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(#1) Anthony Hopkins
- 85
Classically trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Anthony Hopkins is one of the great screen and stage actors of the past 50 years. With five Academy Award nominations and five Emmy Award nominations to his name, Hopkins is as talented as he is diverse.
When Kenneth Branagh and the rest of the production team behind Thor were looking to cast an actor as Odin, Hopkins was an ideal choice. It just turned out the Welsh actor wasn't given much to do throughout the first three Thor films. Is he great? Yes. Is he just a little bit wasted in the role? Unfortunately, yes.
Hopkins himself didn't seem to be much of a fan of acting in the MCU. He told The New Yorker: “They put me in armor; they shoved a beard on me. ‘Sit on the throne, shout a bit.’ If you’re sitting in front of a green screen, it’s pointless acting it.”
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(#2) Tilda Swinton
- 62
Tilda Swinton is the kind of actor who takes her craft extremely seriously. How seriously? When you create a "performance art piece" where you pretend to sleep for hours on end while encased in glass in an art gallery, and perform that "art piece" numerous times over the years, it is pretty dang serious.
Swinton's role as The Ancient One in Doctor Strange clearly needed an actor with some gravitas, but bringing in a performer this serious was a bit of a curveball for Marvel. It certainly paid off though.
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(#3) John C. Reilly
- 58
John C. Reilly has headlined comedy pictures as diverse as Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and Wreck-It Ralph, and he was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for Chicago. He also starred in Guardians of the Galaxy as the exceedingly minor character Nova Corpsman Rhomann Dey.
Reilly isn't given much to do outside of quip back-and-forth with Star-Lord and provide a bit of an emotional payoff at the end of the film when he reunites with his family after the Guardians save Xandar from destruction.
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(#4) Tony Leung Chiu Wai
- 61
Marvel really pulled off a casting feat when it brought in Tony Leung to play the ruthless Wenwu in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Not only did they get one of the most acclaimed actors of his generation to join the MCU, but they also got him to play his first major role in a Hollywood film.
Calling Leung a Hollywood newcomer totally underplays his impact on the international film scene. Leung is the Hong Kong cinema equivalent of Leonardo DiCaprio, not just because he originally played the role in Infernal Affairs that went to DiCaprio when the film was remade as The Departed. Leung brings an emotionally charged element to the millennia-old Wenwu that comes through both when he lays waste to his enemies and when he's grieving the loss of his true love.
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(#5) Peter Dinklage
- 54
Peter Dinklage has been garnering critical plaudits since 2003's The Station Agent, but he didn't become a household name until his star-making turn in Game of Thrones as Tyrion Lannister. A four-time Emmy Award winner for supporting actor in a drama series, Dinklage knows how to make the most of any screen time he is given.
Alas, his cameo as Eitri in Avengers: Infinity War was more of a "Hey! That's Peter Dinklage" moment than anything else. They probably didn't have to pay someone as famous as Dinklage to play Eitri, but when you have that Marvel Studios money... you can basically do whatever you want.
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(#6) Djimon Hounsou
- 59
You don't earn two Academy Award nominations by accident. Djimon Hounsou is a fantastic actor, and yet, he is essentially wasted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Korath the Pursuer. His bit part as Korath has given him little screen time in both Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel.
You'd think that Hounsou, after starring in Amistad, Gladiator, Blood Diamond, and In America, would warrant just a little bit more time in the limelight. Maybe this is just his comic book movie fate, as he had bit parts in both Shazam! and Aquaman as well.
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(#7) Robert Redford
- 86
Some of the most popular and beloved films of all time have Robert Redford in a starring role: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The Sting. All the President's Men. When someone wins an honorary Academy Award, you know they're a big deal.
And though his role as Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier isn't a small one, it certainly doesn't warrant an actor of Redford's caliber. The fact that Marvel Studios managed to bring him back into the fray for a cameo in Avengers: Endgame is even crazier.
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(#8) Angela Bassett
- 65
Angela Bassett is a Yale-trained actor who has become a genuine star thanks to her appearances in films like What's Love Got to Do With It, Malcolm X, and How Stella Got Her Groove Back. She has been a major player on both television and in film since the 1980s, and always brings an air of class to anything she touches.
Her role as T'Challa's mother, Ramonda, in Black Panther is no exception. Did they need to cast an actor as talented as Angela Bassett as the Queen Mother of Wakanda? Not particularly, but the film is greater for it.
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(#9) Laurence Fishburne
- 62
Laurence Fishburne is an incredibly accomplished actor with a filmography that is as impressive as it is varied, including Apocalypse Now, The Matrix, Boyz N the Hood, and The Color Purple.
