# Actors portraying multiple superheroes/comic characters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 24, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117 "2014-02-24T17:25:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nauplius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nauplius/32/51_2.png) [@Nauplius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nauplius)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/41 "2014-02-24T20:25:06Z")
Lena Headey - 300 & Dredd ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/42 "2014-02-24T20:26:18Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > Tom Tyler played Captain Marvel & the Phantom. And The Mummy to boot! He also got shot by John Wayne in Stagecoach, but I digress. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/43 "2014-02-24T20:52:23Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > See above; the gist of it is that the character can have non-comic book origins, but should be part of an ongoing series, not just a one-off adaptation of another work; hence, most Shakespearean characters are out, as would be Bible characters. But Classics Illustrated _was_ an ongoing series! 😛 But no, I take your point. Instead of “on-going,” though, can I suggest “original?” That would include mini-series, stand-alone graphic novels, and one-shot comics meant to expand upon (or, sometimes, conclude) film and television series. That being said, there’s a few spoiler comics that can grandfather in a huge amount of public domain characters. _[Fables](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fables_%28comics%29)_, [\*Kill Shakespeare](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Shakespeare)\*, and [The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Extraordinary_Gentlemen), for example, collectively give us virtually every character from European folk lore, the works of William Shakespeare, and a healthy chunk of notable English literature of the last five hundred years. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/44 "2014-02-24T22:44:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > But Classics Illustrated _was_ an ongoing series! 😛 > > But no, I take your point. Instead of “on-going,” though, can I suggest “original?” That would include mini-series, stand-alone graphic novels, and one-shot comics meant to expand upon (or, sometimes, conclude) film and television series. > > That being said, there’s a few spoiler comics that can grandfather in a huge amount of public domain characters. _[Fables](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fables_%28comics%29)_, [\*Kill Shakespeare](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kill_Shakespeare)\*, and [The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Extraordinary_Gentlemen), for example, collectively give us virtually every character from European folk lore, the works of William Shakespeare, and a healthy chunk of notable English literature of the last five hundred years. A decent point, perhaps. I think there’s a grey area that could be subject to interpretation. Take, for example, Death. Death has been portrayed in movies in LOTS of different ways, and also in comics in lots of different ways; so to just say “So and so played Death in this movie” might not work, but if someone made a cinematic version of Sandman including Death as a character, and eventually Marvel made an Infinity Gauntlet movie that has Marvel’s version of Death, I would say that a particular interpretation of Death might count, but not Death in a general, all-encompassing sense. So where does that leave characters like Dracula, the Invisible Man, Mr. Hyde, etc.? That’s admittedly harder to pin down. With something like Star Wars, you have an adaptation that includes established characters that don’t deviate much from the cinematic characters. With Dracula, are we talking about ANY Dracula, from Van Helsing Dracula to Coppola’s Dracula to Blade’s “Drake”? Definitely some hard to define boundaries there. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/45 "2014-02-24T23:12:55Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Sorry, the title might be a bit confusing: what I mean is, actors who have portrayed different comic/superhero characters in different films (as opposed to, say, Hugh Jackman reprising the Wolverine role in multiple films). > > The examples I can think of off the top of my head so far: > > Halle Berry: Storm (X-Men films) and Catwoman (Catwoman) > Keanu Reeves: John Constantine (Constantine) and, arguably, Neo (Matrix films) > Chris Evans: Johnny Storm (Fantastic 4 movies), Captain America (Avengers films) > Will Smith: Jay (Men in Black films), John Hancock (Hancock) > Kristy Swanson: Supergirl, Diana Palmer (The Phantom) > Ryan Reynolds (THREE different roles!): Hannibal King (Blade Trinity), Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Wade Wilson (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) > Any others you can think of? Lets not forget Hugh Jackman also played Van Helsing. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/46 "2014-02-24T23:24:11Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Terrence Stamp played General Zod in **Superman** in 1978, and Willie Garvin in **Modesty Blaise** (a UK comic book) in 1966. Also the voice of Jor-El on “Smallville”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/47 "2014-02-24T23:30:49Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Will Smith: Jay (Men in Black films), …with Tommy Lee Jones as Agent K, after Two-Face in _Batman Forever_ (with Jim Carrey as the Riddler after _The Mask_ before Colonel Stars And Stripes in _Kick Ass 2_. Ron Ely played Tarzan for 57 episodes before playing Doc Savage (who was, AFAICT, the first fictional character ever referred to as ‘a superhero’) and, y’know, Superman. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/48 "2014-02-24T23:33:14Z")
