The MCU’s 10 worst (and most controversial) casting decisions, ranked
Okay, so generally, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has pretty incredible casting, right? Thanks to casting director Sarah Halley Finn, we got Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and so on. But no one, not even the best person in the world at their job, can hit it out of the park 100% of the time. The MCU has also had some castings that unfortunately flopped.
These are the 10 worst castings in the MCU, ranked.
10. Christopher Eccleston as Malekith
So, Christopher Eccleston is a good actor—anyone who’s seen him in Doctor Who will concur—but he was NOT cut out for the role of villain Malekith. He wasn’t cut out for being in the Marvel Cinematic Universe at all. It’s clear now that Eccleston hates that sort of prosthetics-heavy work, and he spent his time in Thor: The Dark World acting like he had a gun to his head. As a result, Malekith was a completely forgettable villain and arguably one of the worst in the MCU.
9. Kathryn Newton as Cassie Lang
Kathryn Newton wasn’t bad Cassie, per se, it’s just that there was already a Cassie—Emma Fuhrmann—and Newton was her replacement because the MCU wanted a bigger name to play Ant-Man’s daughter. Why, though? Newton didn’t really bring anything new to the role. She certainly couldn’t save Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania from being an overblown mess.
8. Olivia Colman as Sonya Falsworth
How?! How do you cast OLIVIA COLMAN, icon and Oscar winner, and then misuse her? But that’s exactly what happened in the terrible Secret Invasion miniseries. It’s probably the most hated Marvel project of all time. While Olivia Colman was certainly a bright spot amongst the awfulness and the AI, couldn’t they have cast someone else as Sonya Falsworth and thus spared her?
7. Olga Kurylenko as Taskmaster
Taskmaster was a very popular character from Marvel Comics, and people didn’t think the Olga Kurylenko casting worked at all. It wasn’t because they’d gender-swapped the character, it was because she bore absolutely no resemblance to the Taskmaster everyone knew and loved. Maybe her appearance in the upcoming Thunderbolts* will turn things around … but no one seems to be getting their hopes up.
6. Mads Mikkelsen as Kaecilius
Marvel has always had a bit of a problem with weak villains, and Mads Mikkelsen’s Kaecilius is a fine example. Can anyone actually remember a single thing he did in Doctor Strange beyond “look cool”? It’s a complete waste of Mikkelsen, who could have played any number of better characters in the MCU. Still, though, at least Mikkelsen had fun in the role. Not every actor in the MCU does …
5. Mickey Rourke as Ivan Vanko
Here’s one actor who certainly didn’t enjoy their role in the MCU. Mickey Rourke actually put a lot of effort into his role as Vanko/Whiplash, going so far as to spend time in a Russian jail, but he clashed with the filmmakers over the character. He wanted more character development and they, well, didn’t. So Rourke developed a major grudge against Marvel and Vanko went down as another mediocre MCU villain.
4. William Jackson Harper as Quaz
Another one from the ill-fated Quantumania. When William Jackson Harper was first cast in the MCU, fans didn’t know who he’d be playing, so their imaginations went wild. Some were holding out for a popular fan cast—Harper as Reed Richards!—but it wasn’t to be. Instead, he played a one-note minor character with nothing to do. It was very disappointing.
3. Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff
Okay, so Elizabeth Olsen can definitely act and she made Wanda a truly beloved MCU character. She did a great job with what she was given. But unfortunately, she’s a whitewashed character, as the comic book version of Wanda is Jewish and Romani. There’s just no excusing that, and she was far from the only instance of whitewashing, too.
2. Tilda Swinton as The Ancient One
No one had an issue with changing the Ancient One’s gender, but changing his race was just, well, racist. Instead of being a Tibetan man, the Ancient One became a white woman, and plenty of fans were angry. Marvel head Kevin Feige eventually admitted in a Men’s Health interview that the MCU made a big mistake with that one.
1. Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom
Robert Downey Jr was perfectly cast as Iron Man, so that makes it all the more baffling that Marvel decided to run with him again as Doctor Doom. It just makes the MCU that much more complicated, which is the last thing it needs. More importantly, this casting choice also comes with yet more whitewashing, as Doom is supposed to be Romani as well. The ultimate bad decision. Why, Marvel, why?
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