Some of the most amusing and iconic characters in cinematic history happen to show up the least in their respective films. Even more disappointing is when an already popular character’s involvement in a film is significantly reduced from their previous appearances.
And, then, there are those characters whose opportunity to become something special is ruined by, not just a lack of screen time but a lack of anything to substantially serve the story with. We cover them all in this list of movie roles who deserved more.
Boba Fett (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)
It is a wonder how this galactic bounty hunter (originally portrayed by Jeremy Bulloch and voiced by Jason Wingreen) became such a wildly revered Star Wars character as he does very little in his appearances in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Even when Temeura Morrison inherited the character for Disney+'s miniseries, The Book of Boba Fett, he was upstaged by Pedro Pascal's title character of the show it was spun off from, The Mandalorian.
Raoul Silva (Skyfall)
Academy Award winner Javier Bardem’s brilliant performance as elusive cyber-terrorist Raoul Silva in 2012's Skyfall comes in pretty late into the plot. While the payoff to the preceding buildup is effective, the otherwise acclaimed Daniel Craig-era James Bond film could have potentially benefitted from more of his cat-and-mouse game with 007.
Beth March (Little Women)
Writer and director Greta Gerwig's Oscar-nominated Little Women is considered one of the strongest adaptations yet of Louis May Alcott’s celebrated 1868 novel. However, even its most adoring fans may agree that the March Sister who gets the least time to shine in the 2019 period drama is Beth, portrayed by Eliza Scanlen.
Clubber Lang (Rocky III)
With all the great characters who would recur in the Rocky movies, it is hard to believe that Clubber Lang is not one of them. Mr. T gives such an intense and mesmerizing performance as Sylvester Stallone's onscreen opponent in the 1982 sequel that deserved a later reprise in some way, shape, or form.
Frozone (The Incredibles)
Bob "Mr. Incredible" Parr’s (Craig T. Nelson) best friend and former partner-in-crimefighting, Lucius, better known as Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), is given the chance to show off his abilities in a few memorable moments from 2004’s The Incredibles. However, the ice-powered superhero deserved a more integral role in the acclaimed Pixar movie that could have provided a more solid and justified build-up toward his return from retirement in the final showdown.
Donny Kerabatsos (The Big Lebowski)
The joke about Steve Buscemi’s character in Joel and Ethan Coen’s beloved cult favorite comedy, 1998’s The Big Lebowski, is that he is rarely given a chance to speak by Walter Sobchak (John Goodman) for mysterious reasons. However, after finally learning more about Donny after his death from Walter’s impassioned eulogy, we wish we could have seen just a little bit more of his life.
The Five Wives (Mad Max: Fury Road)
One thing that makes George Miller’s 2015 post-apocalyptic thriller one of the best action movies of all time is what it consciously chooses to remain a mystery. However, what actually could have used more exposition in Mad Max: Fury Road is the group of young women (played by Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoë Kravitz, Riley Keough, Abbey Lee, and Courtney Eaton) whom Tom Hardy’s title role and Furiosa (Charlize Theron) are racing to protect from Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne).
Batman (The Dark Knight)
Ironically, the most acclaimed installment of Christopher Nolan’s trilogy of live-action Batman movies, 2008’s The Dark Knight, is the one that makes Bruce Wayne’s alter ego (Christian Bale) the least interesting character. Actually, one could argue the same thing about Tim Burton’s DC films, 1989’s Batman and 1992’s Batman Returns, despite many believing that Michael Keaton is the best Batman actor yet.
Sloane Peterson (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off)
The core and most important relationship in John Hughes’ hilarious 1986 high school movie, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, is undeniably that of the eponymous troublemaker (Matthew Broderick) and his best friend, Cameron Fry (Alan Ruck). However, we should still know a little more about Ferris' girlfriend, Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara), than we do, which is not much at all.
Darth Maul (Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace)
Even the most casual fans of the Star Wars movies would likely agree that Ray Park's Sith Lord was killed off way too soon and should have appeared in at least one follow-up to 1999's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. Thus, Darth Maul's return in subsequent animated series and a scene from 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story is one of the few widely accepted retcons in pop culture history.
