Before They Were Superheroes

Christopher Reeve

The Role: Superman / Clark Kent in Superman: The Movie (1978).

Impact On The Character: Reeve looked the part, but his all-American smoothness hid unfakeable charisma and great comic timing. Superman defined his career until a tragic fall led to disability and early death.

Gene Hackman

The Role: Lex Luthor in Superman: The Movie (1978).

Impact On The Character: Precisely none. Hackman's Luthor is humanity gone rogue, doing wicked things and having a whale of a time doing them.

Terence Stamp

The Role: General Zod in Superman: The Movie (1978).

Impact On The Character: Stamp's mid-70s career was pretty much the acting equivalent of being trapped in The Phantom Zone, so effectively he was Method acting as Zod.

Michael Keaton

The Role: Bruce Wayne/Batman, in Batman (1989).

Impact On The Character: Did somebody say mental? Keaton was a controversial choice but brought exactly the right not-quite-there quality to Burton's take on the Caped Crusader.

Jack Nicholson

The Role: Jack Napier / The Joker in Batman (1989).

Impact On The Character: When you put it like that, Jack Nicholson seems the most obvious casting choice ever.

Liam Neeson

The Role: Dr Peyton Westlake / Darkman in Darkman (1990).

Impact On The Character: Darkman goes one better. Where Neeson dies in Next Of Kin , here he survives - albeit impervious to pain and with synthetic skin - to fight crime.

Michelle Pfeiffer

The Role: Selina Kyle / Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992).

Impact On The Character: Love Field showcased Pfeiffer's flair for innocence but she had also successfully played sex sirens (notably in The Fabulous Baker Boys ), so the transformation from dowdy Selina to Catwoman's leather-clad minx was seamless.

Val Kilmer

The Role: Bruce Wayne / Batman in Batman Forever (1995).

Impact On The Character: Both Holliday and Batman are iconoclasts fighting alongside - but not necessarily for - the law, although the Doc is far funnier.

Jim Carrey

The Role: Edward Nygma / The Riddler in Batman Forever (1995).

Impact On The Character: Most supervillains are all about the brooding menace, but that was never going to be on the table with Carrey at the peak of his comedic fame.

Chris O'Donnell

The Role: Dick Grayson / Robin in Batman Forever (1995).

Impact On The Character: Over-enthusiastic sidekick to an established hero? There's nothing quite like typecasting.

George Clooney

The Role: Bruce Wayne / Batman in Batman And Robin (1997).

Impact On The Character: Good practice for being forced to survive the even bigger freakshow of Batman And Robin .

Arnold Schwarzenegger

The Role: Mr Freeze in Batman And Robin (1997).

Impact On The Character: It's more snow-ho-ho, as Mr Freeze unites Arnie's increasingly family-friendly image with his penchant for terrible puns.

Wesley Snipes

The Role: Eric Brooks / Blade in Blade (1998).

Impact On The Character: It's fair to say that his brief return to art-house drama was genuinely a one night stand, as the 'daywalking' vampire hunter Blade restored Snipes' standing as 90s action hero.

Ben Stiller

The Role: Roy / Mr Furious in Mystery Men (1999).

Impact On The Character: You'd be furious after getting your dick caught in a zipper.

Patrick Stewart

The Role: Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men (2000).

Impact On The Character: Wheelchair and mutant powers notwithstanding, Professor X pretty much is Jean-Luc Picard.

Ian McKellen

The Role: Erik Lensherr / Magneto in X-Men (2000).

Impact On The Character: Singer again cast McKellen as a character with a WWII past, albeit this time as a Jew who survived the Holocaust with the help of mutant powers.

Hugh Jackman

The Role: Logan / Wolverine in X-Men (2000).

Impact On The Character: Sod all, but then Jackman was a late replacement for Dougray Scott, so it's understandable.

Tobey Maguire

The Role: Peter Parker / Spider-man in Spider-man (2002).

Impact On The Character: Puppyish innocent discovers a new calling saving the world, in a performance where the CGI takes precedence? Nah, it's probably just a coincidence.

Willem Dafoe

The Role: Norman Osborn / Green Goblin in Spider-man (2002).

Impact On The Character: Dafoe has always specialised in the dark undercurrents lurking within - even when playing Jesus - so the Green Goblin is really an armoured, bells-and-whistle take on Dafoe's whole career.

Ben Affleck

The Role: Matt Murdock / Daredevil in Daredevil (2003).

Impact On The Character: Yes, he's blind but otherwise super-sensed, but Murdock's another lawyer. Was Affleck trying to convey an image of upright professionalism to offset his gossipy celebrity lifestyle?

Eric Bana

The Role: Bruce Banner / The Hulk in Hulk (2003).

Impact On The Character: The story of a guy who turns into a bouncing green monster when he gets mad could - at a push - be a metaphor for Bana's jump into the big league.

Alfred Molina

The Role: Dr Otto Octavius / Doc Octopus in Spider-man 2 (2004).

Impact On The Character: Molina's so prolific and versatile it's a surprise to see him cropping up as another doctor, albeit one with metallic limbs and a rewired brain.

Halle Berry

The Role: Patience Phillips / Catwoman in Catwoman (2004).

Impact On The Character: Berry was given her own shot at a franchise after Bond and X-Men support... but sadly chose a project that may as well have been created in a mental asylum.

Ron Perlman

The Role: Hellboy in Hellboy (2004).

Impact On The Character: Aside from his physical presence and familiarity with prosthetics, it was the world-weariness of being in too many duff movies that gave Perlman's Hellboy such wit and irony.

Christian Bale

The Role: Bruce Wayne/Batman, in Batman Begins (2005).

Impact On The Character: The chameleonic Bale got back into shape, adding 50% in weight to play Batman... but something of the haunted obsessive remained.

