7 Incredible Actors The MCU Completely Wasted 

Since beginning in 2008, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has grown into one of the most successful franchises of all time. Adapting the stories and characters of Marvel Comics onto the big and small screens in live-action has proven incredibly lucrative, earning widespread popularity and considerable critical acclaim. As the franchise has grown, so too has its audience, which in turn has been able to attract bigger stars. As a result, Marvel has been able to land some major names for roles within the franchise, with award-winning performers appearing as Marvel heroes, villains, and supporting characters across the movies and TV shows of the MCU.

While the movies of the MCU have featured some incredibly talented actors, they haven’t always used them to the best effect. In fact, the franchise has often wasted exceptional talent by bringing in a respected actor to play a one-off role, or otherwise not giving them scope to use their full range of acting abilities. Though the MCU can boast some incredible actors, it can’t always be said that the franchise has put them to the best of use.

1) Cate Blanchett

Thor: Ragnarok is often hailed as one of the MCU’s funniest movies, but it subtly wasted its best addition to the MCU’s cast. Cate Blanchett appeared in the movie as Hela, the Asgardian Goddess of Death who crushed Thor’s hammer Mjolnir and laid claim to Asgard’s throne. Despite being an Oscar-winning actor capable of deftly blending drama, action, and comedy, Blanchett’s role was short-lived, as Hela was killed at the end of the movie. Employing someone of Blanchett’s stature only to kill her character immediately was an odd choice, and one that wasted her considerable talent.

2) Tilda Swinton 

Tilda Swinton’s MCU casting was a controversial one, as it led to complaints about the franchise whitewashing its Marvel adaptations. However, the acclaimed actor appeared in Doctor Strange as the eponymous hero’s mentor, known as the Ancient One. Other than briefly reprising the role for a 2012-set scene in Avengers: Endgame, Swinton’s talents were doomed to be largely wasted, as the Ancient One was seemingly killed in Doctor Strange‘s climactic battle.

3) Christian Bale 

As well as being considered one of the MCU’s most romantic movies, Thor: Love and Thunder is also one of the franchise’s most disappointing. Chief among its disappointments were Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher, a much-anticipated villain potentially capable of upsetting the franchise’s entire hierarchy of power. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case, and while Bale did a solid job with the script he was given, Gorr’s MCU tenure was cut short after a single appearance, wasting the talented actor in a role lacking any considerable nuance and that only lasted for one movie.

4) Mads Mikkelsen 

Tilda Swinton wasn’t the only actor wasted by 2016’s Doctor Strange. Mads Mikkelsen was cast to play the film’s villain, Kaecilius, a sorcerer tempted and corrupted by the dark power of Dormammu. Despite being an exceptional actor, Mikkelsen’s MCU role was remarkably one-dimensional, and gave him very little scope to perform to the best of his ability. The result was an underwhelming MCU performance from an actor capable of much more, leading to it being a major disappointment on all fronts when Kaecilius was killed off.

5) Christopher Eccleston 

While perhaps best known for his role as the Ninth Doctor in Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston is an actor who has earned critical acclaim in various mediums. A highly respected British actor of stage and screen, Eccleston has proven himself as an incredibly capable performer with a range of roles across his prolific career. However, his MCU role as Malekith in Thor: The Dark World might be one of his worst, as the script gave him very little to do or say. Appearing as one of the MCU’s worst-written villains, it’s plain to see just how much the franchise wasted Christopher Eccleston’s talents.

6) Walton Goggins 

Having spent many years as a prolific character actor, Walton Goggins is finally receiving the recognition he deserves as one of Hollywood’s most talented actors. Goggins made his MCU debut in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp as Sonny Burch, the movie’s secondary antagonist and relatively small-time crook with big aspirations. Considering Goggins’ talent, casting him in such an apparently inconsequential role was a huge waste, as even if he returns, it’s hard to see how the MCU will be able to make Sonny Burch a more substantial figure in the franchise.

7) Bill Skarsgård 

Eternals earned the unfortunate accolade of being one of the only MCU movies to lose money, but its budget wasn’t all that it wasted. The movie saw Bill Skarsgård make his official MCU debut as Kro, the deviant hunting the Eternals. His performance being hidden under motion capture was already a waste, but Kro’s small role in the movie went a step further. Considering Skarsgård’s exceptional talent for playing unnerving villains and sympathetic heroes, Kro was undeniably a massive waste of an incredibly gifted actor.