10 Great Actors the MCU Wasted

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is incredibly well known for its spot-on castings, thanks to the very talented casting director Sarah Finn. Over a decade since its inception, it’s safe to say that the franchise’s batting average is very high. But every rose has its thorns, and the MCU is not exempt from that fact. While there aren’t many, the MCU does have a handful of poorly cast characters that wasted the exceptional talents of many actors.

Sometimes a wasted casting can be as simple as a person who’s not an instant fit with the role, an actor who doesn’t get the necessary material to shine, or even casting a big name for a nothing character. So, yes, while there are not many wasted castings in the MCU, the ones that can be considered as such definitely leave a sour taste in the mouths of audiences.

10 Rebecca Hall as Maya Hansen

‘Iron Man 3’ (2013)

Iron Man 3 definitely gets more flak than it deserves for numerous reasons. But having a few rough casting choices is one of the few valid complaints about the film. Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) plays an old flame of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), who secretly happens to be working for the big bad.

The character isn’t written horribly; in fact, she’s quite serviceable, bringing a good misdirect to the plot. Instead, Hall doesn’t seem to be all that interested in said plot. Hall is a great actress but doesn’t really give her all to the Iron Man 3 production, leaving her performance feeling a bit boring and uninspired. It’s not bad per se, just not very good either. Hall just doesn’t seem to care much about the character, which is valid, given that she revealed that Maya was originally meant to have a lot more substance in the first iteration of the script, which she publicly agreed was a better part.

9 Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko/Whiplash

‘Iron Man 2’ (2010)

Critics and audiences have had plenty to say about Iron Man 2 throughout the years. One of the many things that people comment on is the casting of Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko, AKA Whiplash. It seems that critics and audiences had many issues with Rourke and his portrayal, which felt very bland and uninspired.

Rourke may very well be another case of an actor being upset with Marvel’s meddling with their roles and, therefore, not bringing their all out of spite. Rourke spent a good amount of time in Russia to develop his accent and build depth to add to his portrayal of the character, only to later discover that the big and layered role in the film had been extensively cut down. He was so upset with what was done to his role that he actually went on to publicly diss the studio, claiming that Marvel Studios simply wanted a one-dimensional character. Yikes!

8 Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang/Stature

‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ (2023)

Aside from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania being one of the rougher films in recent Marvel history, they gained a lot of attention for recasting Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) daughter for the third time, replacing Emma Fuhrmann with the more recognizable Kathryn Newton. There was nothing wrong with Fuhrmann’s portrayal in Avengers: Endgame, and one would assume her being cast would mean she would come back for future projects.

But as Newton made her debut in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, fans had a tough time getting behind Newton, not as much for her performance, but for the reasoning behind her casting in the first place. Director Peyton Reed would go on to address the reasoning behind recasting Fuhrmann was that Newton could better keep up with Rudd as an actor and had more physical abilities because of her golfing background. However, none of this reasoning is evident in the final movie; Newton tries her best, but her role is underdeveloped, the plot is frustrating, and her interactions with Rudd are undercut by the messiness surrounding them.

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7 Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian

‘Iron Man 3’ (2013)

If there’s one thing about Iron Man 3 that most people hated, it’s the treatment of The Mandarin. At the end of the film, it would be revealed that the real Mandarin was Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who had stolen the identity of the true Mandarin (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), who had yet to be revealed in the MCU.

Pearce typically brings great performances to the roles he occupies, but the role is truly awful, basic, and bland, a poor excuse for a villain. A white man taking the identity of a Chinese figure could’ve made for powerful commentary, but Iron Man 3 is ill-equipped to address it. Instead, it feels really weird and clumsily executed, as if the film was more interested in “subverting expectations” rather than actually using the opportunity to address a prevalent, pernicious practice. Worst of all, the role is a waste of Guy Pearce, one of Hollywood’s most underutilized talents.

6 Emilia Clarke as G’iah

‘Secret Invasion’ (2023)

Secret Invasion may very well be one of Marvel’s greater sins in the last few years. The controversy behind the opening credits being made by A.I. was bad enough. However, its greatest sin was taking one of the most impactful and groundbreaking Avengers stories in the comics and making it into an uninspired Disney+ show that amounted to nothing.

