Actors used to find the superhero genre to be challenging, and in some ways, it still is. Superhero/comic book films rely on a few key components to bring everything together, unlike other genres like drama or comedy where the focus is on the performances and the performers have primary control of the picture to showcase their abilities. Here, we examine 17 of the genre’s underappreciated performances.

Willem Dafoe – Spider-Man (2002)

For his comeback as the Green Goblin in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Willem Dafoe, one of the most talented and underappreciated performers of his time, has lately received worldwide acclaim. However, it seems that viewers had forgotten how excellent he also was in the first installment of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy.

Brian Cox – X2: X-Men United (2003)

The second installment of the original X-Men trilogy received overwhelmingly positive reviews, and for all the right factors. But despite all of those compliments, the movie’s other strengths somewhat obscured Brian Cox’s excellent villain. The excellent Brian Cox portrays William Stryker, who is threatening, vindictive, cold, calculating, and unemphatic, brilliantly.

Ben Affleck – Daredevil (2003)

It might generate some controversy due to all the negative feedback Ben Affleck received for the part. And that hatred is so contradictory. By no means was his performance as Matt Murdock subpar. Sure, the movie has other problems, but not with the performances. From Colin Farrell’s sarcastic Bullseye to Jennifer Garner’s Elektra Natchios, every actor performed admirably.

Loan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, and Michael Chiklis, Fantastic Four (2005)

The primary “4” cast from the Fantastic Four film from 2005 is all included in this article. Marvel’s first super-team’s first big-screen film adaption, which was based on a 1990s film that was never released, was unfairly criticised.

Jeff Bridges – Iron Man (2008)

Robert Downey Jr. was responsible for not just the movie but also the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. All of the accolades for him was well-deserved, but at the same time, all of his coworkers—including director John Favreau, the SFX crew, the rest of the actors, etc.—made the movie around him work as well.

Edward Norton – The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Due to Mark Ruffalo’s development as Bruce Banner in the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the past ten years, the character has now grown to be well recognised and adored. However, his now-iconic portrayal overshadows the underappreciated work of the previous actor, Edward Norton, who portrayed the part.

Danny DeVito – Batman Returns (1992)

Almost everyone who saw the second installment of Tim Burton’s Batman trilogy praised the performances, especially those of Michael Keaton as Batman and Michelle Pfeifer as Catwoman. Nevertheless, despite the fact that they are also frequently lauded, Danny DeVito’s co-stars eclipsed their performances in certain ways.

Halle Berry – Catwoman (2004)

Yes, we are aware that this will most likely be the most upsetting item on the list. Nevertheless, despite the negative reviews the movie garnered, Halle Berry took a disproportionate amount of flak for her role, despite the fact that it was a really strong and committed one.

Ray Stevenson – Punisher: War Zone (2008)

The undervalued viewpoint of Ray Stevenson. Although this Punisher movie earned significantly higher reviews than the previous one, Ray Stevenson’s performance was disregarded for some reason.

Tom Hardy – The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

While many people and critics praised Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, many fans harshly criticised it, focusing in particular on his muffled voice. Nearly everyone agreed that he was a step down from Heath Ledger’s Joker.

Dane Dehaan – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

After its debut, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 drew a lot of criticism and debate, and as a result, many important components of the movie were missed. Although everyone’s performances were widely applauded, Dane Dehaan’s portrayal of Harry Osbourne is one of the movie’s best strengths.

Chris Cooper – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Speaking of which, Chris Cooper’s portrayal as Norman Osbourne in the movie is another underappreciated performance. Yes, he only had a quick cameo and a short period. But the fact that Chris Cooper makes the most of the limited time he has and makes the entire scene stand out is a credit to his underappreciated brilliance.

Sophie Turner – Dark Phoenix (2019)

Sophie Turner truly merited a lot more forgiveness and praise for her leading role. She gives her everything to the character of Jean Grey’s inner battle, and she carries the movie with a self-assured and imposing elegance.

Jessie Eisenberg – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

People can have a hard time telling an actor from the role they are playing in a movie. They could criticise an actor’s performance because they don’t like how a character was portrayed in the movie, despite the fact that the actor was only following instructions. This misperception is frequent and unjust. And the general perceptions of Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor in this contentious, rather notorious DC epic serve as the ideal illustration of this.

Danny Huston – Wonder Woman (2017)

The superhero epic Wonder Woman was a game-changer for the genre and a fan favourite as well. Gal Gadot’s performance, which exceeded all expectations, and her connection with Chris Pine. Really, all of the performances earned positive reviews, but one of the other standout ones in the movie was somewhat eclipsed by the discussion and attention that the movie’s stars garnered.

Elena Anaya – Wonder Woman (2017)

In relation to that, we have another excellent performance from Wonder Woman here.Dr. Maru, also known as Dr. Poison, is played by Elena Anaya. She is a cunning but evil scientist who helps Ludendorff achieve his objective by experimenting with terrible poisons and gases. Elena Anaya doesn’t have a lot of screen time in the movie, but when she does, wow, does she leave a lasting impact!

Ray Winstone – Black Widow (2021)

And once more, here is a good example of a performer leaving a lasting impression in a brief appearance.The harsh Russian adversary Dreykov, who is in charge of the programme that has been moulding and training Natasha Romanov since she was a little girl, made an appearance in Black Widow as Ray Winstone, who is himself undervalued. He makes an undercover appearance at the beginning of the movie before reappearing in the climactic scene as himself.