Famous Characters Ruined By Awful Sequels

With great power comes great responsibility. Unfortunately, writer-director Sam Raimi couldn't live up to these words of wisdom when creating Peter Parker for "Spider-Man 3." The first two movies of the trilogy establish Peter Parker as a wimpy nerd who uses his newfound superhuman abilities to selflessly fight crime after carrying the burden of his Uncle Ben's preventable death. He's constantly battling the impossible balancing act of living a normal life and fulfilling his superhero duties.

In "Spider-Man 3," though, his down-to-earth likability is replaced with arrogance and selfishness, and that's before the symbiote gets ahold of him. The scene where Spider-Man kisses Gwen Stacey in front of his girlfriend, Mary Jane, at a festival celebrating the greatness of Spider-Man is an ample example of how far gone his character is — inflated ego and all. It's still hard to believe that it gets even worse when Peter fully embraces his symbiote alter ego. Peter strutting around town with his gelled emo-styled hair while shooting finger guns is enough to make anyone's skin crawl. Of course, when you consider the symbiote, this newfound confidence is purposefully meant to be a far cry from the Peter we've come to know. Still, this out-of-pocket characterization was traumatizing enough to turn people off from Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker for good. So much so that perhaps it became one of the reasons as to why a fourth installment was canceled in favor of an entire reboot. Good thing he saved some face with his clever cameo in "Spider-Man: No Way Home." 

When "Saturday Night Live" cast members Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi debuted the Blues Brothers on the sketch comedy show in 1978, their comedic timing, musical talent, and undeniable chemistry made it an obvious choice to adapt the sketch into a feature film. With catchy musical numbers, laugh-out-loud comedy, over-the-top action, and, most importantly, Aykroyd and Belushi's dynamic, the film defied the odds stacked against it and became a beloved cult classic. The personalities of blues singers and blood brothers "Joliet" Jake Blues and Elwood Blues harmoniously complement each other. While Belushi's Jake is more unpredictable and free-spirited, Aykroyd's Elwood brings him back down to earth with reason while simultaneously enabling constant chaos.

18 years later, director John Landis and Aykroyd came out of the blue to team back up for a sequel that dug a grave for the franchise. In "Blues Brothers 2000," half the cast is absent, including one-half of the Blues Brothers, Jake. Instead, Jake is replaced by "Mighty" Mack McTeer, played by John Goodman. The two fail to recreate the charm that made the first so compelling, and Elwood especially loses all qualities that once made him enjoyable. Like the film as a whole, he's unfocused, deprived of humor, and overtly disappointing. Elwood had a chance to thrive despite the absence of his original counterpart, but when put in a tired sequel that might as well be a sad remake, the character falls flat.

Based on the Jane Austen novel "Pride and Prejudice," the rom-com "Bridget Jones's Diary" is fondly remembered as one of the more successful modern interruptions of the novel. Embodying the spinster Elizabeth Bennet, 32-year-old Bridget Jones is a classic character in her own right. She doesn't fit the mold of a desirable modern woman (according to 2000's rom-com logic), but she makes it her purpose to change that, only to learn she's perfect the way she is. Her imperfect lifestyle and fun-loving personality make her relatable to the film's everywoman audience. So when the sequel "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" hit theaters in 2004, fans were undoubtedly excited to see their favorite character back on the big screen, with the film grossing $265.1 million worldwide.

However, what fans saw was not the Bridget Jones they remembered. Repackaging the love triangle and miscommunication tropes of the first film, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason" brings nothing new to the table and even goes as far as to undermine its heroine. Bridget is no longer the relatable woman we once knew her to be, lacking emotional depth and any semblance of what made her likable in the first place. Instead of laughing with her, the cruel jokes and misunderstanding of the character make us reluctantly compelled to laugh at her in a sad turn of events.

