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Even the most talented actors sometimes miss the mark! Join us as we count down our picks for the Marvel Cinematic Universe performances that left a lot to be desired. We're not saying these actors are bad at their craft, but their talents have definitely been better served elsewhere. From miscast villains to wasted potential, these performances just didn't live up to the MCU standard!
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00:00My name is Trevor, Trevor Slattery.
00:03What are you?
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the MCU performances that left a lot to be desired.
00:12We're not saying any of these actors are bad at their job, but rather that their talents have been better served elsewhere.
00:19I slipped.
00:20Right, you slipped as a result of me punching you in the face.
00:23I was already slipping when you happened to punch me in the face. The two events are not related.
00:26Number 15, Natalie Portman, Thor Franchise.
00:30Well, I'm...
00:31I know very well who you are. Jane Foster.
00:34You told your dad about me?
00:36Natalie Portman was fresh off an Oscar win for Black Swan when she first appeared as the God of Thunder's love interest, Jane Foster.
00:43But, as we'll soon see on this list, not even a gold statuette is a guarantee that one's abilities will be put to good use.
00:52So is this how you normally look?
00:54More or less.
00:56It's a good look.
00:58The first two Thor films especially leave Portman out to dry by relegating Jane to damsel in distress status, often placing her in situations that rob her of her independence.
01:08The actress is more than capable of playing characters with enough agency to fend for themselves.
01:13So her role in the Thor franchise is practically counterintuitive to her strengths as a performer.
01:18I'm not hungry.
01:21Good. Let's go.
01:23At least Jane would eventually reclaim some of her worth in Love and Thunder.
01:2814. Tim Blake Nelson, Captain America Brave New World
01:31Maybe you're not as smart as you think you are.
01:34I am, actually.
01:36A number of things went wrong with the latest Captain America film, from its incoherent story to its shoddy CGI.
01:46Many of these criticisms are embodied by the underwhelming return of Tim Blake Nelson as Samuel Sterns, who we last saw all the way back in 2008's The Incredible Hulk.
01:56Given the introduction of Red Hulk, having a mutated Stern serve as the giant brain behind the central conspiracy makes sense on paper.
02:03And Nelson rolls with what he's given.
02:05Ross turned me into a monster.
02:08It's only right that I do the same thing to him.
02:11Why aren't you smiling?
02:12But the lackluster effects that aid in his grotesque appearance makes him less of a cunning mastermind and more of a laughable easter egg.
02:21Considering his long hiatus between appearances and poorly defined motivation, this is one character we wish had remained in phase one.
02:28You're a fascinating problem, but soon you'll be off the board, so you don't surprise me again.
02:35Number 13. Lee Pace, Guardians of the Galaxy
02:37Rona the Accuser is proof that even the most over-the-top and energetic superheroes can suffer in the villain department.
02:44While the Guardians of the Galaxy quickly became fan favorites in the MCU, their first antagonist is memorable for many of the wrong reasons.
02:50Rather than the terrifying conqueror he's supposed to be, Lee's Pace take on Ronan makes him look more like a whiny lackey.
03:10His constantly switching loyalties could have made him a complex character worth exploring,
03:14but Pace's over-reliance on cheesy melodrama brings the movie's sense of adventure to a grinding halt.
03:20I will unfurl 1,000 years of Kree justice on Xandar and burn it to its core.
03:28Then Thanos, I'm coming for you.
03:33With bigger threats like Thanos on the horizon, it's possible that Ronan was meant to be one-dimensional on purpose,
03:38but Pace does little to make him a villain truly worth appreciating.
03:42I only ask that you take this matter seriously.
03:45The only matter I do not take seriously, boy, is you.
03:52Number 12. Terrence Howard, Iron Man
03:55That's the coolest thing I've ever seen.
03:58Not bad, huh?
03:58James Rhodey Rhodes is a beloved fixture of the MCU, but he may not have been so had Don Cheadle not assumed the role in Iron Man 2.
04:06The original Rhodey, as played by Terrence Howard, simply lacks the confidence and resolve required to keep a friend as unpredictable as Tony Stark in check.
04:15Moreover, Howard also forgets to have fun in the role, delivering a performance that's far too serious to be in step with the movie's rebellious tone.
04:22No, see, this isn't a game. You do not send civilian equipment into my active war zone. You understand that?
