Play Desert Island With These Superhero Actors And See Who You End Up With!
- by Dylan Dembrow
- – on
- in Entertainment
It’s no secret that superhero movies have been absolutely dominating the box office for the past few decades. While these movies have been traditionally targeted to male audiences, there are undoubtedly a large number of females who also enjoy their fair share of Marvel and DC properties. One needs to look no further than the massive success of movies like Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel to see that that's the case. And as a result, we’re bound to get more female-led movies in the future. But as of right now, the field is still mostly dominated by male superheroes, which has made these leading men some of the most popular names in Hollywood.
Typically, these types of action blockbusters wouldn’t necessarily appeal to “serious” actors. But since the quality of these superhero movies has continued to increase, now it seems like anyone can show up in the latest MCU or DCEU movie — including everyone from Oscar-winning actors to those who aren’t our typical action heroes.
This means that there are plenty of types to chose from when it comes to picking one’s favorite superhero star. So let’s pick or pass on these popular actors to see which one would make for the best desert island partner!
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Hemsworth joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2011 when he made his debut as the God of Thunder in the franchise’s fourth film, Thor. He is one of only three actors to enjoy a trilogy in the series to date, alongside Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and Chris Evans as Captain America. In Avengers: Infinity War, Thor was the closest to defeating Thanos, but he ultimately failed to do so when the Mad Titan snapped his fingers and eliminated half of all life in the universe. Thankfully, Thor survived and will be back in Avengers: Endgame (Wikipedia).
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Reynolds is one of only a handful of A-listers who has had the opportunity to portray both DC and Marvel superheroes. The first time of which came when he debuted in the X-Men series as Wade Wilson. After that, he appeared as Hal Jordan in Green Lantern — which didn’t turn out to be the box office success that many would have hoped. However, he was given a second chance to get the character of Wade Wilson/ Deadpool right in the 2016 film, which went on to be one of the highest-grossing R-rated movies of all time (Wikipedia).
Chris Evans
While Chris Evans is best known for playing Steve Rogers/ Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic universe, he previously played another Marvel hero in the Fantastic Four film series with his portrayal of Johnny Storm, AKA the Human Torch. Of course, audiences are most looking forward to Evans’ upcoming performance in Avengers: Endgame. Whether or not Captain America meets his demise in the film, the movie is largely expected to be Evans’ last in the series, as the actor basically said goodbye to the character once filming wrapped (Wikipedia).
Henry Cavil
Much like Robert Downey Jr., Henry Cavil also had the honor of kicking off a shared comic book universe – this time, with the DCEU. The actor first appeared as Superman in the 2012 film Man of Steel, which explored Kal-El/ Clark Kent’s origin story. The film was met with mostly positive reviews and went on to be a box office success. But while Cavil appeared in a number of other DCEU movies, Man of Steel never got a sequel, and at this point, it seems like the actor may have parted ways with the franchise (Wikipedia).
Michael Fassbender
Known for being both a dramatic and blockbuster actor, Michael Fassbender first appeared in the X-Men franchise with the 2011 installment X-Men: First Class. This was the first film in the X-Men prequel series, which centered around a young Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr as the help create the first incarnation of the eponymous superhero team. Fassbender portrays Erik/ Magneto in the film, and the actor is expected to reprise the role in the upcoming 2019 installment X-Men: Dark Phoenix (Wikipedia).
Christian Bale
While Christian Bale may currently be out of the superhero game, he’s still considered by many to be the best incarnation of Batman to ever appear on the big screen. Not to mention that many regard The Dark Knight trilogy as one of the best comic book adaptations of all time. Before superhero movies were as ubiquitous as they are today, Bale starred in the Batman reboot series that had many skeptical before they first saw the movie. However, Batman Begins was a huge critical and commercial success, which lead to two sequels (Wikipedia).
Tom Holland
Though it was long thought that Spider-Man would never get a chance to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the character eventually made his debut in the 2016 installment of the series with Captain America: Civil War. After two previous big-screen franchises that already revolved around the character, we were given a totally new take on Peter Parker/ Spider-Man in the MCU — and one that many thought was more faithful to the comic book character. Tom Holland currently portrays Spider-Man, and he is set to appear in Avengers: Endgame and Spider-Man: Far From home (Wikipedia).
Tobey Maguire
Arguably the most influential movie series for the superhero genre, Tobey Maguire first suited up to portray Peter Parker in the 2002 film, Spider-Man. He would reprise the role two more times before the trilogy wrapped up in 2007. Since then, the actor has returned to more dramatic work, showing up in movies such as The Great Gatsby and Labor Day. He more recently voiced the character of Adult Tim in The Boss Baby (Wikipedia). So are you a fan of Maguire’s?