Well, add Ant-Man and the Wasp to that list, because Fishburne portrayed the minor role of Bill Foster in the 2018 sequel. Marvel did not need to cast an actor of Fishburne's talent as Foster, but they did, and here we are. Just wondering if they'll bring him back for the eventual threequel.
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(#10) Rachel Weisz
- 53
Rachel Weisz doesn't really need much of an introduction. This Academy Award-winning actress is as comfortable in heavy dramas as she is light comedies. The star of projects as varied as The Mummy, The Constant Gardener, and About a Boy, Weisz is about as talented as they come. Have you even seen The Lobster? Not every actor can pull that kind of movie off, and Weisz was so at home that she earned an Oscar-nominated role from the director in The Favourite.
Her award-worthy pedigree adds that much more emotional weight to her supporting turn in the MCU. Of the four primary characters in Black Widow, Weisz's Melina Vostokoff gets the least amount of screentime. A hyper-intelligent spy beaten down by powers outside of her control, Weisz does a fantastic job showing the buried emotions that Natasha Romanoff's mother figure has for her role in the Red Room and in Natasha's life. Did they need to cast an actor as talented as Weisz in the role? No, not really. But we're glad they did!
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(#11) Sylvester Stallone
- 77
Seeing Sylvester Stallone pop up in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 is one of the weirdest things that has happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. One of the biggest Hollywood actors in the 1980s and 1990s, renowned for playing Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, Stallone just stands out when he is on screen.
It is unclear if Stallone will return as Stakar Ogord in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Univers, but if his casting in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is anything to go by, signs are positive that the iconic actor will come back for the third Guardians movie.
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(#12) Annette Bening
- 65
When you need to cast a character as both the Supreme Intelligence and the MCU's version of Mar-Vell, it makes sense that you would go for an extremely accomplished performer. Still, four-time Academy Award nominee Annette Bening is clearly punching below her weight in Captain Marvel.
It is a testament to her abilities that Bening can, in the same film, provide performances that are both sinister and endearing. When you have the laundry list of award nominations that Bening does, we suppose it should come as no great shock that she was able to pull this off.
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(#13) Garry Shandling
- Dec. at 66 (1949-2016)
The late Garry Shandling is one of the most beloved stand-up comedians of all-time. And both The Larry Sanders Show and It's Garry Shandling's Show were repeat Emmy Award nominees in the 1980s and 1990s. Although his film career was never as huge as his television career, he certainly was overqualified for his performance as Senator Stern in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Shandling's Stern was nothing more than a Hydra baddie who wanted to take down both Iron Man and Captain America, and though Shandling was fantastic in the role, he certainly could've been given more to do in his two appearances.
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(#14) Walton Goggins
- 51
The main antagonist in Ant-Man and the Wasp is Hannah John-Kamen's Ghost. The secondary antagonist in Ant-Man and the Wasp is Walton Goggins' Sonny Burch. One of these characters is given a tragic backstory and great character moments. The other is an afterthought.
Goggins's time on The Shield and Justified proved he is capable of playing compelling characters with aplomb. But in the MCU, Goggins's talent was wasted much like it was in 2018's Tomb Raider.
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(#15) Christopher Eccleston
- 59
In projects ranging from Doctor Who and The Leftovers to Gone in 60 Seconds and 28 Days Later, Christopher Eccleston has proven to be a talented actor who is capable of handling a wide range of roles. But when it comes to the bizarrely muted MCU version of Malekith - a character who hardly resembles his comic book counterpart - probably no actor on Earth could've made it work.
Eccleston seemingly hated his time working on Thor: The Dark World, but has left the door open to his eventual return to the MCU, so he's clearly sending mixed signals.
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(#16) James Badge Dale
- 45
Iron Man 3 villain Eric Savin is little more than a superpowered bully. While Ben Kingsley's Trevor Slattery gets to chew all the scenery and Guy Pierce's Aldrich Killian gets to come up with all the dastardly plans, James Badge Dale's Savin does little outside of punch and snarl.
Casting a beloved character actor like Dale, best known for 24 and The Pacific, as Savin seems like a massive waste of talent. Though... he did do a pretty great job, so what do we know?
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(#17) Need More Marvel In Your Life?
Officially Licensed Marvel Collector's Chess Set
The Marvel Age of Comics 1961–1978. 40th Anniversary Edition
Womens Marvel Spider-Man Red Spider Logo V-Neck T-Shirt
Marvel Encyclopedia, New Edition with Introduction by Stan Lee
Get The Goods From The Marvel Universe
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