Actor: Terrence Howard in Iron Man (2008); later played by Don Cheadle in Iron Man 2 (2010)
Now Terrence Howard and Don Cheadle both are Oscar nominated actor, both played in the Oscar winning film Crash, and now they get a chance to share having played James Rhodes in the blockbuster hits Iron Man and Iron Man 2 (respectively). Greed may have been an issue, was it worth it? Did it make a difference for you?
Actor: Katie Holmes in Batman Begins (2005); later played by Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight (2008).
Batman Begins came out at the height of media furor over the Katie Holmes/Tom Cruise relationship - just one month after Cruise infamously jumped on Oprah Winfrey's couch. All that tabloid attention distracted a bit from the film, but critics didn't think much of the "Dawson's Creek" alum's performance, which even earned a Razzie nomination for "Worst Supporting Actress." Maggie Gyllenhaal stepped in for the sequel, and was much better received, as was the movie itself, making over a billion dollars worldwide and becoming the highest grossing comic book film of all time.
I was a little on the fence with this one. Neither really impressed or disappointed me.
Character: Harvey DentActor: Billy Dee Williams in Batman (1989); also played by Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever (1995), and later played by Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight (2008).
Much has been made over the four actors (Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale) that played Batman in six films from 1989 to 2008. But the role of Harvey Dent, the district attorney destined to become super-villain Two-Face, also switched. Billy Dee Williams portrayed Dent first in the 1989 "Batman" with the plan then for him to play Two-Face in a future film. Things changed after Joel Schumacher took over the franchise with "Batman Forever" and cast Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face. Harvey Dent (aka Two-Face) truly hit the map when Aaron Eckart stepped in to fill the shoes in the 2008 film The Dark Knight.
Actor: Sumela Kay in X-Men (2000); later played by Katie Stuart in X2: X-Men United (2003), and Ellen Page in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006).
Fan favorite "X-Men" character Kitty Pryde showed up in the first three "X-Men" films, and was played by a different actor each time. The character doesn't have much more than a cameo in the first two films, but sees a greatly expanded role in the third, played by Ellen Page and considerably more sassy -- something she honed to perfection a year later in "Juno". Interesting fact: All three actors are Canadian.
Actor: David Hyde Pierce in Hellboy (2004); later played by Doug Jones in Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008).
Check this out. Doug Jones physically performed the role of Hellboy's merman cohort Abe Sapien in both films, but was voiced by David Hyde Pierce -- yep, Niles from "Frasier" -- in the original. A contortionist, Jones has played several silent roles, and finally got to use his own voice in the "Hellboy" sequel -- ultimately, though, the two actors' voices sounded pretty much the same.
Some other re-cast worth mentioning: Batman (Michael Keaton[1989, 1992], Val Kilmer [1995], George Clooney [1997], Christian Bale [2005 & 2008]), The Incredible Hulk/The Hulk (Eric Bana [2003], later played by Edward Norton [2008]), Superman (Christoper Reeves [1979, 1980, 1983, 1987], Brandon Routh [2006]).
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