04:28It's not a piece of equipment. I'm in it. It's a suit. It's me!
04:32In other words, this is not a Rhodey that could convincingly don the war machine suit and match Robert Downey Jr.'s charisma beat for beat.
04:39We were thankfully spared from such a scenario, but it's not exactly enjoyable to consider another appearance from Howard.
04:47Next time, baby.
04:49Number 11. Emilia Clarke, Secret Invasion
04:52Unless you have an army crammed in the back of that car, I advise you to go back the way you came.
04:56As the embodiment of Daenerys Targaryen, Emilia Clarke has convinced more than enough Game of Thrones fans of her flair for playing characters with incomparable power.
05:05Secret Invasion tries to offer her the same opportunity as Squirrel Rebellion Ghia, but the show's confounding six episodes often downplay the best parts of her character.
05:14Thanks for coming to see me.
05:15You don't see me because I'm not here.
05:18Despite her relationships to Ben Middleton's Talos and main antagonist Gravik, Clarke isn't exactly able to wring much dramatic tension out of Ghia's intricate morals.
05:28In fact, her performance is often at war with Secret Invasion's chaotic writing, as she isn't really given much to chew on until it's far too late.
05:37And I don't need your sorrow or your pity for anything I did of my own free will.
05:40Even when the series finale haphazardly morphs her into Super Skrull, we still haven't developed much of an attachment to her.
05:47Number 10, Evan Peters, WandaVision.
05:49Whoa, sweet costume bro, Ham-In-Law.
05:52Let me guess.
05:53Uh, traffic light.
05:56Half-shuck corn.
05:58A booger.
06:00Aaron Taylor Johnson's performance in Avengers Age of Ultron can't help but be perceived as a downgrade compared to Evan Peters' Quicksilver in the X-Men movies.
06:09But fans' dissatisfaction with the character was dialed up when Peters unexpectedly arrived in WandaVision.
06:15Long lost bro, get to squeeze his stinking sister to death or what?
06:20Did she recast Pietro?
06:22Playing a recast version of Pietro Maximoff, Peters maintains the cocky sarcasm that works for his Quicksilver, leading many to speculate the arrival of the X-Men into the MCU.
06:31However, when the finale reveals that he's merely an actor hired to manipulate Wanda, Peters' performance instantly loses its luster due to the stupid joke it amounts to.
06:42Agnes doesn't live here.
06:44You do.
06:47You're Ralph Boner?
06:51Not only is he completely useless to the story in hindsight, but his schtick feels totally inconsistent with the show's sincere approach to themes like grief and trauma.
07:00Number 9. Russell Crowe, Thor Love and Thunder
07:02As he proves in The Nice Guys, Russell Crowe is a surprisingly gifted comedic actor, at least when he's given excellent material.
07:15That's not exactly what Thor Love and Thunder provides for anyone involved.
07:19Though Crowe arguably draws the shortest stick in his oddly calibrated version of Zeus.
07:23The Oscar-winner reportedly convinced director Taika Waititi to let him use a Greek accent rather than an intended British one.
07:30But it may not have been worth the effort.
07:32I can't hear you. Why don't you take the stage?
07:35The stage down there?
07:37Well, yes, you see the area that looks very much like a stage.
07:41Even though Crowe intentionally plays the Greek god as a campy womanizer, his hit-or-miss vocal work brings the character too close to a parody for us to take any of it seriously.
07:51What's meant to be comic relief instead has us wishing for relief from the comedy.
07:56Okay, maybe he's not that great.
07:57Oh, no, not good.
07:59No, I don't think it's gonna get any better than this.
08:01Number 8. Gemma Chan, Eternals
08:03Introducing 10 new characters all at once, Eternals struggles to balance an eternity's worth of character development for its large ensemble.
08:10You would think we could have at least hoped for some committed performances, especially from Gemma Chan.
08:16I can change a rock into water.
08:21I could turn a rock into wood.
08:24Or a rock into metal.
08:26Actually, one time I turned a rock into air.
08:28Unfortunately, her work as matter manipulator Cersei is anything but.
08:33Along with her co-star Richard Madden, Chan's blank uninterested facial expressions don't change much across the movie's runtime.
08:40I'm yours, Cersei.
08:43If you'll have me.
08:44Considering that Icarus and Cersei's complicated romance could have been the emotional fulcrum of the entire movie,
08:51their lack of chemistry doesn't inspire a reason to return.
