Audiences tend to attach a character to a single face. Then a studio changes the cast, and the character has to survive on the strength of the story and the new performer.
Some franchises have done this once. Others have done it again and again, and a few are doing it right now.
James Bond: The Franchise Built on Replacement
Sean Connery introduced 007 on screen in Dr. No in 1962. George Lazenby took over for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service in 1969 and played the role only once. Roger Moore followed from Live and Let Die in 1973, and Timothy Dalton arrived with The Living Daylights in 1987.
Pierce Brosnan debuted in GoldenEye in 1995, and Daniel Craig began his run with Casino Royale in 2006. Craig’s fifth and final film was No Time to Die. The next film, directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Steven Knight, will be the first 007 movie since that entry.
The newest change is still pending. The identity of the actor replacing Daniel Craig has yet to be officially announced. Producer Amy Pascal told Deadline in August that the end of the year is a good bet for learning who it is.
Batman: A Cape Passed Across Decades
Michael Keaton wore the cowl in Batman in 1989 and again in Batman Returns in 1992. Val Kilmer took over for Batman Forever in 1995, and George Clooney followed in Batman and Robin in 1997. Each switch came with a shift in tone, from gothic to garish and then to a long pause.
Christian Bale restarted the character in Batman Begins in 2005 and played him through The Dark Knight Rises. Ben Affleck then appeared as an older, battle worn Bruce Wayne in Batman v Superman in 2016. Robert Pattinson took the role in The Batman in 2022, and Matt Reeves has been developing a sequel with him.
Superman: From Christopher Reeve to David Corenswet
Christopher Reeve defined the role in the late 1970s and 1980s, and for many viewers he still sets the standard. Brandon Routh stepped in for Superman Returns in 2006, a film that treated the Reeve era as its own history. Henry Cavill then played the hero in Man of Steel in 2013 and in several later DC films.
The most recent change came with James Gunn’s Superman in July 2025, starring David Corenswet. It launched a new shared universe at DC Studios, so the casting served as a reset for the whole slate rather than a single film. Each actor has carried a different idea of the character, from the hopeful to the conflicted.
Spider-Man: Three Actors in Roughly Two Decades
Tobey Maguire starred in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man in 2002 and returned for two sequels. Andrew Garfield took over in The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, which rebooted the origin story just a few years after the previous trilogy ended. Tom Holland then entered the picture in Captain America: Civil War in 2016, followed by his own solo film, Spider-Man: Homecoming, in 2017.
The switches were driven partly by rights, since Sony controls the film license while Marvel Studios shares the character in its own universe. That arrangement is why Holland could appear in team up films before headlining his own. It also allowed all three actors to share the screen in Spider-Man: No Way Home in 2021.
The Hulk: Three Faces Before Ruffalo Settled In
Eric Bana played Bruce Banner in Ang Lee’s Hulk in 2003, a moody, psychological take that divided audiences. Edward Norton replaced him for The Incredible Hulk in 2008, which was part of the early Marvel Cinematic Universe. When The Avengers arrived in 2012, Mark Ruffalo had taken over the part.
Ruffalo kept the role for many appearances across the shared universe, usually alongside the other Avengers. Few recasts have been so complete, because the character has since been played by Ruffalo in nearly every film where Banner appears. The earlier two portrayals now read as separate, earlier takes.
Clarice Starling: Jodie Foster Gives Way to Julianne Moore
Jodie Foster played FBI trainee Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 and won the Oscar for Best Actress for the part. When the sequel Hannibal came out in 2001, Julianne Moore played the character instead. Foster had declined to return, and the film was directed by Ridley Scott rather than Jonathan Demme.
Hannibal Lecter himself shifted earlier, too. Brian Cox played the character in Manhunter in 1986, and Anthony Hopkins became the definitive Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. The series shows how a franchise can swap both its hero and its villain, and still have audiences compare each new version with the one before.
