6 Of The Most Recast Superheroes In Hollywood

Here are the most recast comic book characters ever!

Spiderman

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The original Spider-Man movies featured Tobey Maguire as the wall crawler. The first two movies were hugely popular, and it seemed like Maguire was going to swing through New York City for a long time. Then Spider-Man 3 came out, which featured two (TWO!) scenes of Maguire dancing. Sony almost made another Spider-Man with Maguire, but then opted to start all over again. They cast Andrew Garfield as the new web-slinger and forbade him from doing any jazz or tap numbers. Unfortunately, the Andrew Garfield-led Amazing Spider-Man series hasn't taken off the same way as the original trilogy did, and after only two movies, Garfield might be out. Leaked emails from the Sony hack revealed Sony doesn't know what the next step for the Spider-Man franchise is going to be, but it will almost definitely be without Garfield.

Hulk

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Bruce Banner was played by Mark Ruffalo in The Avengers, replacing Edward Norton, who starred in The Incredible Hulk, one of the first Marvel movies to feature the shared cinematic universe. Of course, The Incredible Hulk wasn't the first attempt to launch a Hulk franchise. Before Marvel owned the film rights, Universal Pictures released Ang Lee's Hulk, starring Eric Bana. This weirdo movie somehow ended with the Hulk fist-fighting a cloud.

Batman

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Not counting the old serials, there have been eight theatrical Batman movies, with five different actors playing Batman. The first was Adam West, and the movie was based on the '60s television series. In 1989, Warner Bros released Batman, starring Michael Keaton as Batman. Keaton stuck around for Batman Returns, but was replaced by Val Kilmer in Batman Forever. Kilmer apparently wasn't dedicated to fighting crime, because he was replaced after only one movie. George Clooney took over the role in Batman and Robin, a movie so unpopular that it killed the Batman film series for a good long while. Of course, Batman would be rebooted entirely with the release of Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale as the Dark Knight. And now Christian Bale is being replaced with Ben Affleck in the upcoming Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Maybe the reason why they can't keep a Batman for too long is doing the Batman voice starts to wear out the actor's throat?

Two-Face

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Everyone remembers Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face in The Dark Knight, but he was also previously portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever. While most of the Batman actors played the role fairly similarly, Eckhart and Jones' Two-Faces couldn't be more different. Eckhart played a dark, tragic character, while Tommy Lee Jones apparently thought he was playing the Joker. What's interesting is that Tommy Lee Jones wasn't originally supposed to play Two-Face. When Tim Burton made Batman in 1989, he cast Billy Dee Williams (more famously known as Star Wars' Lando Calrissian) to play Harvey Dent, with the understanding that Williams would play Two-Face in one of the sequels. Unfortunately, Burton decided not to use Two-Face in Batman Returns, which ended up featuring Batman fighting a circus of criminals and an army of penguins. In all honesty, that does sound a lot cooler than "guy who's mad about his face".

Superman

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The original cinematic Superman was Christopher Reeves, and he would play the role for four movies. Nicolas Cage would be cast in Tim Burton's reboot of the series, but that movie was cancelled before they started filming. Superman wouldn't return to the big screen until 2006 with Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, which saw Brandon Routh take over the role. While Superman may have returned, audiences did not, and no further films were made in that version of the series. Superman had to wait until 2013 to return again, this time played by Henry Cavill in Man of Steel. While audience reception seemed to be divided, the movie made enough to get a sequel, which will be released in 2016. Henry Cavill will return for Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and if that movie is successful enough, it will lead to a DC cinematic universe similar to Marvel's. If not, DC will just have to wait a few more years and recast the role yet again.

Lex Luthor

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One of the biggest surprises in Man of Steel was the lack of Lex Luthor. As Superman's arch nemesis, Luthor had appeared in basically every Superman movie up to that point. Portrayed by Gene Hackman in the original film series, Luthor would eventually be played by Kevin Spacey in Superman Returns. Spacey wouldn't last long as the head of Luthorcorp, though, as Lex Luthor is set to be played by Jesse Eisenberg of The Social Network. Nothing against Eisenberg, but it is weird to think that he, Kevin Spacey, and Gene Hackman will all have played the same person. I can't think of three more different actors than those guys.

Which is you favorite version of these characters? Leave your answers in the comments below!