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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the largest platforms that dishes out successful comic book franchises year after year. With an expansive reputation as MCU, most actors prefer to land a role in one of the franchises. While the studio has roped in some of the best names in various parts, it has given many lesser-known actors and newcomers a career chart.
However, MCU often misuses some talented actors in petty roles or badly depicted characters. There have been instances of big names such as Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, and Christian Bale wasting in blink-and-miss roles. It is a sad plight as many of these actors will not return to some other roles, and fans will miss watching them weave their on-screen magic.
Why MCU wasted actors of such high caliber is a debatable question. Minor background character roles, badly written scripts, chopping off parts during editing, and unusual turn of stories reducing the importance of the character seem to be some common issues with MCU.
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Disclaimer: The actors are listed in no particular order.
Rebecca Hall, Idris Elba, and 8 other actors who were under-utilized by Marvel
1) Tommy Lee Jones
Fans have huge expectations with a seasoned old actor like Lee Jones entering the MCU world. The actor played the role of Colonel Chester Phillips to the T in Captain America: The First Avenger. However, the actor had about 10-15 minutes of screen time and is unlikely to reprise the role again.
2) Glenn Close
The seven-time Oscar-nominated actress gave a royal twist to her MCU character Nova Prime in Guardians of the Galaxy. However, with a large number of characters in the movie, Nova Prime, the Nova Corps’ leader, had very little to do. Glenn Close receded into the background, and her cameo in GotG Vol.2 was also edited off.
3) Christian Bale
Despite landing the villain in Thor: Love and Thunder, Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher got very little screen time and even less action. The talented actor managed to add a quirky element to the scary villain and kept the screen captivating. However, Gorr was killed off too soon for fans to appreciate the character.
4) Jude Law
Very few moviegoers remember Yon-Rogg, the Kree villain from Captain Marvel 2019. An artist with a superior flair for acting, Jude Law was neither given the right character nor the proper scope to act. Reducing the character to a punching bag for the protagonist and, later, killing him off was a great disservice to the audience.
5) John C. Reilly
Movie enthusiasts have appreciated the comic timing and excellent acting of John C. Reilly over the years. As expected, Reilly’s Rhomann Dey in Guardians of the Galaxy gave the audience much-needed hilarious relief. But the character was not developed at all and remained badly neglected by such a gifted actor.
6) Ben Kingsley
Senior actor Ben Kingsley’s Trevor Slattery was a huge disappointment in an otherwise serious and sensitive movie, Iron Man 3. Building up a negative character as the Mandarin, Kingsley’s role was revealed to be that of an actor named Slattery. With the focus of the main villain moving to Aldrich Killian, Slattery’s character turned into a joke.
7) Rebecca Hall
Skilled actor Rebecca Hall was side-lined after she was signed for an important role which they later regretted. Originally slated to play the main villain in Iron Man 3, the character was reduced to an assistant to the villain. It was a move taken as an afterthought to promote Marvel toy sales under the pretext that female villain toys do not make good sales.
8) Idris Elba
It was a total injustice when Idris Elba was given the important character of Heimdall but too little dialogue, action, or screen time. Dressed in an overall costume and helmet, the royal Asgardian guard had little scope to act. While featured in five MCU movies, the character did not connect emotionally, even on his death in Avengers: Infinity War.
9) Daniel Kaluuya
The Oscar-winning actor could have made a mark in the MCU franchises given the right opportunity. However, his role as T’Challa’s friend, W’Kabi is not even memorable. Considering that the actor is capable of portraying any character, giving Daniel Kaluuya the role of a warrior in the border tribe of Wakanda with not much to do is frustrating.
10) Laurence Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne, an artist of superior competence, has an impressive body of work in the Matrix franchise. However, his role as Bill Foster, nicknamed Goliath in Ant-Man and the Wasp, seemed unimpressive. With neither an opportunity to showcase his acting skills nor any chance to impress with hardcore action, Laurence remained a forgettable supporting cast.
MCU has done injustice to many more big Hollywood names, such as Rachel McAdams, Judy Greer, Guy Pearce, Benicio Del Toro, and Peter Dinklage, to name a few. Fans can only hope that sequels and future movies will bring some prospects for these memorable characters to develop better.