Jessica Alba

The Role: Susan Storm / Invisible Woman in Fantastic Four (2005).

Impact On The Character: Honey Daniels hit the big-time as a music choreographer through hard work and dedication. Susan Storm needs a dose of cosmic energy to become a superhero.

Julian McMahon

The Role: Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four (2005).

Impact On The Character: If plastic surgery is unavailable wearing a supervillain mask is one way of hiding unsightly blemishes.

Brandon Routh

The Role: Superman / Clark Kent in Superman Returns (2006).

Impact On The Character: A case of art imitating art, as Bryan Singer picked the unknown Routh for embodying "our collective memory of Superman" - ie he's a dead ringer for Christopher Reeve, in looks and personality.

Nicolas Cage

The Role: Johnny Blaze / Ghost Rider in Ghost Rider (2007).

Impact On The Character: Cage's career has been one of curveball decisions, so following a real-life hero with the story of stunt motorcycle turned Devil-assisted skull-faced vigilante is par for the course, really.

Robert Downey Jr.

The Role: Tony Stark / Iron Man in Iron Man (2008).

Impact On The Character: Marvel harnessed Downey Jr's bad boy image to portray the most rock-star of superheroes - a role that fitted the star so well his Sherlock Holmes is arguably Iron Man in period dress.

Samuel L. Jackson

The Role: Nick Fury in Iron Man (2008).

Impact On The Character: It hardly matters what Jackson had been doing. Marvel had based Nick Fury on Jackson in their comics since 2002, so this casting choice wasn't exactly rocket science.

Edward Norton

The Role: Bruce Banner / The Hulk in The Incredible Hulk (2008).

Impact On The Character: The angst remains, and indeed spilled off-screen amidst rumours that the hands-on star clashed with producers over final cut.

Heath Ledger

The Role: The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008).

Impact On The Character: Dylan's freewheeling insouciance suited Ledger more than his best-known role (as uptight Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain ) but The Joker dropped the safety net completely with a wildly anarchic, unsettling performance. Sadly, Ledger died before the film's release but secured a posthumous Oscar.

Aaron Eckhart

The Role: Harvey Dent / Two-Face in The Dark Knight (2008).

Impact On The Character: Eckhart's always been good at villains…but playing a romantic hero undoubtedly helped to make Dent's pre-accident idealism convincing.

Aaron Johnson

The Role: Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass in Kick-Ass (2010).

Impact On The Character: Gawky lad thinks big and comes good? Absolutely, but with considerably more violence.

Chloe Moretz

The Role: Mindy Macready / Hit Girl in Kick-Ass (2010).

Impact On The Character: Wise beyond her years? Try a pre-adolescent kid whose dad has shaped her into a potty-mouthed, ultra-violent vigilante.

Scarlett Johansson

The Role: Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow in Iron Man 2 (2010).

Impact On The Character: More secrets and lies as Tony Stark's secretary turns out to be an ass-kicking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

Seth Rogen

The Role: Britt Reid / The Green Hornet in The Green Hornet (2011).

Impact On The Character: The swerve to blockbusters is not as strange as you think. After all, becoming a superhero is just as good a way of voicing your slacker iconoclasm as telling jokes.

Chris Hemsworth

The Role: Thor in Thor (2011).

Impact On The Character: A God who is banished to Earth and has to become a mortal? Kind of like Hemsworth having to re-earn his spurs after his 'next big thing' status was put on ice.

Tom Hiddlestone

The Role: Loki in Thor (2011).

Impact On The Character: More family troubles, only this time posh Loki's escape route is into super-villainy. That Hiddlestone fella has range.

James McAvoy

The Role: Professor Charles Xavier in X-Men: First Class (2011).

Impact On The Character: McAvoy's flair for idealistic crusaders came in handy in portraying the young Xavier's enthusiasm in bringing together the X-Men.

Michael Fassbender

The Role: Erik Lensherr / Magneto in X-Men: First Class (2011).

Impact On The Character: Even a bad film is good practice when the job is to replicate the imperious villainy of Ian McKellen's take on Magneto.

Jennifer Lawrence

The Role: Raven Darkholme / Mystique in X-Men: First Class (2011).

Impact On The Character: Mystique's conflicted feelings over her unusual social circle deliver a solid through-line from Winter's Bone , although that film's yokels are far weirder than any mutants.

Ryan Reynolds

The Role: Hal Jordan / Green Lantern in Green Lantern (2011).

Impact On The Character: Oh, what cruel irony for Reynolds, as critics decide to bury Green Lantern .

Chris Evans

The Role: Steve Rogers / Captain America in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).

Impact On The Character: Deliberate irony, as Steve Rogers is turned from puny nerd into an Evans-esque super-soldier.

Hugo Weaving

The Role: Johann Schmidt / Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011).

Impact On The Character: None of Jack's misfortunes were self-inflicted, but Nazi Schmidt has nobody but himself to blame when experiments give him a glowing red skull face.

Andrew Garfield

The Role: Peter Parker / Spider-man in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012).

Impact On The Character: Geek chic has always been crucial to this most teenage of superheroes, so Garfield's boyish enthusiasm is going to be a big win for the Spider-man reboot.

Tom Hardy

The Role: Bane in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Impact On The Character: You're kidding, right? Have you seen Bane? He makes Conlon look like a wimp.

Anne Hathaway

The Role: Selina Kyle / Catwoman in The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Impact On The Character: Love? In Gotham City? Frankly we don't see how Catwoman's going to have the time.

Henry Cavill

The Role: Superman / Clark Kent in Man Of Steel (2013).

Impact On The Character: After already missing out on Superman last time - not to mention James Bond and Edward Cullen - Theseus should give Cavill confidence to super up.