15 Actors Who Don’t Deserve To Be Part Of The MCU

Life

3. Tim Roth – Emil Blonsky (The Abomination)

If we’re going to talk about 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, you have to discuss the miscasting of Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky. Roth was great on Fox’s Lie to Me. He’s a great actor. However, you can’t take a British actor and have him portray a Slavic soldier in the British Royal Marines, put him for some reason in a U.S. Army Special Forces uniform, and then turn him into a super villain monster. That’s a stretch, even for an actor with range. It is a lot to ask of any actor. Honestly, Roth tried, but failed, to portray a battle-hardened special operations officer and succeeded in coming across as an angry Brit. I know, some will say he can only work with what he’s given, but I think that was a role Roth should’ve passed on. He did not seem to be the right fit, and the cast directors made a big mistake with this one. The Abomination might have been a character the filmmakers should’ve passed on.

2. Mickey Rourke – Ivan Vanko (Whiplash)

In the list of major disappointments in MCU villains, Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko ranks up there near the top. His portrayal as Ivan Vanko in Iron Man 2 (2010) probably looked like a good decision on paper. However, when once it was all said and done, Rourke’s performance came across very differently. The character seem to be more of an unstable, possibly drunk, stereotypical gangster who happens to be able to build robots. Trying to get us to believe he was a physicist was difficult, to say the least. He practically phoned that performance in. That role should have gone to a younger actor. Sure, they could make him physically imposing (he was in a Soviet-era Gulag, after all), but at least someone with some personality and physical ability would be great. Rourke just kind of trudged his way through his scenes, slurring his words. I mean, did Rourke do any research at all?

1. Dolph Lundren – Frank Castle (The Punisher)

Again, not actually MCU, but since that character has now been incorporated, we are going to allow it. Before Jon Bernthal gave us his kick-ass version, we had the pretty decent outing with Tom Jane. Before Jane, though, Marvel gave us The Punisher (1989), starring Dolph Lundgren. Yeah, if you never saw that one, don’t worry. You’re not missing anything; stick to Jon Bernthal. It should be remembered that this film, which was released theatrically overseas, went straight-to-DVD in the United States. It was not well-received. This was not a good time in Marvel’s filmmaking story (watch Howard the Duck or those cheesy Captain America TV movies). First, take Dolph Lundren, a highly-educated martial arts expert, who is really good in the Expendables movies. At that time, he was just too stiff and lacked any of the emotional components needed to accurately portray the anger, as well the never-ending love for his dead family, which drives Frank Castle to do what he does.