Charon (John Wick)
It is the late Lance Reddick's performance as Charon that made the minor role in 2014's John Wick so intriguing. However, it was not until 2019's Chapter 3 - Parabellum that we finally got just how hard-boiled the Continental's loyal concierge can be.
The Joker (Suicide Squad)
Many audiences might argue that Jared Leto’s iteration of The Clown Prince of Crime could have used even less screen time in 2016’s Suicide Squad. However, there are a few DC fans who believe the Oscar winner had the potential to make a better impression than he did – as evidenced by his appearance in the recut Zack Snyder’s Justice League – and, perhaps, should have been the main villain instead of a wasted B-plot.
Michael Myers (Halloween Ends)
While marketed as an epic final showdown between the quintessential horror movie Final Girl, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Michael Myers (James Jude Courtney), 2022's Halloween Ends instead focused largely on the tarnished reputation of a new character named Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell) and his ill-fated romance with Laurie granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak). With very little screentime for the aging masked boogeyman, the finale to director David Gordon Green’s requel trilogy ended on a severely divisive note.
Boo (Monsters, Inc.)
Much of Boo's backstory is left a mystery, which is why it would have been appreciated to see her return in a sequel to Monsters Inc. instead of the otherwise well-received prequel, Monsters University. Not to mention, what happened to the adorable interdimensional traveler after she returned to her world? There had to have been an intense search for her during the many hours she was gone.
Ned Ryerson (Groundhog Day)
Stephen Tobolowsky’s annoying insurance agent deserved more to do than, essentially, repeat the exact same thing in his brief appearances in the hilarious 1993 time loop movie, Groundhog Day. On the other hand, the popular, bizarre fan theory that Ned Ryerson is really the Devil in disguise and the orchestrator of Phil Connors’ (Bill Murray) insane predicament is proof that the character has achieved icon status.
The Salesman (Sin City)
Perhaps Josh Hartnett’s contract killer, who seems to specialize in assisted suicide, is used the right amount in directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's visually astonishing comic book thriller, Sin City. Then again, the 2005 film noir favorite could have dropped a couple more hints and teases to his story to give "The Salesman" an even more memorable role.
Blanche (Drive)
Considering she was played by an actor who resembles a sultry, Silver Age femme fatale, Christina Hendricks’ role in Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2011 neo-noir thriller could have been iconic. Perhaps she could have if Blanche was given more than a page’s worth of dialogue in her three scenes from Drive.
Kaecilius (Doctor Strange)
When you cast an actor who has absolutely mastered the art of portraying villainy like Mads Mikkelsen as your antagonist, you better give him enough material to deliver. Unfortunately, the vengeful sorcerer Kaecilius is mostly an afterthought in the MCU’s Doctor Strange – the origin story of Benedict Cumberbatch’s surgeon-turned-Sorcerer Supreme – and is an even less memorable villain than Dormammu, who only shows up for one fun scene.
Scrat (Ice Age)
He was the face of the marketing for, arguably, Blue Sky Studios’ best-animated movie but is treated as an afterthought, appearing in funny interstitial bits outside of the main storyline. At least Scrat (whose name, a combination of “squirrel” and “rat,” is never even explicitly mentioned in any of the Ice Age movies) got to be the star of his own short spin-offs.
Dracula (Renfield)
Obviously, the star of director Chris McKay's 2022 horror-comedy movie is Dracula’s eponymous familiar, Renfield (Nicholas Hoult). However, the film does not spend quite enough time exploring his one-sided, abusive relationship with the ruthless vampire, who is portrayed brilliantly by Nicolas Cage.
Emma Watson (This Is The End)
A fictionalized version of the Harry Potter movies’ Hermione Granger actor only shows up for one scene in This is the End, in which she assumes a house full of male celebrities have ill intentions for her. Yet, it would have been fun to see much more of Emma Watson and her skills with an axe against the nightmarish circumstances outside in Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s 2014 post-apocalyptic comedy.
