14. Sylvester Stallone – Stakar Ogord (Starhawk)
Sylvester Stallone is a world-famous action star, and there’s no denying that. One of the biggest reveals of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, was Stallone as Stakar Ogord, otherwise known as Starhawk, one of the original Guardians from comics. However, with James Gunn leaving the open possibility for Stallone’s character to continue in the MCU makes me cringe. We know Gunn intends to utilize that original Guardians crew in some manner going forward, but to what extent is unknown. If his character is just used as a plot device to help push Chris Pratt and crew further along, that’s great. If the film is going to feature Stallone alongside Pratt, or even in his own film, then I do believe that would be a mistake. No matter what role you put Stallone in, he’s Stallone. He’s more of a personality than an actor (other than in Cop Land in 1997. He definitely played against type there). Nothing against Stallone, but they shouldn’t have gone with an A-lister if they were thinking of an MCU future for the character.
13. Jennifer Garner – Elektra Natchios
You can’t talk about past Marvel films without raising Jennifer Garner’s role as Elektra. Garner was already a noted television action star because of her role as Sydney Bristow in the hit series Alias. I’m sure, at the time, the filmmakers believed she would be a natural. Indeed, she actually did quite well in Daredevil (2003). However, when they offered her with her own spinoff, Elektra (2005), she should’ve passed. Again, Garner put in a great performance and her action scenes were good; she was good. The rest of the film was a mess. The script, the story, everything was just completely lacking. Instead of transitioning Garner from television action star to blockbuster film star, Elektra pretty much shut her out of the action film biz. The film was a commercial and critical flop. Though she’s continued to land good roles, she has never again thrown a cinematic punch, despite having the physique for it.
12. Lee Pace – Ronan the Accuser
Ronan the Accuser is an indomitable presence, a force to be reckoned with. Although Guardians of the Galaxy portrayed Ronan as an unbeatable bada*s, he still came across as a “pouty boy,” as Thanos put it in the film. Is that Lee Pace’s fault? Was it the writers’ fault? Pace’s Ronan, despite his strength, comes across almost laughable and whiny in the film, even melodramatic. He never really comes across as the threat that we all know he really is. Pace should’ve brought more depth to the character, like Ronan in the comics. If Marvel wanted to just have Ronan be brute muscle and power-hungry, why go to Lee Pace? Guardians of the Galaxy was a huge film, one of my favorite MCU films, as a matter of fact. Marvel took a big chance with James Gunn and his band of space misfits and it paid off; however, Lee Pace kind of came up short as the main villain.
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