Following the dark, ominous tone of Tim Burton's "Batman" and "Batman Returns," Warner Bros. felt pressure from parents and toy companies to make the Batman films more marketable for children. Their solution was to replace Burton with Joel Schumacher as director for the next two sequels, "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin." The initial transition was met with mixed reviews, but when "Batman & Robin" came around in 1997, everything went downhill. Going from Burton's eeriness to Schumacher's camp extravaganza, audiences experienced whiplash from the dramatic tonal shift. The Dark Knight: an angsty, intimating hero who was once a force to be reckoned with, was now being treated as a kid-friendly joke.

No one went unscathed in the subsequent backlash. Schumacher, who was reluctant to do a sequel in the first place, later apologized for disappointing fans, saying, "after 'Batman & Robin,' I was scum. It was like I had murdered a baby." George Clooney, who played the Caped Crusader, also admitted fault, saying, "The truth of the matter is, I was bad in it." Since then, we've had many more iterations of the hero, making it easier to appreciate how far the character has come since those dismal days.

Comedian and actor Eddie Murphy couldn't catch a break in the early '90s after declining box office success. In an attempt to turn his luck around, a third sequel to the acclaimed comedy action film "Beverly Hills Cop" was decided upon despite Murphy's previous comments claiming the only reason to make a third installment would be for the money. That sentiment proved true when the film only worsened Murphy's critical reputation.

Murphy's portrayal of the Detroit cop Axel Foley was once praised for his genuine charm and comedic chops. However, for this new sequel, Murphy had other ideas on which direction to take the character, opting for a more serious and mature approach. The fan-favorite character was now a depressing, less funny version of himself. Later, Murphy came to his senses and expressed his disappointment with his performance in interviews such as "Playboy," calling the entire project "garbage." With a fourth installment on its way to Netflix, some fans may hesitate to see how the character has changed 30 years later.

Before John G. Avildsen went on to direct "The Karate Kid" parts I-III, he teamed up with none other than Sylvester Stallone to create the best sports drama in the history of cinema, earning himself an Academy Award for best director for it. Stallone took over the next three sequels, but after some negative reception on both of their ends — Stallone failing to find success outside of his Rocky role and Avildsen bearing the weight of "The Karate Kid Part III" — the two teamed back up to recreate the glory days for Rocky V, putting Avildsen back in the director's chair. However, anyone who's seen the movie or glanced at the Rotten Tomatoes page will know their hopes didn't go as planned.

Supposedly concluding the story of Rocky Balboa, "Rocky V" left many disappointed with where Rocky ended up. Going from a down-on-his-luck underdog to a national hero back to nothing with financial troubles and a brain injury that leaves him unable to box wasn't exactly what others had envisioned for Rocky's end. In an interview with Jonathan Ross, Stallone also agreed the character's direction was misguided, rating the film a 0 out of 10. Luckily, 20 years later, Stallone reprised the role in "Rocky Balboa" and reestablished the character for the better.

If you were a kid who grew up on Disney movies from the '90s and 2000s, you're likely aware of the direct-to-video sequel phenomenon that plagued so many favorites. Their overall downgrade in quality made them an infamous part of Disney's history, but nothing is as bad as the film that started it all, "Aladdin" sequel "The Return of Jafar." Not only did it ruin the leads Aladdin and Jasmine by casting them aside in a haphazard story, but even more devastating was the butchering of the most treasured character, Genie.

Refusing to reprise his role due to Disney disregarding his wishes for the studio to reframe from using his voice in marketing campaigns, Robin Williams was replaced by the voice of Homer Simpson, Dan Castellaneta. To be fair, it didn't matter who the role went to because no one could've lived up to Williams' improvisational genius. Director of the original Ron Clements summed it up best by telling Vanity Fair, "Robin changed the way animated films were perceived. His brilliant comedy brought an adult appeal to animation that was new at the time. ... We wanted him because we thought his talents could bring something new and innovative to Disney animated features that could be exciting and entertaining. And he sure did!"