13 comic book movie and TV show characters with wasted potential

Mickey Rourke as Whiplash

There has been a lot said about the Iron Man trilogy. Yes, the first one is a classic. It’s the movie that got the ball rolling on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yes, it’s one of the big reasons why comic book movies are so in demand. However, it suffered from the same thing the other two movies did. They all had bad antagonists.

Iron Man 2  missed an opportunity with Mickey Rourke. Instead of giving the audience the Crimson Dynamo, we got Whiplash. What could have been a fight between two Iron Man armors instead ended up giving fans a villain that no one cared about.

What’s funny is Marvel Studios has done a masterful job making the audience care about lesser-known heroes and villains. How did Whiplash fail? Especially since they got an incredible character actor that people enjoy.

First, Whiplash’s look was horrible. He was Omega Red without the witty banter and he looked like he made his weapons from spare props from Mad Max. Second, they barely gave us a reason to care about him – his origin story was done in brief, yes, but it was forgettable. Lastly, Justin Hammer’s shenanigans are the parts we remember. Other than Rourke talking about his bird, what else do you remember enjoying from the character?

In the end, Marvel Studios may have been better off having Justin Hammer as the only villain in the film. He could have hired a random goon to be Whiplash. Leaving the audience wondering who hired him. In the end, Hammer could have made his reveal, resulting in the final fight between Iron Man and War Machine meaning that much more. At least then the quick final fight scene would have appeared like another Hammer fumble.