We including voice work? Udo Kier Blade BloodRayne Beware the Batman The Batman Justice League He has also been Dracula, if we’re counting that. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/49 "2014-02-24T23:37:17Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Sorry, the title might be a bit confusing: what I mean is, actors who have portrayed different comic/superhero characters in different films (as opposed to, say, Hugh Jackman reprising the Wolverine role in multiple films). > > The examples I can think of off the top of my head so far: > > Halle Berry: Storm (X-Men films) and Catwoman (Catwoman) > Keanu Reeves: John Constantine (Constantine) and, arguably, Neo (Matrix films) > Chris Evans: Johnny Storm (Fantastic 4 movies), Captain America (Avengers films) > Will Smith: Jay (Men in Black films), John Hancock (Hancock) > Kristy Swanson: Supergirl, Diana Palmer (The Phantom) > Ryan Reynolds (THREE different roles!): Hannibal King (Blade Trinity), Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), Wade Wilson (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) > Any others you can think of? I think it’s a mistake to list Smith’s role in MiB. If Jay’s a superhero, you’re basically saying that any action movie hero is a superhero, and that stretches the definition to the point of uselessness. Any actor who’s headlined two different action movie properties would qualify. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/50 "2014-02-24T23:39:09Z")
> [@Nauplius](#): > > Lena Headey - 300 & Dredd And Sarah Connor. Marc McClure played Jimmy Olson in the 1978 Superman, as well as a Kryptonian in Smallville. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/51 "2014-02-24T23:40:56Z")
Adam West as Batman, and, later, as Catman (on _The Fairly Odd-Parents_). ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/52 "2014-02-24T23:41:43Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > A decent point, perhaps. I think there’s a grey area that could be subject to interpretation. Take, for example, Death. Death has been portrayed in movies in LOTS of different ways, and also in comics in lots of different ways; so to just say “So and so played Death in this movie” might not work, but if someone made a cinematic version of Sandman including Death as a character, and eventually Marvel made an Infinity Gauntlet movie that has Marvel’s version of Death, I would say that a particular interpretation of Death might count, but not Death in a general, all-encompassing sense. > > So where does that leave characters like Dracula, the Invisible Man, Mr. Hyde, etc.? That’s admittedly harder to pin down. With something like Star Wars, you have an adaptation that includes established characters that don’t deviate much from the cinematic characters. With Dracula, are we talking about ANY Dracula, from Van Helsing Dracula to Coppola’s Dracula to Blade’s “Drake”? Definitely some hard to define boundaries there. That’s a good point. I think the distinction here lies between characters, and character _concepts_. “Death is a person,” is a character concept, much like “rogueish starship captain.” But Terry Pratchett’s Death isn’t the same character as Neil Gaiman’s Death, anymore than Han Solo is the same character as Malcolm Reynolds. So, I’d say that all those Draculas count as the same character, because they’re all explicitly meant to be that guy in the book. Claude Raines counts for _The Invisible Man_, because the character of Griffen shows up in _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_, which details events that happened to Griffen after the end of the original story. Kevin Bacon would not, because his updated version of the story, _Hollow Man_, features an entirely different character - Sebastian Caine. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/53 "2014-02-24T23:43:32Z")
If we can include voice work, David Warner played Jor-El in “Lois and Clark” and the voice of Ra’s al Ghul in both the animated Batman and Superman series as well as in Batman Beyond. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/54 "2014-02-24T23:44:38Z")
> [@congodwarf](#): > > He has also been Dracula, if we’re counting that. So was Frank Langella, _aka_ Zorro and Sherlock Holmes and Perry White and Skeletor. That’s a weird resumé. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2014, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/55 "2014-02-24T23:55:06Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I think it’s a mistake to list Smith’s role in MiB. If Jay’s a superhero, you’re basically saying that any action movie hero is a superhero, and that stretches the definition to the point of uselessness. Any actor who’s headlined two different action movie properties would qualify. **Cuckoorex** didn’t limit the subject to superheroes only. He said that any character who had their own comic book origin would qualify. Since _Men In Black_ originated as a comic book, Will Smith as Jay would make the cut. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/56 "2014-02-25T00:00:39Z")
After playing both Lamont “The Shadow” Cranston and Alan “Spy Smasher” Armstrong, Kane Richmond played comic-strip hero Brick Bradford. [Edited to add: Brick Bradford apparently made it into comic _books_ before the movie.] ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/57 "2014-02-25T00:07:23Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > That’s a good point. I think the distinction here lies between characters, and character _concepts_. “Death is a person,” is a character concept, much like “rogueish starship captain.” But Terry Pratchett’s Death isn’t the same character as Neil Gaiman’s Death, anymore than Han Solo is the same character as Malcolm Reynolds. > > So, I’d say that all those Draculas count as the same character, because they’re all explicitly meant to be that guy in the book. Claude Raines counts for _The Invisible Man_, because the character of Griffen shows up in _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_, which details events that happened to Griffen after the end of the original story. Kevin Bacon would not, because his updated version of the story, _Hollow Man_, features an entirely different character - Sebastian Caine. Yeah, I think I pretty much agree with your assessment. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/58 "2014-02-25T00:09:41Z")
Jeffrey Dean Morgan was the Comedian in _Watchmen_ and Clay in _The Losers_. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/59 "2014-02-25T00:12:28Z")
John Leguizamo: Violator (Spawn), Javier (Kick-Ass 2) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117/60 "2014-02-25T00:14:11Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Since _Men In Black_ originated as a comic book, Will Smith as Jay would make the cut. And so, too, does Josh _“Jonah Hex”_ Brolin as (Tommy Lee Jones as) Agent K. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-portraying-multiple-superheroes-comic-characters/682117.md?page=4)