One of the biggest risks an actor can take is to step into a role where a bigger star has won fans over with his performance, or just a hint that he will be playing the role. It rarely pans out well, and the reaction that follows such changes is usually unfavorable. Just ask Liam Hemsworth, the actor who replaced Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia on The Witcher.
But there have been very rare cases where an actor has replaced a bigger star (at least at the time they replaced them) and has gone on to outshine them to the point where every detractor was forced to hold up their hands and acknowledge the greatness. The five actors on this list did just that. Some stepped in after the main guy was fired (with all the pressure that comes with that), and some just caught a lucky break because the guy (often bigger at the time) the studio wanted had some scheduling conflicts they couldn’t overcome. Let’s get into it.
1. Daniel Craig vs Pierce Brosnan (Casino Royale)
It’s no secret that Pierce Brosnan would have loved to continue his run as the iconic James Bond. What actor wouldn’t? Especially after he’d already done four Bond films. However, producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael Wilson wanted something fresh and decided that Brosnan wasn’t the man for the job. So they called his agents, while he was on the set of After the Sunset, by the way, and told them. When they told him, he was shocked at the development, just like more than half the fans of the franchise. But to his credit, he also later said he has no ill feelings about how it all went down.
The man they brought in to replace him was Daniel Craig. He’s blond, built like a bouncer, and nothing like the fancy-suit-wearing Bond that fans had come to know and love. Of course, the meltdown was immediate and loud. People called him “James Blond” and swore the franchise was done for. But when Casino Royale dropped in 2006, Craig turned out to be exactly what the franchise needed, a guy who actually bled, really felt something, and could still make a drink order sound like a threat. Fifteen years and four sequels later, the “James Blond” jibe now seems like a very bad joke.
2. Charles Melton vs Ross Butler (Riverdale)
Riverdale was always a mess, so changing actors early in season 2 wasn’t exactly big news. Why they changed actors is far juicier. Ross Butler played Reggie in season one, but when Netflix renewed 13 Reasons Why, he faced a tough decision and chose to drop Reggie for Zach Dempsey because he connected more with the latter. That decision seems even riskier because Riverdale had already recast him before Netflix even confirmed a second season for 13 Reasons Why.
Charles Melton stepped into the role and turned Reggie from a background guy into someone viewers actually wanted to watch. His charm, his swagger, and that killer smirk gave him a staying power that lasted six seasons. And when he showed up a few years later in May December, critics couldn’t say enough nice things about his performance. Butler is still doing his own thing, but ask any Riverdale fan (even the ones who hated the series) who their Reggie is, and it’s not even close.
3. Don Cheadle vs Terrence Howard (Iron Man 2 and the MCU)
Terrence Howard was the highest-paid actor in the first Iron Man movie. That’s right. Howard earned more than Robert Downey Jr., the guy in the titular role. When he didn’t show up for the sequel, fans rightly wondered why, and immediately got different versions of what happened. Howard said Marvel promised him $8 million for the sequel, and then low-balled him with a $1 million offer, and he wasn’t about to accept that pay cut quietly. Marvel claimed that his pay was smaller because his role was smaller.
Either way, Howard walked, and Don Cheadle got the nod to become War Machine. That change didn’t really raise a lot of dust, mostly because the MCU was still finding its footing, and nobody knew yet that it would become the behemoth it is today. But Cheadle has been playing Rhodey for more than a decade now. He’s appeared in several movies, and the chemistry he has built with the rest of the Avengers is so natural that fans can’t imagine anyone else in that role.
4. Mark Ruffalo vs Edward Norton (The Avengers and the MCU)
Edward Norton is a brilliant actor, no doubt about that. But he’s also… a lot. He’s the guy Marvel used to introduce fans to a live version of Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk in 2008, but the breakup was… messy. After the movie, Marvel decided to let him go. Their official line was that it had nothing to do with money, just that they needed someone with a “collaborative spirit.” Norton’s team fired back, calling that framing “unprofessional, disingenuous, and clearly defamatory.” Norton himself later calmly explained that he’d wanted to take the character somewhere darker and more serious, in the vein of what Christopher Nolan did with Batman, and that Marvel wasn’t interested in going there.
What’s not up for debate is that Mark Ruffalo stepped into The Avengers in 2012, and owned the Banner role in one fell swoop. His version was funnier and way more entertaining before he turned green and smashed things. Nine movies later, and he’s still at it. The “that’s my secret, I’m always angry” line is arguably one of the most iconic lines in the MCU. And it’s hard picturing anyone else but Ruffalo’s Banner saying it.
5. Hugh Jackman vs Dougray Scott (X-Men Franchise)
Dougray Scott wanted to play Wolverine badly. In fact, he’d already gotten the part and started the training required for the role. There was just one problem. He was already committed to Mission: Impossible II, and he had to get that out of the way before committing fully to the Wolverine character. But that movie ran over schedule, and Scott claims Tom Cruise wouldn’t let him leave to start X-Men. The role slipped away just as shooting started, which is probably the harshest way to miss out on a franchise.
Fox scrambled and picked Hugh Jackman, who at the time was this Australian actor that few had heard of. He barely had time to prepare, and fans weren’t exactly sold on the idea of him as Wolverine. They thought he was too clean, too tall, not hairy enough, and not grumpy enough. But then, the movie came out, and the claws came out with it. What followed was Jackman spending the next two decades-plus making Wolverine his signature role, clocking in a tenth outing in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. Scott says he’s over it, but honestly? That’s a very calm point of view for someone who lost out on a career-defining part.
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