What also amounted to nothing was the casting of four-time Emmy nominee Emilia Clarke as G’iah. When it was announced that Clarke had been cast in Secret Invasion, people lost their minds. Clarke, most well-known for her role in Game of Thrones, looked to be lined up as the next big player in the Marvel universe. Little did fans know at the time that Secret Wars would waste her on a character that was bland, unentertaining and ultimately meant nothing in the grand scheme. Clarke has a plethora of talent, and to see such talent wasted is heartbreaking.

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5 Jude Law as Yon-Rogg

‘Captain Marvel’ (2019)

Unfortunately, for her first solo outing, Captain Marvel received pretty average reviews. Part of this was because the big twist regarding Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) and the Kree didn’t come as much of a surprise, making it feel pretty lackluster. Sadly, much of this disappointment comes from the writing and Law’s one-note performance.

For most of the film, Law takes a pretty hostile approach to the role, already adding a lot of suspicion to his character. So, when the twist that the Kree aren’t who they say they are comes around and that Yon-Rogg is the film’s antagonist, it’s not much of a shock. The so-called twist left the film feeling very stunted at its climax and, frankly, kind of uninteresting. It’s a shame that the MCU chose Law, one of the most charismatic actors in the business, for the role of an insipid, uninteresting soldier. Law usually elevates the material, but there wasn’t much to elevate here.

4 Christopher Eccleston as Malekith

‘Thor: The Dark World’ (2013)

Aside from Thor: The Dark World, commonly being known as the worst MCU film because of the writing and directing, there are many other reasons the film suffers, like the casting. Christopher Eccleston is an unfortunate case of a great actor just being wasted on a terrible role.

Through no fault of his own, Eccleston’s Malekith is among the worst villains in the 21st century. Thor is typically supposed to be strong, both narratively and physically; thus, Malekith falls flat with his forgettable motives and outright silly dialogue. Eccleston is a genuinely astounding actor and to have his talents wasted on such a worthless role is painful and has fans begging for Eccleston to return to the MCU. If Gemma Chan can do it, why can’t Eccleston?

3 Bill Skarsgård as Kro

‘Eternals’ (2021)

If one were to ask a majority of general audiences, they probably would have no idea that Bill Skarsgård portrayed the villain of Eternals, Kro. Being a fully CGI character whose voice is modified, Skarsgård is another case of an arresting and talented actor wasted on a nothing role that could’ve truly had anyone cast.

Bill Skarsgård is an exceptional actor known for his work in the IT franchise as well as his upcoming The Crow and Nosferatu. To have such talent wasted on a character like Kro, especially with an actor whose physical acting abilities are some of the best in the business, is incredibly unfortunate. Still, not all is lost. Skarsgård is unrecognizable as Kro, so if Marvel Studios wanted to bring him back for an actually substantial role, it’d be no issue.

2 Hudson Thames as Peter Parker/Spider-Man

‘What If…?’ (2021)

Hudson Thames suffers from the unfortunate poor direction. Due to Marvel Studios being unable to get Tom Holland to reprise his role as the wall-crawler in What If…?, they needed to bring in an actor who could sound like the part. Thames got the gig and, honestly, got duped, as his imitation of Holland leaves a lot to be desired.

The issue is, when looking at his other performances, it’s incredibly clear that Thames actually has a great voice for Spider-Man but was forced to be a Holland copy and unable to show off what he could actually bring to the role. It’s a huge disservice to Thames and a mistake on Marvel’s part. If the directors had focused less on imitating Holland and more so on performance, Thames could have easily excelled as Spidey.

1 Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One

‘Doctor Strange’ (2016), ‘Avengers: Endgame’ (2019) & ‘What If…?’ (2021)

When it comes to wasted MCU castings, this is by far the most unfortunate. Worst of all is that it’s not even Tilda Swinton‘s fault, but she tends to get flak for it. While Swinton gives a great performance and absolutely nails the elusive, mysterious role, the issue comes in the fact that the Ancient One is, in fact, Tibetan. This means the character was whitewashed, and in 2016, no less.

Many speculate that the character’s ethnicity was changed due to the many political implications of featuring such a character. Kevin Feige himself has even gone on record to admit that the casting was a mistake on Marvel Studios’ part. It’s very good that the studio recognizes and acknowledges its mistake, but it doesn’t change the fact that Marvel wasted the Oscar-winning Tilda Swinton, one of the most interesting and chameleonic actresses of her generation.

NEXT: The 10 Best Villain Castings in the MCU, Ranked