08:54Chan may possess the objectivity and internal requires to not interfere in human conflicts,
08:59but that also means she's unmemorable as a character many audiences were meeting for the first time.
09:05Every time innocent lives have been sacrificed for the greater good, it turns out to be a mistake.
09:10We have to stop the emergence.
09:12Number 7. Bill Murray
09:14Ant-Man and the Wasp, Quantumania
09:16The third Ant-Man adventure is rife with missed opportunities, especially as far as its cast is concerned.
09:22Cassie? I almost didn't recognize you.
09:25The recasting of Emma Furman's Cassie Lane with Katherine Newton rubbed many fans the wrong way.
09:30But the true head-scratcher is the inclusion of Bill Murray.
09:33While the legendary comedian was a major selling point for Quantumania,
09:36Quantumania, the final results makes his knack for playing apathetic smart Alex feel entirely out of place.
09:42I've heard so much about you and your ants.
09:46What are ants?
09:48Anyway, do we have them down here?
09:49I don't think so, no.
09:52Oh, that's too bad.
09:53Despite his notoriety in the Quantum Realm, Lord Krylar feels like such an off-putting weirdo
09:59that it's hard not to think that Murray's merely phoning it in.
10:02Granted, many of his scenes were ultimately removed from the theatrical cut of Quantumania,
10:07but that only makes what's left feel like a superfluous addition to an already confusing movie.
10:12It's strange. She never said anything about you.
10:18Well, I don't think I would have told my kid either.
10:21Number 6. Mickey Rorick, Iron Man 2
10:23A performance like this makes us grateful that Whiplash wasn't in the first Iron Man film,
10:28as the MCU would have taken off in a much rougher fashion.
10:32If you can make God bleed, then people will cease to believe in him.
10:37And they will be blood in the water, and the sharks will come.
10:43Following his Oscar-nominated comeback in The Wrestler,
10:46Mickey Rorick embraced his second chance by portraying scientist Ivan Vanko.
10:50And let's just say this performance didn't have the same level of gravitas.
10:54I want my bird.
10:58A bird? You want a bird?
11:00I want my bird.
11:02I can get you a bird. I can get you 10 birds.
11:04I want my bird.
11:05Between his cartoonish accent and Vanko's strange affinity for his pet bird,
11:09Rorick is neither formidable nor well-rounded enough to make Whiplash a solid enough villain.
11:14It's a frustrating waste of a character with a potentially interesting relationship to Tony Stark,
11:19as Rorick ends his time in the movie as merely a set piece in the movie's action.
11:23A sophomore slump if ever there was one.
11:26You lose.
11:35Number 5. Ray Winstone, Black Widow
11:37You're nothing.
11:39You have nothing.
11:41There are 50 people on this planet.
11:43Oh, stop it!
11:44Don't tell me to stop!
11:47Ray Winstone is known for a few distinct characteristics.
11:50His gruff demeanor, brooding physicality, and unmistakable British accent.
11:55The first two qualities only appear sporadically throughout Black Widow,
11:58while the third is an unintentional bug in the system.
12:01Oh, you find this amusing.
12:04Why are you smiling?
12:05In fact, it's Winstone's erratic attempt at maintaining a Russian accent
12:09that wipes away any notion of intimidation in his time as Red Room leader, Dreykov.
12:14There's nothing wrong with wanting to challenge yourself,
12:16but the actor seems so determined to rely on gangster mannerisms
12:20that he's more like a Guy Ritchie character who wandered into the MCU.
12:24I gave her home.
12:26I gave her love.
12:28But I think you know you do.
12:31You know, chemicals.
12:34Turn her into one of your pigs.
12:36Heading up a Soviet assassin syndicate
12:38isn't the kind of criminal activity Winstone is cut out for,
12:41and it's for the best that Dreykov likely won't be seen again.
12:45Number 4. Jude Law, Captain Marvel
12:47I used to find you amusing.
12:50Let's put an end to this!
12:51Jude Law is one of the most charismatic actors of his generation,
12:56commanding a unique ability to blur the line between hero and villain.
12:59Captain Marvel would have us to believe he's doing just that
13:02as Carol Danvers' mentor, Yon-Rogg.
13:04But his performance is consistently undermined by the obviousness of his evil.