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman portrayed Logan/ Wolverine in the X-Men series for the better part of two decades. He finally parted ways with the character in 2017’s Logan. While the film largely stood apart from the rest of the superhero franchise, Logan went on to be one of the most critically and commercially successful movies in the franchise. Now that Disney is on the verge of acquiring the rights to the X-Men, someone else is bound to take up the role of Wolverine. But it’s hard to imagine anyone else in the part other than Jackman for the time being (Wikipedia).
Jason Momoa
After appearing in both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League, Jason Momoa was finally able to enjoy the spotlight of his own in the first Aquaman standalone film, which came out late last year. The film was a massive commercial success, which was not only the highest-grossing film in the DC Extended Universe to date, but also the highest-grossing film of all time to be based on a character from DC Comics (Wikipedia). Not to mention that if you ever got stuck on an island with this character, he could certainly get you off.
Chris Pine
While Chris Pine hasn’t headed up a superhero franchise as of yet, he has appeared in a number of films within the genre. One of these included the 2017 film Wonder Woman, where he played Steve Trevor, the romantic interest and ally of the title character. Despite meeting his demise in the film, Steve will somehow be back in the upcoming sequel, titled Wonder Woman 1984. You may have also recognized Pine’s voice in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, where he portrayed the character of Peter Parker (Wikipedia).
Tom Hiddleston
Though he may be more of an antagonist, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki has also enjoyed his fair share of heroic moments throughout the MCU. The character first appeared in 2011’s Thor before he went on to meet his demise at the hands of Thanos in last year’s Avengers: Infinity War. That being said, Hiddleston is already expected to reprise his role as Loki in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame. Not to mention that a Loki TV series is currently in the works at Disney+ — a new streaming service that will launch in late 2019 (Wikipedia).
Michael B. Jordan
Depending upon your point of view, Erik Killmonger may very well be the hero of Black Panther. He is the one who wants to use Wakanda’s technology to help the rest of the world, after all — even if he doesn’t want to go about it in the noblest of ways. The character was portrayed by Michael B. Jordan in the film. The actor has enjoyed his fair share of hits these past few years, including Creed and Chronicle. He also appeared as the superhero Johnny Storm in 2015’s Fantastic Four (Wikipedia).
Nicholas Hoult
Nicholas Hoult made his debut in the X-Men franchise in the 2011 installment X-Men: First Class. Here, he portrayed the character of Hank McCoy — also known as Beast — who has shown up in a number of the sequels since. This year, he will reprise his superhero role in the upcoming installment X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Hoult has also appeared in a number of other sci-fi and fantasy movies, including Mad Max: Fury Road and Jack the Giant Slayer (Wikipedia). So are you a fan?
Chadwick Boseman
Despite already enjoying success in such films as 42 and Get on Up — where he got to portray real-life heroes such as Jackie Robinson and James Brown — Chadwick Boseman really shot to a new level of stardom when he appeared as Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After making his debut in Captain America: Civil War, Boseman reprised his role in the first standalone Black Panther film, which went on to be the highest-grossing movie of 2018 in the U.S. Despite not surviving the snap, Boseman will indeed be back for 2019’s Avengers: Endgame (Wikipedia).
Andrew Garfield
After Tobey Maguire enjoyed a three-picture run as Peter Parker/ Spider-Man, actor Andrew Garfield took up the reigns for the Amazing Spider-Man series. He starred in two films as the character, which many agreed was a closer incarnation to the comic book than Maguire’s. That being said, the movies simply weren’t as successful with critics and at the box office. As a result, Garfield hasn’t appeared as the character since 2014 (Wikipedia). But that doesn't mean you still can't be a fan of this talented actor.
Jeremy Renner
After the release of Avengers: Infinity War, everyone couldn’t help but wonder where Hawkeye had been, and if the Avenger ended up surviving the snap. Of course, with the release of the first few Endgame trailers, we now know that Hawkeye is indeed still alive. But that doesn’t exactly mean that he’s well. The character has been portrayed by Jeremy Renner ever since he made his MCU debut in 2011’s Thor. From there, he went on to become a founding Avengers and has been a part of the series ever since (Wikipedia).
James Marsden
James Marsden may be best known for his work in comedy and romantic movies, but he also was a part of one of the franchises that helped start the whole superhero fascination. Of course, we’re talking about the X-Men series, where Marsden appeared as Scott Summer/ Cyclops all the way from the original 2000 installment to 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. He more recently appeared as the character of Teddy Flood on the HBO sci-fi hit Westworld (Wikipedia). So are you a fan of the actor?
