Summary

• Colin Farrell elevated Daredevil with humor, but his playful Bullseye stood out awkwardly in the movie's serious tone.
• Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze was an ill-fitting choice, relying on puns that fell flat in Batman & Robin.
• Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman lacked the menace of the iconic villain, delivering a misguided portrayal.

Across the history of the MCU, the DCU, and other comic book movies, there have been many villains ultimately hurt by poor casting decisions. Though the movies of the MCU may have elevated the superhero movie genre to the pinnacle of cinema, live-action adaptations of comic book characters existed long before the franchise began. No good hero story would be complete without an appropriate villain, especially as many comic book antagonists are every bit as iconic as the heroes they fight.

Just as a good villain can help a superhero movie, a bad one can hurt it. Getting the right actor for the role in question is a key part of achieving success, and when the wrong person is cast to play a villain, the entire movie often suffers as a result, as happened many times with the movies of the DCEU. With that in mind, here are 10 superhero movie villains hurt by bad or ill-advised casting decisions.

10 Colin Farrell As Bullseye

Daredevil (2003)

Before the groundbreaking successes of the MCU’s movie timeline began, comic book movies rarely impressed. Such was the case with 2003’s Daredevil, which saw its brooding hero clad head to toe in red leather. The movie’s tone was largely packed with mid-00s angst, capturing the darker aspects of Hell’s Kitchen in an attempt to legitimize its adaptation of one of Marvel’s most famous street-level heroes. However, Bullseye, one of the movie’s villains, was so poorly cast that he threw Daredevil’s entire tone off.

Colin Farrell is undoubtedly a great actor, but his talents shine when he’s given free rein to inject some of his playful Irish charm into his roles. With Bullseye, that’s just what he did, and as a result, he was one of the only characters in the movie who actually appeared to have a sense of humor. Farrell’s Bullseye stuck out like a sore thumb in the otherwise over-serious Daredevil, hurting the movie as a result.

9 Wes Bentley As Blackheart

Ghost Rider (2007)

2007’s Ghost Rider is another pre-MCU Marvel movie widely considered an underwhelming adaptation of its titular character. The Nicolas Cage-led superhero movie saw Johnny Blaze make a deal with Mephisto in an attempt to save his father’s life, becoming the Ghost Rider in return. The movie’s plot concerns a demonic uprising led by Blackheart, the son of Mephisto, who intends to bring about Hell on Earth using a long-lost contract.

The entire crux of Ghost Rider’s story is that Mephisto is afraid of Blackheart, but Wes Bentley’s performance in the role makes it seem all but impossible. Bentley’s Blackheart is a little creepy but otherwise unimposing and uninteresting and doesn’t at all give off the air of a villain who would spark fear in the Devil himself. As such, Bentley’s casting in the role hurt the movie, as it made the already convoluted plot seem even less believable.

8 Julian McMahon As Doctor Doom

Fantastic Four (2005)