He's arguably even better in Captain America: Civil War, when Scott's childlike glee at fighting alongside Steve Rogers ("here's your shield, Captain America!") provides a lot of laughs. No one ever talks about Rudd's Ant-Man as one of their favourite MCU heroes, and I guess that's fair enough as the competition is mighty tough, but that doesn't mean he should be swept aside and overlooked. 7) Hugo Weaving When it comes to the performances in 2006's V For Vendetta, an adaptation of Alan Moore's seminal dystopian graphic novel, people tend to highlight Natalie Portman. Despite her horrendous English accent, Portman delivers a commanding turn as a character who goes through hell across the movie. Still, it's a shame that fans then forget to commend Hugo Weaving for his amazing performance as the film's title character. Perhaps uniquely in live-action superhero flicks, Weaving plays a hero who never removes his mask throughout the entirety of the movie - even Karl Urban's Judge Dredd showed off a bit of his chin. The trick to playing V, then, was all in his physical movements and, most of all, the dexterity of his vocal performance. The actor totally excelled in both of these respects and nailed the vengeful, vaudevillian vigilante perfectly. Thanks to Weaving, V is charming, funny, tragic and occasionally terrifying and monstrous in turn. It's a lot to ask of an actor to portray without the aid of their facial expressions, but Weaving effortlessly rises to the occasion. 6) Chris Hemsworth Somewhat like Hugo Weaving, Chris Hemsworth is another actor whose efforts are often overlooked in favour of his co-stars. In the Thor movies, he's often trumped in fans' hearts by Tom Hiddleston as everyone's favourite Marvel villain Loki. And then in the team-up movies, there are so many heroes on screen that the audience's attentions are divided several ways. You rarely hear of a Marvel fan who dislikes Hemsworth as Thor, of course, but the Australian actor doesn't exactly get a lot of credit for his work in the MCU films. That's actually unfair, as he always serves up a very loveable and charismatic performance as Thor. Whether he's playing the part as a fish-out-of-water on Earth or as a godly prince on Asgard, the actor reliably delivers. Thor: Ragnarok looks to be zeroing in on one aspect of Hemsworth's repertoire that isn't complimented enough: his excellent comic timing. Apparently, from this point on, Thor will be the jokester of the Avengers. This could take some getting used to, but no doubt Hemsworth will make the redefinition of his character work. 5) Edward Norton Received wisdom has it that both Ang Lee's Hulk from 2003 and then 2008's semi-reboot The Incredible Hulk are both weak movies and it took Marvel until the third try to nail the character on the big screen, when they recast the role with Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers. In terms of The Incredible Hulk, that isn't exactly true. Sure, the movie is easily one of the weakest entries in the MCU, but the central performance from Edward Norton is actually pretty compelling. With Ruffalo's incarnation of Bruce Banner, we're used to a quiet, pensive man who can unleash the big green rage monster within at any moment. Norton, on the other hand, plays a Banner at the end of his tether, a man constantly struggling to keep his anger in check. We're not saying that Ruffalo shouldn't have got the role - he's excellent and Norton's reportedly difficult attitude on set made recasting a necessity - but his predecessor gave a very committed, engaging performance, so it's a shame it doesn't get more recognition from fans. 4) Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Pfeiffer's turn as Catwoman is a difficult one to place on this list. Fans of Tim Burton's Batman movies swear by her as one of the best Dark Knight villains put to film, but arguably her turn as Selina Kyle doesn't have as much widespread recognition as it deserves. In contrast to the sultry, in-control women played by Julie Newmar in Batman '66 or Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises, Pfeiffer goes in a completely different direction. Her Catwoman is as sexy and kickass as the character always is on the outside, but underneath the mask she's a woman split right down the centre; someone desperately trying to hang on to her rapidly fracturing sanity. It's a breathtaking, hugely charismatic performance and totally steals 1992's Batman Returns away from her incredibly talented male co-stars Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito and even Christopher Walken. Until recent years brought us the likes of Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Pfeiffer's Catwoman was easily the best female performance in a superhero movie. Let's hope the actress delivers another star turn when she features as Janet Van Dyne in Ant-Man and the Wasp. 3) Chris Evans Chris Evans is a weird one to include here. His portrayal of Captain America is one of the most popular superheroes in the world right now and the trilogy of films he stars in will likely go down as one of the best comic book movie trilogies ever. So, how can we say he deserves more credit? Well, while the MCU's take on Captain America as a character is often critically-acclaimed, too few people credit Chris Evans with giving a terrific performance in the role. Morally-rigid good guys aren't as flashy and charismatic as, say, wise-cracking billionaire playboys, so people don't immediately pick up on the fact that Evans is delivering some fine work as Steve Rogers. Perhaps to appreciate his performance more, you should remember the earlier roles of his career - all those romantic comedies he starred in in the 2000s as well as his great turn as the flighty, fun-loving Human Torch in the Fantastic Four films. Not to disparage his work in those movies, but it's clear from watching his Marvel efforts that Evans has really matured as an actor since then. It's entirely thanks to Chris Evans that Cap is not seen as the outdated, old-fashioned hero he was generally viewed as before the movies came out. Evans' performances has really added a lot of texture to the character, allowing him to be a fallible, conflicted human being rather than just a guy wearing the American flag. 2) Tobey Maguire The question of who's the best Spider-Man is a thorny one and not something that we're going to answer today. Instead, we're going to stand in the corner of one of the actors who's often criticized by a subset of comic book fans. In the wake of the arguably more authentic Spideys Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland, Tobey Maguire sometimes gets a bad rap - which is completely unwarranted considering how good he is in the part. Some fans might think that Maguire isn't a perfect version of the comic book Peter Parker, which is fair enough. What Maguire is, though, is perfectly cast for Sam Raimi's interpretation of Spider-Man. This version of Peter Parker does have some of his smart aleck edges sanded off, but Maguire nails the role of the driven hero who feels the burden of his powers on him better than either of the subsequent actors (who emphasized and excelled at different parts of the character). Across the trilogy, Maguire consistently delivered a great dual performance as the good-guy science nerd/photographer Peter Parker and the battle-weary hero who just wishes he could live a normal life. Yes, it's hard not to cringe when watching those dancing scenes in Spider-Man 3, but those minor blips shouldn't undermine the strong work Maguire pulled off in the grand scheme of things. 1) Henry Cavill Is there any modern movie superhero as controversial as Henry Cavill's take on Superman? With his appearances in Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, the British star has portrayed a character far removed from the smiling symbol of truth, justice and the American way that Superman usually is. Due to the interpretation of Kal-El as a god with the weight of the world on his shoulders, Cavill is often called dull or overly dour in the role. We would argue, though, that Cavill deserves a lot more credit. He's actually perfectly cast. Physically, he's the best match we have ever had for the chisel-jawed, barrel-chested hero on the page. And if you've ever seen Cavill in interviews or follow him on social media, you'll know that he's a charming, funny guy who has a great love and respect for the DC universe. Yes, the depiction of Superman in the DCEU has arguably dropped the ball in several key ways so far, but that doesn't mean that Henry Cavill's to blame. The actor has actually done a great job of humanizing the character, by portraying the hardship and overwhelming responsibility of being the saviour of the world. With all the talk of Supes as "a beacon to the world" in the Justice League trailer, it looks likely that Superman will return from the dead a much more hopeful hero, which should please the many fans out there who want the classic Big Blue Boy Scout back. Maybe then Cavill's detractors will appreciate how pitch-perfect a choice he was to don Superman's cape.