Idris Elba
While many characters who met their demise in Avengers: Infinity War seem like they’ll be coming back soon, Heimdall is sadly one character that may, in fact, be gone from good. He was one of the first heroes to fall at the hands of Thanos in the film. And since he didn’t meet his end as a result of the snap, there’s no telling if he’ll ever make it back. The character was portrayed by the excellent Idris Elba, who made his MCU debut back in 2011’s Thor (Wikipedia).
Chris Pratt
Before he appeared as Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy, Chris Pratt was largely known for being a comedic actor thanks to his role of Andy Dwyer on the NBC sitcom, Parks and Recreation. But thanks to a fairly dramatic body transformation, Chris Pratt now leads up two enormous blockbuster franchise, including Guardians and Jurassic World. Though the character of Star-Lord met his demise in Avengers: Infinity War, we fully expect him to make his MCU return at some point in the future (Wikipedia).
Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck has enjoyed playing both Marvel and DC heroes throughout his long and successful film career. He first played Daredevil in the 2003 movie of the same name, before eventually going on to join the DC Extended Universe in 2016 to play Bruce Wayne/ Batman. While the movies that Affleck appeared in did not perform at the box office as well as many would have hoped, Affleck’s portrayal of the Caped Crusader was often one of the most praised aspects of the movies (Wikipedia).
Tom Hardy
After portraying the villain of Bane in the third and final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Tom Hardy was able to play a slightly more heroic comic book character in last year’s Venom. While Venom is traditionally a villain, he was portrayed as more of an anti-hero in the film — which was largely a result of Spider-Man not being allowed to appear in the movie. But that didn’t stop Venom from being a massive success, which is in no doubt thanks to Hardy’s popularity as an actor (Wikipedia).
Paul Rudd
Pretty much every hero in the MCU enjoys their fair share of funny lines. But few are quite as hilarious as Scott Pym, also known as Ant-Man. This is no doubt thanks to Paul Rudd’s performance as this unconventional Marvel superhero. Before appearing in the superhero franchise, Rudd was best known for being a comedic actor, appearing in such films as Role Models and This is 40. However, the actor did end up whipping himself into shape to play the superhero (Wikipedia).
James McAvoy
In 2011, James McAvoy joined the X-Men franchise with his portrayal of Charles Xavier/ Professor X in the series prequel, X-Men: First Class. The film would eventually launch a successful series of its own, which is expected to conclude with this year’s release of X-Men: Dark Phoenix. On top of these superhero movies, McAvoy has enjoyed a diverse filmography throughout his career, showing up in everything from the Oscar-winner Atonement to the 2016 thriller Split (Wikipedia). So are you a fan?
Sebastian Stan
With Chris Evans expected to be leaving the MCU after the release of Avengers: Endgame, many have Bucky Barnes as a favorite to take up the Captain America mantel. After all, actor Sebastian Stan is said to have a number of movies left on his contract with Marvel Studios. Of course, we’ll just have to wait and see how things pan out when Endgame is released next month. But superheroes aside, Stan has also enjoyed success in such films as I, Tonya and The Martian (Wikipedia).
Will Smith
Will Smith made his DC Extended Universe debut by appearing as Deadshot in the franchise’s 2016 installment. While the movie was a commercial success, grossing over $746 million against a $175 million budget, it failed to win over most critics. That leaves the possibility that Smith will ever reprise his role as the expert marksman currently up in the air. That being said, Smith has played no shortage of superhero-type characters in other films, especially as the leading character in 2008’s Hancock (Wikipedia).
Benedict Cumberbatch
A favorite amongst sci-fi and fantasy nerds, Benedict Cumberbatch has appeared in his fair share of massive movie franchises, including Star Trek, The Hobbit, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As a superhero, the actor plays Doctor Stephen Strange – a renowned surgeon who goes on to become a Master of the Mystical Arts. With the ability to wield an Infinity Stone, Doctor Strange is no doubt one of the strongest heroes in the MCU. But apparently, that was still not enough to stop Thanos (Wikipedia).
Josh Brolin
Just like Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin has also gotten the chance to portray both Marvel and DC comic book characters. While he is best known for portraying Thanos in the MCU, you may have also recognized him as Cable — one of the newest additions to the Deadpool/ X-Men film series. But of course, we can’t forget the one time he played Jonah Hex in the 2010 movie. The film might have performed badly, but it certainly didn’t slow down Josh Brolin’s career (Wikipedia).
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. has the distinct honor of being the first leading character in what has gone on to become the biggest movie franchise of all time. When Iron Man was first released, the actor and the character were far from the most popular around. But the movie managed to win over audiences thanks to its strong performances and funny, yet realistic tone. Downey Jr. was the first actor to enjoy a trilogy in the MCU, and many now expect Avengers: Endgame to send Tony Stark out in style (Wikipedia).