13:08You lied to me.
13:09I made you the best version of yourself.
13:16What's given can be taken away.
13:19Law's screen time with Brie Larson doesn't do much to convince us of their friendship,
13:24with the former lacking enough charm to match his sinister intentions.
13:27Yon-Rogg is uniquely situated to counter Nick Fury's more heroic brand of mentorship,
13:32but Law is given such little room to flex his chops
13:35that he merely comes across as disinterested.
13:37That he ultimately poses no threat to the title character
13:40only makes the performance that much weaker.
13:43This is that moment.
13:45This is that moment, Beers.
13:48Turn off the light show and prove, prove to me, you can beat me without a-
13:52No. 3.
13:55Ben Kingsley, Iron Man 3
13:56Well, I wouldn't go in there for 20 minutes.
14:02This respected British actor knows a lot about playing larger-than-life figures
14:06with theatricality and nuance.
14:08So when he first shows up as Tony Stark's arch-nemesis,
14:11the Mandarin in Iron Man 3,
14:12it's like we're witnessing Phase 2's first great villain be born.
14:16You know who I am.
14:18You don't know where I am.
14:22And you'll never see me coming.
14:24That is, until it's revealed that this alleged terrorist
14:27is merely an actor named Trevor Slattery,
14:30who was hired to throw Tony off the real villain, Sin.
14:33The infamous moment has set a standard for unnecessary villain reveals
14:36that have plagued otherwise decent MCU projects,
14:39and Kingsley's shift into oafish buffoonery fills completely beneath him.
14:43Where's the Mandarin?
14:44Where is it?
14:45Whoa, whoa, whoa.
14:46He's here.
14:46He's here, but he's not here.
14:49He's here, but he's not here.
14:50What do you mean?
14:50It's complicated.
14:51Hey, it's complicated, right?
14:53It is.
14:53It's complicated.
14:54Trevor may have some defenders,
14:56but Kingsley's subsequent appearances have served little purpose
14:59other than to remind us of how Iron Man 3 took his talent for granted.
15:03Number 2.
15:04Liv Tyler, The Incredible Hulk
15:06You know, I know a few techniques could help you manage that anger very effectively.
15:15You zip it.
15:16We're walking.
15:17Despite not being thought of in high regard,
15:20the fact that we've seen all the major characters in The Incredible Hulk Return
15:23at least once should signify a degree of memorability.
15:27Nevertheless, there's probably a good reason it's taken Liv Tyler
15:30over a decade and a half to be brought back into the fold.
15:33The part itself is admittedly thin, but Tyler's performance doesn't do much
15:37to further enhance Betty's intelligence, self-sufficiency,
15:40or her emotional attachment to Bruce Banner.
15:42I don't know.
15:43In the cave, I really felt like it knew me.
15:47Maybe your mind is in there.
15:49It's just overcharged and can't process what's happening.
15:51I don't want to control it.
15:53Her chemistry with Ed Norton is questionable at best,
15:55with their relationship based more on obligation rather than genuine love.
15:59Tyler is a proven romantic force,
16:01but here she looks like she'd rather be anywhere other than caught in the fray
16:05with a giant green monster.
16:07I will never forgive what you've done to him.
16:10He's a fugitive.
16:12You made him a fugitive.
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16:27We're not sure which of Christopher Eccleston's performances as Malekith is more painful.
16:49The one we saw in Thor The Dark World or the one he put on to get through filming it.
16:52The Doctor Who alum has been extremely critical about his experience on the film.
16:57Citing the poor characterization and overuse of prosthetics as point of contention.
17:01Perhaps Eccleston recognized the wasted potential early on,
17:05as he frequently replaces magnetism with complete and utter boredom.
17:08Your universe was never meant to be.
17:11Your world and your family will be extinguished!
17:16Just as there's no rhyme or reason to Malekith's plan,
17:19there's not much holding this performance together,
17:21as it's merely a mish-mash of one villain trope after another.
17:25Capping off one of the least enjoyable MCU movies,
17:28it's arguably the most forgettable performance of the entire franchise.
17:31You think you can stop this?
17:34The ether cannot be destroyed.
17:37But you can.
17:40Which MCU performance do you have a hard time sitting through?
17:43Is there one you think is unfairly criticized?
17:46Be sure to assemble down in the comments below.
17:48See you next time.
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