Some movies suffer from bad scripts and studio interference, but others go wrong during the casting stage. As a long-time movie fan, I think it’s interesting how a well-cast character can spur an entire cinematic universe, like Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. But, on the other hand, a miscast one can destroy a franchise. Casting is a fundamental part of a film’s success, and when that’s lacking, no amount of reshoots or editing can make up for it.
Many movies are derailed by one or two actors, whether co-stars lack on-screen chemistry, or a star’s problematic personal life overshadows their performance. And in an era that has largely been defined by franchises and adaptations, a miscast actor can have a major negative impact on an entire brand. From the troubled DC Extended Universe to the lackluster Wizarding World and even classic Hollywood, these 12 movies show how bad casting decisions can ruin everything.
‘Man of Steel’ (2013)
There were multiple problems with Man of Steel, from its lack of heart to its exhaustive action. If Henry Cavill and Amy Adams had chemistry, that could have made it easier to forgive other issues with the movie. While the iconic relationship between Clark Kent and Lois Lane should have felt special, it was rushed and shallow. James Gunn had performers audition together to test their on-screen chemistry, which proved to be a practical strategy, as David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan felt like a real couple.
Unfortunately, Zack Snyder didn’t take the same approach when he was making Man of Steel, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the two parts were cast in total isolation. For a movie that’s obsessed with grounding Superman in the real world, it’s ironic that Man of Steel fell apart when it attempted to depict Clark’s most important relationship, which typically grounds him as a character.
‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ (2016)
When Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was announced as the cinematic expansion of Wizarding World beyond the Harry Potter franchise, it faced an impossible challenge. Warner Bros. had to find actors that audiences could connect with, as they did with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, and who could carry a new franchise. Unfortunately, the spin-off fell flat on its face, and the actors didn’t make much of a lasting impression on audiences.
On top of that, the casting of Ezra Miller didn’t age well, as the actor faced allegations and multiple arrests. Harry Potter is an escapist franchise that lends itself to repeat viewing, but the inclusion of Miller in Fantastic Beasts steals away some of the magic from the Wizarding World.
‘Uncharted’ (2022)
Tom Holland is one of those actors who seems to be everywhere. While he is an undeniably perfect fit for Spider-Man, he was completely miscast as Nathan Drake in Uncharted. Mark Wahlberg was going to play the seasoned treasure hunter. However, Uncharted was in development for so long that he ended up being cast as Drake’s mentor figure, Sully.
Fans of the Uncharted video games know that this version of Sully was also a little young, which created an awkward trend in the live-action adaptation of characters being depicted younger than they should be. It might not seem like a big deal if you aren’t familiar with the games. However, as someone who played the games a lot, I can say that the mismatch made it feel like the filmmakers didn’t care about the fanbase that actually built Uncharted. Holland and Wahlberg are great actors, but they couldn’t capture the dynamic of Nathan Drake and Sully that we knew and loved for years leading up to the movie.
‘Morbius’ (2022)
Jared Leto often appears in projects where he doesn’t belong. Morbius could have been a fun ride if it had gone in another direction, but Leto’s serious portrayal of the titular vampire deflated Sony’s Spider-Man villain spin-off. Another case of an adaptation that went wrong, the casting of Leto ignored the comic book source material.
After the debacle of Suicide Squad, which infamously featured Leto’s Joker, Sony shouldn’t have cast him as yet another super villain. Based on his comic book roots, Morbius needed an actor who wasn’t afraid to embrace the character’s absurd nature and lean into the fun. Instead, the movie sent a loud message to long-time Spider-Man fans that Sony had no idea what they were doing.
‘Snow White’ (2025)
Even though Gal Gadot visually fits the Evil Queen when she’s in costume, the live-action musical required someone who could sing. That meant that Gadot had to do more than just capture the iconic Disney villain’s essence— she had to carry a few musical numbers too. She never branded herself as a singer before Snow White, and her vocals lack the power that the Evil Queen needed to convey, especially when Rachel Zegler appears effortless when singing.
