12 Times Movies Successfully Recast Actors And 8 Times They Failed Miserably

Joaquin Phoenix's work as The Joker was so great it earned him an Academy Award, while a lot of fans would rather forget Emilia Clarke's turn as Sarah Connor in Terminator: Genisys.

Recasting happens for many reasons throughout Hollywood, from performers being ill-fitting for a particular role, a background character becoming more important in a sequel, or unavoidable real-life circumstances throwing a wrench into things.

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However, even if a recasting is necessary, it doesn't automatically make the end result a home run, as the process can run afoul of fans or even disrupt existing chemistry between other franchise players.

With that said, recasting can also be a blessing in disguise, as there are more than a few replacements who have gone on to make the role their own and become synonymous with the character itself.

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As such, I've assembled 12 recastings that worked out exceptionally as well as eight others that are better off forgotten:

There are obviously some spoilers ahead!

1. GREAT: Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman in Man of Steel (2013)

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In replacing Christopher Reeve in the canon of the pre-existing Superman franchise, Brandon Routh was a surprisingly capable and effortlessly enjoyable Superman in Superman Returns who was sadly saddled with a sub-par script and uninspired action sequences. But when it became clear following the Dark Knight trilogy that the DC cinematic canon needed a complete refresh, Henry Cavill stood out as a stellar Clark Kent/Superman, offering a truly star-making performance that captured everything fans loved about the iconic character and much more.

2. FAIL: Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight (2008)

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One of the more high-profile recastings in recent memory, the replacement of Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal for the role of Bruce Wayne's childhood friend and love interest, Rachel Dawes, between Christopher Nolan's first two entries of the Dark Knight trilogy wasn't a traditional disappointment in the sense that either performer did anything wrong. In fact, both women happened to elevate the role as the angel on Bruce Wayne's shoulder, representing the innocence of Gotham and the persistent sense of by-the-book justice that keeps Batman from going over the edge. But the role of Rachel Dawes is essentially a thankless one without much chance to shine between the more colorful and captivating performances on display, and Gyllenhaal's failure as a replacement stems mostly in moving the needle in no particular direction as compared to Holmes, in essence creating a tonal and dramatic stalemate between the two. As a result, the role's most memorable aspect comes down to Christian Bale's unhinged yelling of the name "Rachel!!!" that has become meme fodder for the past 15 years.

3. GREAT: Joaquin Phoenix as The Joker in Joker (2019)

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To say it politely, Jared Leto's contemporary "gangster" take on The Joker in Suicide Squad was met with a polarizing response from fans, from some praising Leto's in-your-face take on the character while an arguable majority found the character as an achingly desperate attempt to make the Joker "edgy" for today's audience. So, when a solo Joker film was announced without Leto but instead another universe version of the character played by Joaquin Phoenix, cautious optimism eventually morphed into full-blown critical and commercial praise, with Leto's Snyderverse Joker performance now sandwiched between two Academy Award-winning takes on the Clown Prince of Crime.

4. FAIL: Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor in Terminator: Genisys (2015)

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To be fair, it's not an easy task to operate in the shadow of Linda Hamilton's star-making turn as Sarah Connor, a role that helped re-establish badass roles for women following the blockbuster success of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Unfortunately, Emilia Clarke couldn't quite make much of an impression in the shoes of the militant, apocalypse-stopping heroine in the widely-panned Terminator: Genisys, so much so that producers eventually decided to go back to basics and recruit Hamilton back to the franchise for Terminator: Dark Fate.

5. GREAT: Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

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Blended actress Emma Fuhrmann was brought into the MCU in 2019 as a grown-up Cassie Lang, utilizing her limited screen time to bring drama out of the scenario in which Paul Rudd's Scott Lang has lost five years of both of their lives and missed the emotional turmoil of The Blip. However, Marvel ended up replacing Fuhrmann with Kathryn Newton to add some more star power to the future of the MCU, and while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has been divisive at best among the Marvel faithful, fans have widely agreed that Newton has been a solid choice for the charming and impulsive Cassie Lang.