Gorr The Godbutcher (Thor: Love And Thunder)
Some fans of the Marvel movies might say that Christian Bale’s vengeful antagonist is the best thing about Taika Waititi’s follow-up to Thor: Ragnarok. Unfortunately, Gorr the Godbutcher's screentime in 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder is, much like the tragic deaths of his family, not justified.
Helga Sinclair (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)
In one of the best Disney animated movies from the 2000s, 2001's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, ambitious linguist Milo Thatch (voiced by Michael J. Fox) is recruited onto an expedition to find the eponymous fabled kingdom by the wealthy Preston Whitmore (John Mahoney). His personal assistant, the attractive Lt. Helga Sinclair (Claudia Christian) is considered the secondary antagonist of the story but boasts far more charisma than the main villain, Commander Lyle Tiberius Rourke (James Garner).
Sandman (Spider-Man 3)
The final installment of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man Trilogy is one of the most essential examples of the superhero movie genre's “too many villains” trope, with three villains fighting for screen time. The one with the most engaging and sympathetic arc – and, thus, the one who, arguably, should have been the only antagonist – is Flint "Sandman" Marko (Thomas Haden Church), whose biological makeup becomes bonded with sand after a bizarre accident.
Wizard (Taxi Driver)
The most deeply underrated character in director Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver is easily Peter Boyle's Wizard. The wise veteran cabbie is one of the few characters in the bleak 1976 drama whom Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) could genuinely call a friend and, perhaps, if he was around more, he could have helped steer the disturbed former marine in a more favorable direction.
Boris Podgorny (The Fabelmans)
Judd Hirsch’s Academy Award nomination for portraying a fictionalized version of director Steven Spielberg’s granduncle in 2022's The Fabelmans was well deserved. What the character, Boris Podgorny, really deserved, however, was to play a larger role in the story, as long as it would be accurate to the semi-autobiographical story that the esteemed filmmaker was crafting.
Luna Lovegood (The Harry Potter Movies)
Evanna Lynch portrays Luna Lovegood – a refreshingly positive fan-favorite character from J.K. Rowling’s magical Harry Potter novels. However, most fans of the Wizarding World would argue that the Ravenclaw was significantly underutilized in the blockbuster film adaptations.
Jeff Portnoy (Tropic Thunder)
The famously animated Jack Black has higher billing than Robert Downey Jr.'s Academy Award-nominated role in the cast of 2008's Tropic Thunder. Yet, his role as Jeff Portnoy – an unhinged comedian attempting a serious war movie – gets the least amount of screentime or material to work with in star and director Ben Stiller’s hilarious Hollywood satire.
Lady Sif (Thor)
One of the most heavily underrated MCU characters is Lady Sif, who has appeared in every one of Thor's solo movies but only briefly. We might go so far as to say that Jaimie Alexander’s portrayal of the Asgardian Goddess of War should have her own solo movie, or at least deserves a more substantial role in the franchise.
Rhino (The Amazing Spider-Man 2)
Paul Giamatti’s cinematic iteration of the Spider-Man villain, Rhino, makes his grand entrance at the end of the widely reviled sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and was supposed to have a bigger role in a third installment starring Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. Of course, the poor reception to the 2014 film led to the cancellation of the follow-up before Tom Holland stepped in to play the MCU-canon webslinger.
Officer Benjamin Clawhauser (Zootopia)
Voiced by Nate Torrence, the doughnut-chomping Officer Benjamin Clawhauser is about the funniest character from 2016's Zootopia. For that reason alone, the tiger deserves a more integral role in the family-friendly police dramedy about anthropomorphic animals.
Garraka (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire)
The fifth installment of the Ghostbusters franchise gets its subtitle (Frozen Empire) from the main antagonist's power to create a second Ice Age. However, said malevolent entity, Garraka, officially shows up far too late in the 2024 sequel's runtime.
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