Although it's not a universal rule, in general,
the best superhero movie adaptation are faithful
to the comic books they're based on - and
that includes in terms of the character aesthetics.
The likes of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Batman
and Superman have always at least heavily
resembled their comic book counterparts when
they've appeared on screen, for example.However,
for various reasons, a number of characters
in superhero movies have been barely recognisable
in terms of their physical appearance when
compared to the source material.
In most cases, this results in a fan backlash
- which kind of makes you wonder why the movie-makers
thought it was a good idea to change the way
they look in the first place.In this video,
we'll take a look at some of the most extreme
examples.
Here are ten superhero movie characters who
look nothing like the comics.
Wolverine
Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is a rare example
of a superhero movie character who has proven
to be extremely popular, in spite of the fact
that he really doesn't look like his comic
book counterpart.
Sure, he's muscular, has the same hair and
the claws, but that's where the physical resemblance
ends.
Jackman is more than six feet tall, whereas
Wolverine classically hovers around the five-and-a-half
feet mark and, most notably, movie Wolverine
lacks the iconic yellow costume of comic book
Wolverine.
Still, the eight X-Men movies that Jackman
has appeared in so far would suggest that
it's done the character no harm.
Apocalypse
It was a long wait for a villain as monstrous
as Apocalypse in the X-Men movie universe,
so when he was announced as the antagonist
in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, fans were excited.
Unfortunately, instead of the hulking seven-foot-tall
brute from the comic books who's as wide as
two average men, we were given a fairly unintimidating
villain the size of an average adult male.
Moreover, his colouring was different.
Instead of the classic vibrant blue coloured
armour, he wore a drab greyish-blue costume
and, in some promo pics, even looked a weird
shade of pinky purple.
He looked more like a low-budget Doctor Who
villain, or a character from one of the shoddy
live action Mortal Kombat adaptations than
he did the legendary mutant from the comic
books.
Enchantress
Suicide Squad has opened to some pretty scathing
reviews and one of the reasons it is being
criticised is the over-sexualisation of its
female characters.
Cara Delevingne's Enchantress is a prime example,
as Warner Brothers have made her look completely
different to the comic book version in order
to make her sexier.
In the comics, Enchantress classically wears
a grand, green, flowing dress and gown, but
Warner Brothers took advantage of the fact
that gorgeous fashion model Delevingne was
portraying the character by putting her in
what was essentially a chainmail bikini.
It was really quite unnecessary and quite
a lot of people have taken offence to it.
Lex Luthor
Superman's arch-nemesis Lex Luthor has been
portrayed by three different actors - Gene
Hackman, Kevin Spacey and Jesse Eisenberg
- in five live action movies, and none of
them have really looked anything like the
classic comic book version.
They've all ended up bald - which is Luthor's
most distinguishing feature - but the classic
Luthor also has very recognisable, stern and
chiseled facial features that none of the
actors who've played him have possessed.
He's also quite a muscular man who is actually
very capable of handling himself in physical
combat - and none of the actors who have played
him have had that quality.
Doctor Doom
Both movie versions of Doctor Doom - Julian
McMahon's and Toby Kebbell's - have been terrible,
but McMahon's at least resembled the comic
book version of the character physically.
Kebbell's 2015 version, however... not so
much.
As well as having very different origins to
the classic version of Doom, Kebbell's version
looked absolutely nothing like him.
His armour and iconic metal mask were replaced
by an allover metallic look that came courtesy
of being fused to his space suit.
His regal green cloak was replaced with what
was essentially a dark green rag.
And his entire body was covered in lacerations
that emitted a green glow reminiscent of the
environment that gave him his powers - and
they certainly aren't seen on the comic book
version.
Hawkeye
Jeremy Renner has now played Clint Barton
AKA Hawkeye in four MCU movies to date - Thor,
The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron and
Captain America: Civil War - and he's yet
to look anything like how the character looks
in the comics.
Classically, Hawkeye wears a purple costume
with a very striking purple mask - but the
MCU version wears something far more practical.
It's black for starters, making it more covert
(although there is a touch of dark purple
in the latest incarnation in Civil War) and,
most noticeably, there's no mask.
Although, to be fair to Marvel Studios, the
mask probably wouldn't have looked great in
live action.
Bullseye
There wasn't much about 2003's Daredevil movie
to speak positively about - it was absolutely
awful - and Colin Farrell's portrayal of Bullseye
epitomised that.
He wasn't very good in general, but the fact
that he looked nothing like the comic book
version of the character really didn't help.
Bullseye is known for wearing an allover bodysuit
that includes a headpiece with a bullseye
printed on it.
Farrell's version simply wore street clothes
- a leather coat, leather trousers and a black
vest - although he did have a bullseye-shaped
scar on his head - like the comic book version
does under his costume.
Poor Farrell looked rather stupid, to be honest.
Aldrich Killian
Guy Pearce portrayed Aldrich Killian in 2013's
Iron Man 3, but this Aldrich Killian was different
in many ways to the version in the comic books
- not least because he also claimed to be
the MCU's version of the Mandarin.
However, he didn't look anything like the
comic versions of Killian or the Mandarin.
Pearce's Killian had slicked-back blonde hair
and mostly wore a suit, while the comic book
version had side-parted black hair and tended
to wear lab clothes.
And as for not looking like the Mandarin...
well, the Mandarin is a Chinese character
in the comic books and wears grand oriental
gowns and ten rings that possess various superpowers.
Pearce's character really couldn't look less
like him if he tried.
Galactus
When it comes to superhero movie characters
looking NOTHING like how they do in the comics,
there's no better example than Galactus.
Galactus appeared as the main antagonist in
2007's Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver
Surfer - and he was about as far removed from
the gigantic humanoid in purple armour that
fans know from the comics as it was possible
to be!
This version was simply an enormous world-devouring
cloud, with no discernible personality or
characteristics.
It was arguably the worst depiction of any
comic book character on film in history - although
we must admit that a planet-eating giant in
purple armour might have looked a bit silly
on film too.
Deadpool
The 2016 version of Deadpool totally nailed
the character in every respect.
He looked great and Ryan Reynolds played the
character to perfection - but the previous
version from 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine
absolutely sucked.
We could complain about everything that was
wrong with him all day, but let's stick to
his appearance for the purposes of this video.
Where was the iconic red and black suit?
This Deadpool was topless, wore elasticated
trousers, had blades protruding from his hands,
had his mouth sewn shut and was covered in
pen markings.
Talk about butchering a character!
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