5. Mickey Rourke (Iron Man 2): Iron Man 2 is often considered to be one of the weakest films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it is honestly easy to see why. The story moves at a snail’s pace, the action was not nearly as fun or impressive as the first film and the characters are all obnoxious and difficult to like, especially Tony Stark. On top of that, Ivan Vanko/Whiplash completely fails as a villain. While he looks cool in certain parts, he is barely a presence in the film. He is captured after his first fight with Tony and spends the whole movie working for Justin Hammer then comes back in the climax to lose once again before blowing himself up in an attempt to kill Tony and Rhodey. In addition to that, Mickey Rourke seems very bored in the role and puts on a very fake Russian accent. I feel bad for criticizing Rourke as it is not entirely his fault that the character failed. However, he is definitely not blameless as an actor like him absolutely could have done more with the character for when he was seen. Rourke has been vocal about how much he disliked working on this movie and it is easy to see that with the performance.
4. Brie Larson (Captain Marvel and Avengers: Endgame): Brie Larson is a phenomenal actress and deserves all of the praise that she gets. However, something about her performance in the MCU really has soured a lot of people on her as an actress. I’m not going to pretend like Captain Marvel is one of the worst comic book movies ever made because it obviously isn’t. It is filled to the brim with problems and one of the weakest MCU films but it’s not a disaster like a large amount of people say. One of the reasons that it doesn’t work however is Larson’s performance as the title character. She gives a very stiff and wooden performance in both her own movie and Avengers: Endgame. I’m not sure if it’s because of the direction or because she wanted to portray the character that way herself but I guarantee that most people expected a better performance than this. All Larson does as the character is act like she is better than everyone else. It makes it very hard to like Carol Danvers as a character. While she has her fans, there probably would have been a lot more people in her corner if she loosened up with the performance and actually tried to make the character more likable. As of right now, Captain Marvel is one of the least interesting heroes in the MCU and Larson’s performance is sadly a factor of that.
3. Christopher Eccleston (Thor: The Dark World): Malekith is often considered to be the worst villain in the entire franchise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t agree. Whenever somebody thinks of a generic Marvel villain, Christopher Eccleston’s character is almost always the first one to come to their minds. There is absolutely nothing interesting about this character. His writing is very generic, his design is not threatening at all and unfortunately Eccleston’s performance is very poor. It devastates me to say that as I know for a fact that he is an incredible actor. He is honestly one of my favorite actors of all time. It pains me that he didn’t do a better job in the role. Perhaps the writing didn’t do him any favors but I know he could have worked if he just put his heart into it a little more. Eccleston has recently opened up about his disappointing experience as the character and that really just says it all. I hope that if DC ever hires Christopher Eccleston it will be for an actually fulfilling role where he can really shine.
2. Kat Dennings (Thor, Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Love and Thunder): I will never understand the appeal of Darcy. She is one of the most obnoxious and unfunny characters to ever appear in a comic book movie, and the fact that we’ve had to see her past the first Thor movie is insane. Kat Dennings is a funny actress. I have no doubt about that. However, I don’t think she works as Darcy. Every time she comes on screen she brings the Thor movies to a screeching halt. Dennings attempts to give a bubbly and quirky vibe to the character and it has always come across as insufferable. I know Dennings is clearly trying in the role and having a ton of fun, which is why she isn’t higher on the list. However, she is not fun to watch as the character at all. Every time she has appeared I always dread the forced jokes and unfunny humor. I pray that Darcy doesn’t appear again in the MCU, though I have a feeling that she definitely will and much sooner than I might hope.
1. Natalie Portman (Thor, Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Love and Thunder): The reason I put Natalie Portman over the other actors on this list is because this is one of the few instances where it is blatantly obvious that the fault completely lies with the performance in regards to the character’s failure. I’m not going to act like the Thor movies are grand masterpieces. At the end of the day they are mainly popcorn entertainment. However, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t put in any less than 100% as an actor. Natalie Portman is not just an incredible actress. She is one of the best actresses that we have working today. There is absolutely no excuse for Jane Foster to be as bland and generic as she is. I originally assumed that Jane suffered as a character mainly due to the writing for the first two Thor movies (though Portman was hardly free of the blame). However, after seeing Thor: Love and Thunder, a movie with a much more competent and experienced director, it is obvious that Portman’s heart was never in it to begin with. I’ve never seen an actor in a super hero movie act like the role is beneath them not just behind the scenes but on camera as the character as well. If her heart was never in the role to begin with then she shouldn’t have come back. Even for all of Thor: Love and Thunder’s problems, all of the actors were giving their all and having a ton of fun in the movie. It’s telling that one of the biggest strengths of Thor: Ragnarok was that Jane wasn’t in it. I don’t want to seem like I hate Natalie Portman because I genuinely love her in mostly everything else. The Thor movies are probably her only bad performances in a series of films. Unfortunately, it puts her in the top spot of this list.
