Considering how many superhero movies are coming out these days, we’re running out of actors who haven’t been in one. So what movie has the most?
The biggest I can find is Inception, with 7, although it’s almost cheating considering how Nolan loves to reuse actors (The Prestige has 6).
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Robin
Ellen Page - Kitty Pryde
Tom Hardy - Bane
Ken Watanabe - Ra’s al ghul (sorta)
Cillian Murphy - Scarecrow
Marion Cotillard - Talia Al Ghul
Michael Caine - Alfred
Can anyone top that? Only named characters (or at least someone with more than a few lines). Let’s leave out voice actors for now.
Snipes (Blade)
Banderas (Zorro)
Grammer (Beast)
Stallone (Judge Dredd)
Lundgren (The Punisher)
Schwarzenegger (Mister Freeze)
Willis (can’t count UNBREAKABLE, so SIN CITY’s John Hartigan)
Ford (can’t count Indiana Jones, so COWBOYS AND ALIENS’ Woodrow Dolarhyde)
I count nine for TRAFFIC, which has Michael Douglas from ANT-MAN, and Topher Grace from SPIDER-MAN 3, and Viola Davis from SUICIDE SQUAD, and Benjamin Bratt from CATWOMAN, and Benicio del Toro from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, and Catherine Zeta-Jones from the ZORRO movies, and Don Cheadle from the IRON MAN movies – including the one with John Slattery as Howard Stark, and the one with Miguel Ferrer as Vice President Rodriguez.
This is completely cheating, but I count 20 in MOVIE 43:
13 major:
Hugh Jackman (Wolverine)
Liev Schreiber (Sabretooth)
Naomi Watts (Tank Girl)
Chris Pratt (Star-Lord)
Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy)
Kate Bosworth (Lois Lane)
Uma Thurman (Poison Ivy)
Christopher Mintz-Plasse (The Motherfucker)
Chloe Grace Moretz (Hit-Girl)
Gerard Butler (Leonidas)
Halle Berry (Storm)
Terrence Howard (James Rhodes)
Julianne Moore (announced for Kingsman 2)
5 minor:
Bobby Cannavale (Paxton in Ant-Man)
Leslie Bibb (Christine Everhart in Iron Man)
Elizabeth Bank (Betty Brant in Spider-Man)
Sayed Badreya (Abu Bakaar in Iron Man)
Aasif Mandvi (Aziz in Spider-Man 2)
2 voice actors:
Johnny Knoxville (voiced Leonardo in TMNT)
Tony Shalhoub (voiced Splinter in TMNT)
I’m not sure MOVIE 43 counts, since it’s arguably a comic-book movie. (What? Who did Bobby Cannavale play in it?) That said, CRIMINAL comes out this week:
Gary Oldman (BATMAN BEGINS, Jim Gordon)
Tommy Lee Jones (BATMAN FOREVER, Two-Face)
Gal Gadot (BATMAN v SUPERMAN, Wonder Woman)
Antje Traue (MAN OF STEEL, Faora)
Kevin Costner (MAN OF STEEL, Jon Kent)
Ryan Reynolds (DEADPOOL, Deadpool)
Colin Salmon (PUNISHER: WAR ZONE, Paul Budiansky)
Scott Adkins (X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, Weapon XI)
Alice Eve (MEN IN BLACK 3, Agent O)
…so, nine, same as TRAFFIC; so why am I mentioning it? Because it’ll pick up a tenth with Michael Pitt, who’s in the upcoming GHOST IN THE SHELL. (At that, Adkins is in the upcoming DOCTOR STRANGE movie, because – well, I’m guessing here, but scenes where Wong gets something to do maybe don’t just write themselves.)
Alright, let’s try another one then - The Return of the King:
Elijah Wood (SIN CITY, Kevin)
Ian McKellan (X-MEN, Magneto)
Viggo Mortensen (A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, Tom Stall)
Liv Tyler (THE INCREDIBLE HULK, Betty Ross)
Dominic Monaghan (X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, Chris Bradley)
Hugo Weaving (CAPTAIN AMERICA, Red Skull)
Miranda Otto (I, FRANKENSTEIN, Leonore)
David Wenham (300, Dilios)
Karl Urban (DREDD, Judge Dredd)
Andy Serkis (AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, Ulysses Klaue)
Marton Csokas (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, Dr. Ashley Kafka)
So, eleven. I admittedly do not know how large Monaghan’s and Otto’s parts are in the above-named movies.
**American Hustle **starred Batman (Christian Bale), Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Lois Lane (Amy Adams), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper). That’s the movie’s five leads, all veterans of major roles in recent superhero movies.
It also had Michael Pena, who was in Ant-Man. That makes 6.
Sally Field (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, Aunt May)
Dane DeHaan (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2, Harry Osborn)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, R. John Blake)
James Spader (AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, Ultron)
Tommy Lee Jones (BATMAN FOREVER, Two-Face)
Jackie Earle Haley (WATCHMEN, Rorschach)
Bruce McGill (TIMECOP, Eugene Matuzak)
Tim Blake Nelson (THE INCREDIBLE HULK, Samuel Sterns)
Lee Pace (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, Ronan)
Gloria Reuben (TIMECOP, Sarah Fielding)
Walton Goggins (COWBOYS & ALIENS, Hunt)
Michael Stuhlbarg (DOCTOR STRANGE, Nicodemus West)
No, it doesn’t count that Daniel Day-Lewis fought bad guys as Hawkeye.
Netflix only just added SPOTLIGHT for instant viewing, and I couldn’t help but note that last year’s Best Picture winner did likewise with all five main characters, who spend the movie talking with – well, Doctor Manhattan and the guy who invented Captain America’s super-soldier serum. (Plus that guy from HOWARD THE DUCK, but never mind that; the point is, it was a bit jarring when the sixth-billed actor was on screen. “Seriously, who is that guy standing next to Batman and the Hulk?”)
I’m doing a little fist pump… As a comic book geek since the 50s, what this thread says to me is that comic books ARE literature, and they’ve invaded the mainstream to the extent that you’ve got all these major actors playing super heroes.
WE WERE RIGHT! In your face, jocks who played keepaway with our action figures! (Robert Downey Jr. and Samuel L. Jackson aren’t making hockey movies…)