The thing about acting is, if you do it right, it grants you the chance to try many different things and while these 8 actors have become widely known for their iconic(or perhaps not) superhero role, much like Robert Downey Jr is going from playing Iron Man to playing Doctor Doom and Michael Keaton went from Batman to Vulture maybe they should branch out and try the other side of the coin with a supervillain role.
Sir Patrick Stewart
Aside from Jean-Luc Picard, Captain of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation Professor Charles Xavier, head of the X-men is probably Sir Patrick Stewart’s most widely recognized role, so much so he is reportedly returning to the role for Avengers: Doomsday (along with some other x-men actors, whom will also feature on this list). It remains to be seen if he will make another return as Professor X after that, but perhaps he should branch out and try a more villainous role.
Who he should play: I could see him giving a great performance as some kind of mad scientist, perhaps even an older version of Lex Luthor if we ever see a live-action adaption of either Kingdom Come or The Dark Knight Strikes Again or a similar story set in a future DC timeline. If we want to keep it in the realm of DC Patrick Stewart also has the right look and probably acting-skills to portray the Batman villain Mr. Freeze, offering a version that would be vastly different than the much-maligned version Arnold Schwarzenegger plays in Batman and Robin. There is lots of fan-favorites for a new Mr. Freeze in a future Batman movie, including Mark Strong, but Patrick Stewart, in my opinion, could be a strong and slightly surprising candidate. I could even see him taking on the role of Brainiac in a future superman movie.
Hugh Jackman
Like his co-star Sir Patrick Stewart Hugh Jackman has been synonymous with the x-men franchise for over 25 years, most recently returning to the role after many years in last year’s Deadpool and Wolverine. The time may be up for him in the role of Wolverine as Marvel most likely wants to start over with a new, younger version of Wolverine, but that doesn’t mean he can’t keep doing superhero movies, maybe as a villain this time.
Who He Should Play: Much like Robert Downey Jr went from his iconic role of Iron Man to playing the iconic villain Dr. Doom I could see Hugh Jackman even staying in the same franchise and double-dipping as X-men villain Mr. Sinister. While it might be hard to separate him from Logan, I think he could also be a good fit for Mr. Sinister.
Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck has managed to portray both Batman and Daredevil, but neither role seemed to work for him. Maybe he would be better suited trying to be a villain.
Who he should Play: Affleck’s Batman almost faced off against Deathstroke in his own solo movie, but I think Affleck could do a good job taking on the role of Deathstroke himself or perhaps Green Arrow’s arch-nemesis Merlyn if we ever see Green Arrow make the jump to the big screen. Perhaps he might be better off reteaming with his pal Matt Damon. Perhaps they could be the leaders of Flash’s Rogues as Captain Cold and Heat Wave, respectively. I could also see him potentiall playing Two-face
Sophie Turner
Sophie Turner will probably always be tied to her Game of Thrones character: Sansa Stark, but she did try to branch out by playing Jean Grey in X-men: Apocalypse and X-men: Dark Phoenix. While both movies were not well-received it was not necessarily due to her.
Who she should play: She certainly has the right look for Poison Ivy and I personally think she could do a better job than Uma Thurman
Halle Berry
I guess at this point this list could be all X-men actors, but Halle Berry is not just a X-men actress, she also might be the worst live-action Cat-woman, something she could redeem in a villainous role
Who See Should Play: Speaking of cats and characters who are connected to Storm(at least in the comics) I think Halle Berry would fit right in as the villain in the next Black Panther film, whenever it gets around to being made. After a strong villain in Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger for the first film and an underutilized Namor in the second movie Halle Berry could be just the actress we need to deliver an iconic film for the third film. Black Panther has plenty of lesser-known villains, such as Tetu (could gender-swap the role), Zenzi, or a different version of Malice she could make her own or she could star as an original villain. While Killmonger’s mother supposedly died in prison; who is to say she is not actually still alive and looking for revenge?
Nicholas Cage
Nicholas Cage has had a long career and has managed to a appear in a few comic book movies, playing Ghost Rider in two movies with diminishing quality, Big Daddy in the first Kick-ass movie and even Spiderman Noir in the Spider-verse animated movies and soon his own spin-off series He also almost played Superman in Tim Burton’s Superman Lives(the less said about his bizarre CGI cameo in the Flash movie, the better) but his manic energy could let itself well to a villain role as well
Who He Should Play:
Another role Nicholas Cage almost played was that of Jonathon Crane aka Scarecrow in a fifth Batman movie that never came, but who is to say there still is not an opportunity for him to take the role, either as a cameo in Batman: Brave and the Bold or in a future Robert Pattinson Batman movie?. Sticking in the Batman universe, while he might not have the right stature for it, I think he could also do wonderfully as Mad Hatter.
Alan Cumming
Final X-men actor, I swear. But Alan Cumming has had many roles in his career and one of them is Nightcrawler in X-men 2, but since he was in heavy makeup he could easily slip into another, more villainous role, without really being noticed
Who He Should Play: Much like Hugh Jackman I could see Alan Cumming staying in the same franchise and playing lesser-known X-men villain Arcade who is kind of like a comic book version of jigsaw with plenty of traps. Cumming’s recent stint hosting The Traitors would serve him well as Arcade, and while it would be hard envisioning him as the Primary antagonist, maybe teaming him up with a stronger X-men villain would work.
Johnny Depp
A lot of people forget about Johnny Depp’s role as Tonto in the critically-panned Lone Ranger movie and his star has been in a little bit of decline lately, but perhaps a supervillain role could be just the thing he needs
Who He Should Play: I’ve wanted to see Johnny Depp play Riddler ever since he was rumored to play him during the Christopher Nolan days and I think there is still the opportunity much like Nicholas Cage with Scarecrow. While there already is a Riddler in the Robert Pattinson Batman universe, who is to say he could not fit in when they bring Batman to the new DCU?
While there are few actors who should switch from Hero to Villain, here’s one who should do the opposite:
Topher Grace
After his role as Eric Foreman on the long-running sitcom That 70s Show Topher Grace’s role as Eddie Brock/Venom in Spiderman 3, was supposed to be his breakout role, but unfortunately, he was wildly miscast and Spiderman 3 as a whole end up be underwhelming and tanking the entire Toby Maguire Spiderman franchise. And while it did not work out who is to say Topher Grace does not deserve a chance at redemption
Who He Should Play: This may be an out-there suggestion and perhaps end up being a bigger miscast for Grace than Eddie Brock, but I could see Topher Grace stepping into the role of Scott Summers aka Cyclops for a X-men reboot. You could argue he is too old, but I think seeing a more seasoned and veteran Cyclops in the new movies would be a good idea. You could also argue that perhaps Grace isn’t a serious enough actor for Cyclops, but a less-serious version of Cyclops would fit better into the MCU and who’s to say Grace can’t give the role a more serious outlook too? I love James Marsden’s version and I am excited for his return in Avengers: Doomsday, but I think Grace is also a worthy candidate to take over the role.
What do you think? What actors would you like to see switch from hero to villain? and who would you want them to play? Let us know in the comments below
