9 Actors Who Have Played Superheroes And Supervillains (2024)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been on shaky ground since Avengers: Endgame, offering some unappreciated gems right alongside some that deserved their drubbing. So, Kevin Feige and co decided to shake things up further by bringing back Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom for Avengers: Doomsday. It left people hyped up for his inevitable meeting with Spider-Man, as well as with his true rival, Reed Richards of The Fantastic Four.

Some also wondered why they couldn’t have gotten a Romani actor to play a Romani character (assuming the MCU's version of Doom retains this heritage), or recast Kang to continue their original plan. That’s putting aside the odd fact that this means RDJ will have played a superhero and a supervillain within the same continuity. However, actors playing heroes one year and then a villain the next, or vice versa, isn’t unusual. It just means it’s given these stars interesting resumes.

9 Samuel L. Jackson & Scarlett Johansson

The Octopus/Nick Fury, Silken Floss/Black Widow

• As a Hero (SLJ): Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far From Home, Captain Marvel, The Marvels
• As a Hero (SJ): Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame,Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Deadpool and Wolverine
• As Villains: The Spirit

Case in point: the duo that tried to get Iron Man on board the Avengers’ Initiative in Iron Man previously tried to destroy Central City in The Spirit. In print, The Spirit was one of the most influential comics around. The story follows Denny ‘The Spirit’ Colt as hecomes back from the dead (actually suspended animation) to fight crime in a series of pulp noir adventures that weren’t afraid to yuk it up on occasion.

In motion, under the helm of (in)famous comic writer Frank Miller, it became a mess that owed more to Sin City than Will Eisner’s original strip. But it’s got Samuel L. Jackson as the usually unseen Octopus becoming a very visible villain with his accomplice, Scarlett Johansson’s Silken Floss. Both were ultimately better fits in their MCU roles, but going back and watching The Spirit today is an interesting experience, as trying to picture these two actors, together, as evil Nazi-esque villains is a challenging exercise in suspending disbelief.

8 Josh Brolin

Cable/Thanos

• As a Hero: Deadpool 2
• As a Villain: Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame

With Deadpool and Wolverine’s multiverse shenanigans, Josh Brolin might join RDJ as the next simultaneous superhero/supervillain within the MCU. That is, if he comes back to play Cable again. Deadpool 2 saw him travel back in time to save his family by stopping their killer, Russell Collins, from taking out his first victim, thus keeping him from becoming a killer in the first place. Simple.

It was also overshadowed by his performance as Thanos in the MCU. Aside from it having the advantage of Disney/Marvel’s multi-marketing blitz, he really came off as an all-powerful threat the heroes couldn’t overcome. Brolin's Thanos seemed like the end-boss of the entire MCU, its ultimate climax, and many fans seem to agree, as the MCU has had trouble buulding upon his arc ever since.

7 Hugo Weaving

V/Red Skull

• As a Hero: V for Vendetta
• As a Villain: Captain America: The First Avenger

Alan Moore has refused any credits, royalties, and anything else to do with movie adaptations of his work, as they usually haven’t been any good. The best of the bunch was the adaptation of V for Vendetta, where Hugo Weaving vocalized V’s vigor for V-based vocabulary while trying to bring down the totalitarian regime that had taken over Britain. The movie wasn't perfect, though it was still better than the decade's other Moore adaptations, like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

It popularized V’s appearance, particularly with the Guy Fawkes mask, which the online hacktivist group Anonymous would later adopt as their own. However, Weaving's turn as the Red Skull carried a different kind of gravitas. Though he was open to reprising the role, his turn as Captain America’s most notorious nemesis was limited to the first Captain America movie, with Ross Marquand taking up the role for Avengers: Infinity War.

6 Shawn Ashmore

Iceman/Lamplighter

• As a Hero: X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past
• As a Villain: The Boys Season 2

Most of the time, actors taking up heroic or villainous roles after playing their opposite counterparts is just a coincidence. Work is work, whether it pays tens of millions of dollars or an ordinary wage. Yet Shawn Ashmore’s turn as Lamplighter, the ex-Seven member turned clean-up guy in The Boys, feels like a neat piece of stunt casting.

Back in the day, Ashmore played Iceman in the X-Men movies, with his stand-out scene being his 'coming-out' as a mutant in X2: X-Men United. Therefore, it was only fitting he’d come back as his opposite in Lamplighter, a fire-wielding pyromaniac pushed around by the other members of the Seven until he realizes how much of a failure he truly is. It’s a neat parallel that couldn’t have been done without Ashmore in the role.

