10 Best Movie Casting Decisions Ever In Superhero Films

When it comes to superhero blockbusters, having a great story and a big budget isn’t enough to make sure everything works. For the most part, casting the right actors and actresses for the roles is extremely crucial.

Besides, comic book geeks are notorious for being hard to please and so the casting has to be done really well. And there are truly instances when we see stars take on certain characters as if they were born to play specific roles. They fit nicely like a glove!

Here are 10 amazing examples of that – in no particular order. Check out this list and tell us what you think about it:

Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool

Although his first portrayal of Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine was an absolute disaster, actor Ryan Reynolds has since redeemed himself – and the character – with two successful solo films.

Now the foul-mouthed, fourth-wall-breaking Marvel character has become a huge hit among moviegoers because of Reynold’s spot on portrayal.

Chloë Grace Moretz as Hit-Girl

Let’s face it: Kick-Ass wasn’t the real star of his own movie. Because Hit-Girl totally stole the show in every scene she was in!

Chloë Grace Moretz’ top notch acting and action scenes as the badass (and controversial) 11-year-old vigilante won the hearts of fans everywhere. And she worked really hard for it! She trained with Jackie Chan’s stunt crew plus she learned to use several weapons such as guns, knives, and swords.

Christopher Reeve as Superman

More than 200 actors auditioned for the role but the filmmakers had a hard time finding someone who can both act and looks the part.

Christopher Reeve was eventually selected to be Superman for the 1978 movie and it proved to be a wise casting decision. The handsome, blue-eyed actor convincingly portrayed the dual roles of the iconic DC Comics superhero and his mild-mannered alter ego Clark Kent.

Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man

He’s currently one of the world’s highest-paid movie stars but before he became Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr had a series of problems because of his struggles with substance abuse.

Fortunately, the role helped him bounce back and his career has since become better than ever. His portrayal was so spot on that its hard to separate his personality with that of the Marvel superhero.

The success of the first Iron Man film would later launch the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we know it.

RDJ, we love you 3000!

J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson

Of course, we had to include J. K.Simmon’s brilliant casting as J. Jonah Jameson, the loud-mouthed, cigar-chomping publisher of the Daily Bugle.

He perfectly nailed down the looks and the attitude that he had to play the role twice – first in the original Tobey Maguire Spider-Man trilogy and then again in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Patrick Stewart as Professor X

We all know him as Star Trek’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard but eventually, English actor Sir Patrick Stewart also gained fame on his take of X-Men founder Professor Charles Xavier.

He initially had hesitations about taking the role because he didn’t want to be typecast. However, director Bryan Singer managed to convince him over lunch. assuring him he would be the perfect Professor X. Stewart has since appeared in seven movies as the character.

Ron Perlman as Hellboy

Before David Harbour took over as Hellboy in the 2019 reboot, Ron Perlman was the first actor to play the Dark Horse Comics character created by writer-illustrator Mike Mignola.

Perlman has played the half-human, half-demon hero in two live action films, 2004’s Hellboy and 2008’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army. He was also tapped to voice the character in two straight-to-DVD animated features namely 2006’s Hellboy: Sword of Storms and 2007’s Hellboy: Blood and Iron.

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn

Suicide Squad may be one of the most critically-bashed superhero movies of our time, the film gave us one gem that is Margot Robbie’s fantastic performance as Harley Quinn, Joker’s psychotic girlfriend.

As part of her preparation, the Australian actress read a lot of comic books and frequented online forums to get an idea of what the fans like about the character. Now she’s about to reprise the role for the upcoming Birds of Prey movie.

Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach

Fans are generally divided whether director Zack Synder’s Watchmen movie (2009) was really good or not. But they can agree on this: Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach was a stroke of genius!

For many, his portrayal of the character remains the reason why the movie continues to be watchable to this day. He was a total badass, with or without the mask. The prison scene was, of course, his most memorable as he yelled and threatened fellow inmates “I’m not locked in her with all of you. You’re locked in here with me!”

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine

Of course, no list of superb superhero castings will ever be complete without mentioning Hugh Jackman. Although the Australian actor is a foot taller than the mutant hero (Jackman stands 6’3″ while the character is at 5’3″), he has proven over and over again that he IS indeed the Wolverine.

He played the character one last time in 2017’s Logan and now that Marvel has re-acquired the film rights for the X-Men franchise after Disney purchased 20th Century Fox, we’re having a hard time imagining who could replace Jackman as Wolverine for future films.

This list, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg and we could go on and on forever (we haven’t even mentioned Heath Ledger as Joker, Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther, and Zachary Levi as Shazam, among others).

Leave a comment below if you have more perfectly-cast heroes and villains in mind!