High School reunions are a peculiar dynamic. You are greeted by the faces you left behind at the school gates 20, 30, or 40 years ago, welcomed with an assortment of warm smiles and bewildered looks, as those who didn’t remember you then, certainly don’t now. “You haven’t aged a day!” your old friends tell you, though you suspect they’re lying after losing all your hair and piling on an extra 50lbs. “Look at you, you’ve changed!” the class bullies will utter in their first act of torment since you left school 20 years ago. There’s always the elephant in the room; no, not those of you who have ballooned in size over the years, but the buffed-up, shredded Hercules in the corner – “Who the hell is he?” people question. Ah, that’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Once the scrawny, baby-faced wimp, he has flourished into this unrecognizable Zeus-like alpha… this is the biggest takeaway from this pointless exercise of reminiscence with people you never really liked anyway.

What did happen to Aaron Taylor-Johnson? The Outlaw King actor’s arc has been quite the transition. From his early roles as a teen star in the likes of Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging and the film Dummy to his most recent movie, David Leitch’s Bullet Train, we have borne witness to a drastic transformation.

Like Butter Wouldn't Melt: Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Early career

The British actor developed a reputation for playing the softly-spoken, blue-eyed pretty boy. In Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging, he has this angelic persona, seemingly out of reach to a girl, who is ostensibly not on his level superficially or otherwise, yet his character is a compassionate soul, empathetic in nature, and cushion-soft. Upon assessment, the phrase "like butter wouldn’t melt" is certainly apt. Though, it’s Matthew Vaughn’s film Kick-Ass that really gives this period of the actor’s career a face, or masked face if you will, as wannabe superhero Dave, better known as Kick-Ass.

Related: Aaron Taylor-Johnson's 7 Best Performances, Ranked

It’s in Vaughn’s superhero spoof that this fresh-faced vulnerability really comes to the fore. With a crackly-mid-teen voice that jumps uncontrollably from a soprano to this sort of soft-bass hoarseness, he possesses this endearing naivety that places him right in the middle of his own superhero experiment. He has this gawky clumsiness in Kick-Ass, where his hand-eye-coordination and innocence don’t fit the image of a capable superhero that can save the day, and we are left to fathom how he could possibly pose a credible threat to anyone. A serial-bully victim and social outcast, Taylor-Johnson’s rendition of Dave provides the perfect cuck-like underdog story.

Taylor-Johnson's Tough Guy Transformation

In an indirect way, Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s career trajectory has always been leading him to the point of Tangerine in Bullet Train. The gradual adoption of rough and ready action roles has been a slow, drawn-out process, beginning as the ungraceful, babyfaced assassin in the Kick-Ass series. While, for all intents and purposes, he’s what certainly could be deemed a “soft touch,” Kick-Ass was the first stepping-stone in a departure from his artsy-emulation of John Lennon in Nowhere Boy, and “boy-next-door” portrayals in Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging and Dummy. Kick-Ass was his unofficial audition for future action-star roles, his demonstration that he had both the athleticism and temperament to deliver in a fast-paced environment was firmly corroborated in Vaughn’s comic-strip flick.

Related: Aaron-Taylor Johnson Weighs in Kraven the Hunter’s Different Approach

Performances in Godzilla and Nocturnal Animals followed, excelling in roles that had a more devilish credibility, and that possessed this grittier, more mettlesome edge. This is seen most especially in the role of Ray Marcus in Tom Ford's film Nocturnal Animals, a toxic, murderous individual. Yet, it was in Doug Liman’s The Wall, and Netflix’s big-budget Outlaw King, that his transformation into this long-haired, rugged, Viking-esque action man really began to bear fruit.

Bullet Train, Kraven, and Upcoming Roles

David Leitch’s Bullet Train has been arguably one of the best action movies of the year so far. Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Atlanta’s Brian Tyree Henry team up as cockney “twin” brothers codenamed Tangerine and Lemon. The pair’s on-screen synergy is delectable; they bounce off each other so naturally, and share this unfeigned banter that hits the right comedic notes throughout. It’s in Bullet Train that Taylor-Johnson morphs into this brash gangster, with a cheeky-chappy exterior and this raging cold-bloodedness encased within. Tangerine and Lemon are the enforcers, though Tangerine is clearly the more imperious of the two. Dominant and battle-hardened, he can talk-the-talk, and concomitantly has the cajones to walk-the-walk.

The Million Little Pieces actor has recently wrapped filming his new movie, Kraven The Hunter, where he is set to play the titular role of Kraven, one of Spider-Man’s fiercest nemeses. It was announced in October that he’d also landed a part in The Fall Guy, which has all the makings of another action blockbuster, starring alongside Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, and reuniting with David Leitch. With his clear pursuit of rugged, Rambo-like stardom showing no signs of slowing down, it’s certainly exciting to see which turn his curious career takes next…