6. GREAT: Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

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After 2010, it became perfectly clear that if Warner Bros. were to continue George Miller's Mad Max franchise, it wouldn't be with the franchise's former lead, Mel Gibson, in the role. Around this time, Tom Hardy became one of Hollywood's hottest commodities, bringing exciting and unique performances to the table in both studio and independently-produced work that helped him become Miller's first choice to be the new "Mad Max." While the production was far from the easiest for all involved, including Hardy, the final product speaks volumes as a massive win for Hardy as a leading man and a worthy introduction to the post-apocalyptic hero for a whole new generation of action fans.

7. FAIL: Jonathan Groff as Agent Smith in The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

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The fourth installment of The Matrix franchise had many vocal supporters and detractors, the discourse between whom was furthered by a pair of noticeable recastings. But while many found Yahya Abdul-Mateen II's appearance as a young Morpheus (who was canonically dead in the franchise) as an inspired and faithful reinterpretation of the character, not as many went to bat for Jonathan Groff as Agent Smith, as it appeared Groff's more calculated but significantly less intimidating take paled in comparison to Hugo Weaving's unforgettable performance as the franchise's big bad.

8. GREAT: Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

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Richard Harris was an inspired first choice for the role of Albus Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise, as his world-weary voice and body language felt incredibly appropriate for the esteemed wizard and academic. Sadly, it was also apparent that Harris was not in the best of health by the time he joined the franchise, and his appearance in Chamber of Secrets feels especially haggard. After his death in 2002, the franchise welcomed Michael Gambon to the role, who immediately endeared himself to the fan base with a more animated take on the character.

9. GREAT: Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022)

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The Fantastic Beasts movies have been an odd duckling for fans of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, often coming off as too uninteresting and inconsequential to become truly immersed in the narrative. During Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's highly-publicized trial, Depp was replaced by Warner Bros. for the third (and likely final) chapter in the Fantastic Beasts films. They brought in Mads Mikkelsen to take over as the villain Gellert Grindelwald, offering a less colorful yet equally menacing performance that often stole the movie as a whole, especially in his shared scenes with Jude Law's Albus Dumbledore.

10. FAIL: James Remar as Lord Raiden in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997)

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I'll be honest with you: There's not much of anything that I can say works about Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, which is honestly one of the worst sequels in franchise history. But one of its more egregious crimes is replacing Christopher Lambert, who was a legitimately fun choice for Lord Raiden in the first Mortal Kombat film, with James Remar, who is fitted with a new haircut and costume that feels out-of-time and out-of-touch in more ways than one. The real irony of the lackluster recasting is that Remar himself is a notable figure in famous recasting history, having been fired in the midst of filming for James Cameron's Aliens and replaced by The Terminator actor Michael Biehn.

11. GREAT: Don Cheadle as James "Rhodey" Rhodes/War Machine in Iron Man 2 (2010)

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There has been a lot of controversy surrounding Marvel Studios' first major recasting in the MCU, as Terrence Howard's exit in the role of James Rhodes/War Machine brought to light many of the ethically dubious aspects of the MCU talent contracts while whispers about Howard's allegedly frustrating on-set behavior were substantially vocalized by trade publications. But to some, Howard's role in the MCU has basically been forgotten, as Don Cheadle has absolutely made the role his own and offered an exponentially greater amount of chemistry with Robert Downey Jr. in subsequent Iron Man and Avengers installments.

12. GREAT: Daniel Craig as James Bond in Casino Royale (2006)

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With hindsight being 20/20, it's kind of hilarious that a large contingent of James Bond die-hards were concerned about Daniel Craig playing the iconic spy because "he's blonde." But even without considering the goodwill that the franchise had lost as a result of the goofy-as-hell Die Another Day in 2002, Daniel Craig's more heavy and intense take on the character rightfully dazzled audiences around the world, silencing even his most vocal critics fairly immediately.

13. FAIL: Stuart Townsend as Lestat in Queen of the Damned (2002)

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Even though it's a stand-alone sequel to Interview with the Vampire, Queen of the Damned is essentially best known for Aaliyah's posthumous lead role, its Jonathan Davis-produced soundtrack, and its status as a late night cable staple. What it's not known for is Stuart Townsend's performance as Lestat, which doesn't come close to measuring up to the versatile and committed performance by Tom Cruise in its predecessor. To add an even thicker layer of irony of Townsend's aimless turn is that the Irish actor is no stranger to shocking recasting decisions, having previously been abruptly replaced by Viggo Mortensen on the Lord of the Rings films and later dropped out at the 11th hour as Fandral in the MCU's Thor.