Mark Ruffalo
Ever since Edward Norton decided that he wouldn’t reprise his role as Bruce Banner in 2012’s The Avengers, Mark Ruffalo has taken up the mantel of the Hulk. He’s appeared in six installments of the series to date, including cameos, and he will make his seventh appearance in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame. With Bruce and the Hulk experiencing some serious performance issues in the past few films, many expect that they will finally get their acts together in the next installment (Wikipedia).
Samuel L. Jackson
Though he may not always get the recognition he deserves, it’s fair to say that there would be no Avengers without the likes of Nick Fury. The character has been at play in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the very beginning. He most recently appeared in this year’s Captain Marvel, where he finally got to watch Nick Fury during his earliest days working for S.H.I.E.L.D. The character is portrayed by the always-excellent Samuel L. Jackson (Wikipedia). But are you a fan?
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Considering what a talented actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson is, many were upset when his incarnation of Quicksilver ended up meeting his demise in Avengers: Age of Ultron. While the character did appear briefly in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the second Avengers movie was where he really made his proper debut. This meant audiences really never got to know the iconic comic book character as much as many would have liked, though it certainly hasn't stopped the actor from enjoying success elsewhere (Wikipedia).
Don Cheadle
Not very many characters have been recast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but James Rhodes/ War Machine is one of them. The character was previously portrayed by Terrance Howard in the original Iron Man movie. But the part ended up being handed off to Don Cheadle thereafter. Since then, Cheadle has appeared in six MCU installments to date, with Avengers: Endgame set to be his seventh. With the character being one of the few superheroes to survive the snap, War Machine is set to play a vital role in the upcoming film (Wikipedia).
Edward Norton
Edward Norton’s tenure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe may have been short, but it was certainly important. After the franchise launched only a month earlier with the release of Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk was yet another critical and commercial success. Of course, at this point in time, the two films only hinted at the possibility of a larger cinematic universe. But if Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk had been flops, we likely wouldn’t have the massive superhero franchise that we get to enjoy today (Wikipedia).
Anthony Mackie
Anthony Mackie first joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Here, he became a quick ally and friend of Steve Rogers, which was largely thanks to the fact that both of them were former military men. While Sam Wilson’s powers certainly don’t rival those of Captain America, Sam is still an accomplished pararescue airman, which resulted in him eventually being dubbed Falcon. You may also recognize Mackie from his performances in Pain & Gain and The Hurt Locker (Wikipedia).
Paul Bettany
Before he was ever cast to play Vision in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Paul Bettany provided his voice to J.A.R.V.I.S. in the superhero universe. This made him the obvious choice when it came to casting this new character, who is an amalgamation of J.A.R.V.I.S., Ultron, and the Mind Stone. While the character has the stone ripped from his head in Avengers: Infinity War, that doesn’t necessarily mean the character is a goner. But we’ll just have to wait and see (Wikipedia).
Zachary Levi
Zachary Levi has yet to make his big screen debut as a superhero. But many already recognize him as the face of the upcoming Shazam! movie. The latest film in the DCEU is set to hit theaters on April 5, 2019, where it will follow the story of a teenager named Billy Batson, who is turned into the superhero Shazam whenever he speaks the hero’s name. It’s clear that the movie is going for a much lighter tone than other series installments, which should no doubt be helped thanks to Levi’s comedic abilities (Wikipedia).
David Harbour
Much like Zachary Levi, David Harbour is another actor who has yet to make his big screen debut as a superhero. But there’s a good chance you already got a look at Harbour in the trailers for the upcoming Hellboy film — that is, if you could even recognize the actor through the thick layer of makeup and prosthetics. While Harbour has been working professionally as an actor for decades, many first took note of him when he starred in the runaway Netflix hit, Stranger Things (Wikipedia).
Ray Fisher
Ray Fisher’s Cyborg may have only been a supporting character in 2017’s Justice League, but many considered him the emotional center of the movie. While the actor has only appeared in two DCEU movies to date — including his very brief cameo in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice — there’s already a Cyborg movie in the works, which is currently set for a 2020 release. But with no recent updates, that release is likely to be pushed back. The film will find Fisher reprising his role of Cyborg/ Victor Stone (Wikipedia).
Ezra Miller
After making a very brief appearance in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ezra Miller made his proper debut into the DCEU with Justice League the following year. In the series, Miller portrays the character of Barry Allen, better known as the Flash. While there is currently a movie centered around the character in the works at Warner Bros., Flashpoint has yet to be given an official release date — meaning we don’t know when, or if, this character will ever make a reappearance on the big screen (Wikipedia).
