The box office draw that is the superhero genre has grown so quickly that the opportunities for actors to get involved has grown as well, meaning some unlikely castings have popped up. Some actors were obvious choices for the roles they were given – Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Christian Bale as Batman – however when some names got linked to big superhero roles, fans thought that the studios must be joking. In fact, many comedic actors have stepped out of their regular niche of films to take on the challenge, resulting in some bad but also some very good performances. Since some of these actors haven’t been seen in their superhero roles yet, it’s hard to tell if the unlikely casting paid off.
So without further ado, here are 10 of the most unlikely actors and actresses to be cast in a superhero movie role. Enjoy!
10. Dave Bautista
Prior to being cast as Drax the Destroyer in James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy in 2014, Dave Bautista was better known to the world as WWE superstar and six-time world champion, Batista. The former wrestler officially made his debut on screen as a wrestler in Relative Strangers in 2006 and in 2013, landed a much bigger role alongside future Guardians co-star Vin Deisel in the science fiction thriller, Riddick.
Other than Dwayne ‘The Rock” Johnson, few wrestlers have had what it takes to make the transition from the ring to the big screen, so when Bautista was initially cast, we couldn’t believe it. We knew he had the look and could kick ass, but he never did much speaking, so we weren’t sure how to react to the casting. Luckily for us, Bautista knocked it out of the park and proved us all wrong. As a result, Bautista landed a role in Denis Villeneuve’s Blade Runner 2049 and the directors upcoming Dune reboot, scheduled for release in 2020.
Source: Screenshot via Marvel Studios