Since Zegler was cast as the titular princess and had some musical experience, Disney needed to cast an Evil Queen with a similar background. While the casting of Gadot wasn’t Snow White’s only problem, it definitely didn’t help it succeed.
‘Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ (2017)
Director Luc Besson cast Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevingne as the two leads in his ambitious sci‑fi adventure, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, but they both lacked the energy that the film needed. Since they were at the height of their careers at the time, DeHaan and Delevingne likely felt like good choices for the movie. But neither of them had the kind of charisma that their characters were written to have. Instead, they both played their parts too seriously, which made the colorful sci-fi epic fall flat.
Even their angry expressions on the film’s poster shed light on the problem. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets required playful chemistry between its leads, but their dynamic felt less believable than any of the movie’s larger-than-life visual effects.
‘Ghost in the Shell’ (2017)
Scarlett Johansson has starred in many action films that felt like the perfect fit, but the live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell wasn’t one of them. Her casting sparked instant fan backlash, which overshadowed the movie long before the trailer even dropped. In the original anime film Ghost in the Shell, Major Motoko Kusanagi is a Japanese character who shapes a lot of the story.
By casting Johansson in the role, the cultural context of the source material was lost. The controversy about the miscast character overshadowed the movie itself and became a clear example of Hollywood’s whitewashing problem. The casting of Johansson didn’t help her either, as the character became one of her most forgotten roles, aside from the controversy.
‘Suicide Squad’ (2016)
When it was revealed that the Joker would appear in Suicide Squad, we were all intrigued about what Jared Leto would bring to the role. For years, he was a popular fan cast for the Clown Prince of Crime— and now that he would follow Heath Ledger’s legendary performance in The Dark Knight as the next Joker, there was a lot of potential. Unfortunately, Leto’s Joker turned out to be one of the worst characters in a movie that was full of villains. The actor took some big swings, but most of them felt like misses. Before the movie came out, I was cautiously optimistic, since Ledger’s Joker was also a diversion from the Batman mythology.
Unfortunately, Leto’s portrayal felt needlessly edgy, as the Joker’s tattoos, gangster vibes, and unnatural posture felt like a cheap attempt to shock audiences. According to Leto, he was given a lot of freedom to create his take on the character, but none of it paid off. Suicide Squad had already had multiple problems with studio interference, but the miscasting of the Joker is particularly hard to forgive.
‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’ (1999)
When George Lucas started to make the Star Wars prequels, Jake Lloyd was put in the impossible position of being a child actor cast in the biggest franchise of all time. He also played the most iconic villain in all cinema, Darth Vader— and we all had our own preconceived notions of who Anakin was long before the prequel.
No child actor could have lived up to those sorts of expectations, but the problem goes deeper than the casting of Lloyd. I watched the documentary about the making of The Phantom Menace, The Beginning, and know that Lucas took his time auditioning young actors to play Anakin. He was even close to casting other actors who appeared slightly older than Lloyd. Casting such a young actor as Anakin may have subverted our expectations, but not in a way that served the film. Instead, it became an unnecessary distraction for the prequel.
‘The Flash’ (2023)
The DC Extended Universe had no shortage of problematic actors with off-screen controversies. Ezra Miller already had issues with the law, but the actor was also simply the wrong choice to portray Barry Allen, AKA the Flash. When comparing Miller’s take on Barry with Grant Gustin’s portrayal in the long-running series on The CW, the differences between the two were vast. Miller’s Flash lacked the charm and fun that were constantly on display in the Arrowverse.
To make matters worse, Miller played multiple versions of Barry in The Flash, as both the film’s lead and comedic relief. Neither of these iterations of the character resembles Barry from the comics. In the end, Miller didn’t offer anything noteworthy in the role, and the actor’s controversy overshadowed a movie that was already burdened by rewrites and reshoots.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
