Some actors were just born to play certain roles. This has definitely been evident in comic book movies over the years. It's not that they are just giving great performances, it's that they appear to literally be the real-life versions of these characters. It's as if someone took them out of a comic book and made them real people. These are the top ten actors who completely embodied their roles.
#10. Heath Ledger as The Joker (The Dark Knight)
Th Dark Knight is, in my opinion, the greatest comic book movie of all time and Heath Ledger's performance was the main reason behind that. The only reason he's so far down on the list is because I think it was more his acting skills that made him so great than the fact that he was really born to play this role. However, I doubt we'll ever get a better version of this character on film again.
#9. Chloe Grace-Moretz as Hit-Girl (Kick-Ass)
Hit-Girl must have been a very hard role to cast given how adult the role is for a young girl to play. However, I think Chloe Grace-Moretz was the perfect choice. She brought all of the violence and vulgarity that the role required while still being able to keep it all hidden behind the shell of a seemingly cute innocent girl. Overall, she was a badass and I can't imagine anyone else topping her in that role.
#8. Michael Chiklis as The Thing (Fantastic Four 1, 2)
Let me start off by saying that neither Fantastic Four movies were at all good. In fact, they were pretty awful. But one of the saving graces of the movies was Chiklis's performance as The Thing. He both sounded just like how I imagine him when I read the comics and if they had used better special effects/costumes, he would have looked exactly like him too. Not a good movie, but a perfect casting choice.
#7. Christopher Reeve as Superman (Superman 1, 2, 3, 4)
Christopher Reeve is and will always be who most people think about when they think about a live-action superman. This is partly because he was the first one, but also because he really did embody everything about both Superman and Clark Kent. I was a big fan of Brandon Routh as Superman, but he could not step into that character the same way Reeve did, and while Henry Cavill will probably be great, I doubt he can either.
#6. Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach (Watchmen)
What was once deemed the unfilmable graphic novel ended up becoming a pretty good movie. In my mind, Haley's dark performance as Rorschach was the highlight. He was able to take everything about the character from the book and incorporate it into his performance. Even though the the role called for an actor to be behind a mask for most of the movie, I don't think anyone could have done it better.
#5. Patrick Stewart as Professor X (X-Men 1, 2, 3, Wolverine)
I think that James McAvoy did a terrific job in the role of Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class, and even though I liked that movie more than the original trilogy, I think Patrick Stewart did a better job establishing the fictional character into a real life man...er, mutant.. His performance was spot on and it didn't hurt that he looked exactly like him.
#4. Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (Iron Man 1, 2)
When word first came out that Downey Jr. had gotten the role of Iron Man, people were hesitant. Even Jon Favreau had his reservations at first before he officially cast him. As it turned out, the joke was on us because Downey Jr. gave one of the most spot-on performances we have ever seen. He captured the smugness and arrogance of the character, but also the charming and heroic side. I'm thrilled that he'll be the one to play this character for many years to come. As he said himself....he IS Iron Man.
#3. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine (X-Men 1, 2, 3, Wolverine, First Class)
Patrick Stewart may have embodied the role of Professor X, but Hugh Jackman did it even better as Wolverine. It was so different from anything Jackman had done before, but this is truly the role he was born to play. Say what you want about X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but it at least gave us a full movie of Jackman in all of his Wolverine glory and that can't be a bad thing. The movie still sucked, though.
#2. Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (Iron Man 1, 2, Thor)
Samuel L. Jackson was literally the real-life version of this character. The Ultimate version of Nick Fury is based on Jackson so when they decided to go with that version of the movie, who else could they have cast? He hasn't been given too much to do in these movies (yet), but no one can argue that he isn't the perfect man for the job.
#1. J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson (Spider-Man 1, 2, 3)
J.K. Simmons simply was the best choice out of anyone to play this character. He played J. Jonah Jameson to perfection, from his looks, to his voice, to his mannerisms, to his personality. Ultimate Nick Fury may have been based on Samuel L. Jackson in the comics, but it's as if Jameson was based on Simmons without the writers of the comics even knowing. He had a fairly small role in all three Spider-Man films but that made every moment he was on screen even sweeter. It's a shame they couldn't have kept him for The Amazing Spider-Man, but at least he'll be voicing the character in the upcoming cartoon series. J.K. Simmons was the most spot-on casting choice in the history of comic book movies.
Please tell me what you think of the list in the comments. I'd love to hear your picks. Thanks for reading!