14. GREAT: Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in It (2017)

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If you would have asked any horror fan if someone could match or exceed the magnificent performance from Tim Curry in the original IT miniseries, 99 out of 100 would have given you a confident "no." But when the 2017 cinematic adaptation of It (or, as you'd know by the end credits, It: Chapter One) emerged from the depths of our nightmares, Bill Skarsgård rivaled Curry with his more monstrous and horrifying take on Stephen King's most popular villain and has since become one of the most identifiable characters in modern pop culture, period.

15. GREAT: Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

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Michael Mann's Manhunter is an incredibly stylish and unnerving thriller that feels so incongruous to the Thomas Harris adaptations that would follow, especially when it comes to the depiction of Hannibal Lecter. The role's cinematic originator, Brian Cox, played Hannibal as a confident sociopath with a superiority complex, which is unique but fitting given his part as a supporting player in a story centered around Will Graham and the Red Dragon. Hopkins's unforgettably haunting turn as Lecter feels far less Shakespearean and far more predatory, which suits the character and his legacy far more appropriately. 

16. FAIL: Julianne Moore as Clarice Starling in Hannibal (2001)

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Speaking of the Hannibal films, the franchise also features a bummer of a recasting as well, with Jodie Foster deciding not to reprise her Academy Award-winning role of Clarice Starling for the sequel nearly a decade later, Hannibal. Julianne Moore isn't bad as Starling and is quite capable of holding her own against the film's stacked cast, but the unique chemistry between Foster and Hopkins couldn't be replicated, and Moore ultimately fought a losing battle against the unreachable expectations of the audience.

17. GREAT: Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in Marvel's The Avengers (2012)

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Perhaps one of the biggest "What ifs" in Hollywood is what the Marvel Cinematic Universe would have looked like had Edward Norton remained in the role of Bruce Banner (aka The Hulk) for the remainder of the Infinity Saga. Norton brought a great deal of pathos and desperation to his depiction of Banner in The Incredible Hulk, but since his debut in Marvel’s The Avengers, Ruffalo has captured the humanity and humility of Banner in a much more deft fashion, especially when it's opposed to the rage-driven alter-ego.

18. FAIL: Will Forte as Shaggy Rogers in Scoob! (2020)

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Fans of the Scooby-Doo! franchise have always held Matthew Lillard's commitment to the role of Shaggy Rogers, which began in the live-action films but later extended to animated projects following the retirement of the late, great Casey Kasem, in high regard. However, when word dropped that an animated, now-defunct-cinematic-universe-establishing feature film called Scoob! would bring the talking dog and his mystery-solving friends back to the big screen, there was an uproar from fans that Lillard would not return to the role in favor of actor Will Forte. This writer will never take anything away from Forte, who is one of the most committed comedic performers working today, but most everyone would agree he wasn't the right fit for Shaggy, even in a strictly vocal performance.

19. GREAT: Chris Pine as Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek (2009)

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When it became apparent that Paramount was rebooting Star Trek for a new generation, all eyes fell on Chris Pine, who had not quite achieved stardom but turned heads in a scene-stealing performance in Smokin' Aces and was slated to step into William Shatner's shoes as Captain Kirk. Luckily, Pine was more than up for the role, bringing a sense of rebellious charisma, visible sex appeal, and emotional weight that some would argue even exceeds that of Shatner throughout the original Star Trek series and subsequent film continuations.

20. And finally, FAIL: Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates in Psycho (1998)

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A possible contender for the textbook definition of "bad recasting," Gus Van Sant's shot-for-shot Psycho remake put the rising star of Swingers, actor Vince Vaughn, in jeopardy by throwing him into the role of horror's first slasher, Norman Bates. While Vaughn brought the imposing side and teases of the character's dark nature, he was terribly miscast as the volatile and murderous man-child in a performance I'm sure he would rather be forgotten. Luckily for him, Anthony Perkins's fantastically creepy performance in the original Psycho has resonated with many generations of horror fans and helped inform Freddie Highmore's take on the character with the popular recent series Bates Motel.

Which other movie recasting have you loved? Or, which could you have done without? Tell us in the comments below!