Wade Wilson/Deadpool - Ryan Reynolds:

One of the best decisions of X-Men Origins: Wolverine was casting Ryan Reynolds as the Merc with a Mouth. The worst decision, was only having him on screen for 5 minutes, before turning him into the very mute Weapon XI, who is a poor man’s OC it’s not even funny. Fortunately, over the next several years, though after several issues behind-the-scenes, Deadpool was finally released in 2016 to great acclaim, Reynolds finally showing off why he was everyone’s dream casting.

Anakin Skywalker - Hayden Christensen:

It’s no secret that the Star Wars prequels suffered in execution, releasing subpar comic relief like Jar Jar Binks, a lacklustre romance between Anakin and Padmé and the meme machine that is Revnge of the Sith. However, much of the criticism was levied at the actors (because audiences are stupid), with both Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen’s portrayals as Anakin Skywalker getting the brunt. And whilst Lloyd is another story entirely, I want to focus on Hayden’s return in the Obi-Wan and Ahsoka shows, reuniting with Ewan McGregor and finally donning both the Clone Wars armour made famous by the animated series and Vader’s armor. His return was welcomed with open arms and whilst he isn’t a main character in either production, relegated to flashbacks, Vaders and dreams, Hayden’s portrayal shows how much potential he had in the role, if Lucas’ directing in the prequels had been up to snuff.

The 8th Doctor - Paul McGann:

The Doctor, an alien with the power to regenerate, has had many faces over the course of Doctor Who, including the controversial 8th Doctor. With the cancellation of the show in 1989 the series ended with Sylvester McCoy’s 7th Doctor, however, in 1996, the chaps across the pond attempted to revive the British icon with a TV movie, showing McCoy regenerate into Paul McGann’s 8th Doctor. The movie is, okay, but there’s a reason it never got the show back on the air, that wouldn’t be for another 9 years. Instead, McGann was considered that one Doctor from the American’s weird attempt in the 90s, some didn’t even consider him a “proper” Doctor.

However, in 2001, McGann returned in the form of Big Finish’s Doctor Who audio dramas, mostly canon stories set in the universe. Finally giving his 8th Doctor the time of day and he quickly showed that he was indeed worthy to be the Doctor, with many of the Doctor’s greatest stories coming from his audio dramas. This all came to ahead with the revival series in 2005, which not only confirmed McGann was the official 8th Doctor, but brought him back in 2013 (albeit only for 8 minutes) for one last on-screen adventure, even making references to his Big Finish stories, solidifying them as canon.

Favorite character/actor who was considered the black sheep of the series, but who got a second chance years later.