5 Michael B. Jordan

Human Torch/Killmonger

• As a Hero: Fant4stic
• As a Villain: Black Panther, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

For another contrast, albeit likely more coincidental, Michael B. Jordan went from playing a hero in one of the most poorly-received superhero flicks, to being a villain in one of the most widely-acclaimed ones. He gave Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, a go in Fant4stic, Fox’s last attempt to bring The Fantastic Four back to the big screen. It didn’t succeed, otherwise he'd likely still be in the role after Disney's buyout of Fox.

Instead, he became Killmonger, who clicked with fans as a villain because his plans, while violent, had a point. Fans have debated the nature of his goals for years, as many agree with his active pushback against colonialism and oppression, even if his means would’ve left his supporters without much to rebuild on. The best villains are often the ones who believe they’re right, and Killmonger fits that bill perfectly.

4 Tom Hardy

Venom/Bane

• As a Hero: Venom, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Spider-Man: No Way Home
• As a Villain: The Dark Knight Rises

Calling Venom a hero might be stretching it, yet the Venom movies don’t really have anything to do with Spider-Man. They’re part of Sony’s weird Spider-Man-without-Spider-Man universe, alongside Morbius, Madame Web, and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter movie. Alongside that line-up, the Venom movies stood out thanks to Tom Hardy’s double performance as Eddie Brock and the symbiote living in him.

By contrast, Hardy’s turn as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises raised some eyebrows. It wasn’t helped that his delivery was largely muffled by his mask and had to be sweetened in post-production to be audible. Nor that he sounded more like Sean Connery than the Hispanic tour-de-force Bane is elsewhere. Nonetheless, he still managed to break the Bat and take over Gotham City, and offer some funny one-liners along the way.

3 Christian Bale

Batman/Gorr The God Butcher

• As a Hero: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises
• As a Villain: Thor: Love and Thunder

Speaking of The Dark Knight, Christian Bale’s Batman caused similar consternation by turning the gravel in his voice up to 10. His movies were great, with The Dark Knight generally being regarded as one of the best Bat-films of all time. Bale himself did a good job as Bruce Wayne and Batman too. He’s just going to be remembered for his growly voice (“DO I LOOK LIKE A COP?!”).

It’s certainly more of a standout than his time in Thor: Love and Thunder. Not that his performance as Gorr the God Butcher was bad. In fact, most people praised it, comparing it to Killmonger in its nuance, and to Pennywise the Clown in its horror. However, the movie’s nudge-wink humor clashed with the drama awkwardly, making it a rougher watch than the perfect blend that was Thor: Ragnarök.

2 Michael Pfeiffer

Catwoman/Janet Van Dyne

• As a Hero: Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
• As a Villain: Batman Returns

Ant-Man and the Wasp was an okay MCU film, where the two heroes must head to the Quantum Realm to retrieve Janet Van Dyne, who they assume was stuck there decades prior after shrinking to subatomic levels. In the first Ant-Man movie, she was played by Hayley Lovitt because she resembled Michelle Pfeiffer. For the sequel, they were able to get the real deal. Not that Pfeiffer’s got to prove anything in regards to superhero flicks.

She has already made history with her portrayal of Catwoman in 1992’s Batman Returns. It was a more unhinged take on the character, as she sought revenge on corrupt business executive Max Shreck, using the Penguin and Batman to get closer to her prey. It's also the definitive cinematic take on the character, as subsequent movie versions didn't quite capture her mix of allure and danger.

1 Michael Keaton

Batman/The Vulture

• As a Hero: Batman (1989), Batman Returns, The Flash
• As a Villain: Spider-Man: Homecoming, Morbius

Likewise, Michael Keaton’s Batman would end up becoming THE Batman to those who lived through the 1990s. Even though he was succeeded by Val Kilmer and George Clooney for Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, he fit the character like a glove with his balance of charm and pathos. Which is ironic, as fans in 1989 petitioned against his casting because they couldn't see 'Mr Mom' as the Caped Crusader.

His past as Batman would serve him well in Birdman, a movie about an actor typecast as a superhero trying to strike it out on Broadway. Though it wouldn’t stop him taking up the role of the Vulture in Spider-Man: Homecoming. He had the same charm and pathos, but played as a worker left jobless thanks to the Avengers, which made viewers sympathize with Spidey when he had to choose between letting Vulture get away to keep going out with his daughter, or doing the right thing at the cost of his love life.