There have been plenty of massive movie franchises and long-running series that keep changing their cast every couple of years. This can be a result of a number of factors including controversial replacements, characters being killed off, or, in some circumstances, cast changes are built into the very fabric of the franchise. As franchises continue, cast members often come and go and protagonists get replaced to make way for a new generation or to inject some new energy into an ongoing series.
While cast changes are to be expected in franchises that have been running for decades, such as James Bond, there are other series, like the Bourne franchise, that surprised audiences with a completely new protagonist. There are some instances where actors have been fired or replaced due to controversy behind the scenes, or in other cases, the actors just felt like it was time to move on and leave the series. Whatever the reason, when a franchise has been running for a large number of movies there are sure to be a good deal of cast changes over the years.
10 Predator (1987 – 2022)
The Predator franchise has had five films in the main series
While the Predator series always featured the intelligent alien hunter race known as the Yautja, each movie also introduced a new cast of human characters who must face off against the creatures. Arnold Schwarzenegger famously led the original film as Alan “Dutch” Schafer, and other actors like Danny Glover, Adrien Brody, Boyd Holbrook, and Amber Midthunder have portrayed protagonists in the long-running Predator series. With so many sequels, prequels, and crossovers in the Predator series, the franchise has seen its fair share of character changes.
9 Transformers (2007 – Present)
The Transformers franchise had seven films
The cast changes in the Transformers franchise were surrounded by controversy as major characters, such as Sam Witwicky and Mikaela Banes disappeared from the series and were replaced with new actors. Sam’s actor Shia LaBeouf vanished without a trace after the third film as LaBeouf felt the character had run its course. Banes actor, Megan Fox left under worse terms as, following the release of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Fox compared director Michael Bay’s on-set attitude to that of Hitler in a Wonderland interview. Due to the fallout, Fox left the franchise, and her then-rising career took a major hit she has yet to fully recover from.
8 James Bond (1962 – Present)
The James Bond franchise has had 27 films
The adventures of MI6 spy James Bond have been ongoing across 27 films and seven actors have taken up the iconic role of the secret agent known under the codename 007 since Sean Connery first took up the part in the 1962 film Dr. No. Cast changes are built into the very nature of the James Bond franchise and every few years there is another reason why every 007 actor quit or got recast. The franchise was envisioned by Eon Productions as a generational-spanning series, and this means that for more than 60 years James Bond has hosted a revolving door of cast and characters who are continuously reimagined.
7 Spider-Man (2002 – Present)
The Spider-Man franchise has had eight live action films
Despite some earlier lesser-known adaptations, the Marvel Comics hero Spider-Man became a major figure on the big screen following the release of Sami Rami’s Spider-Man in 2002 starring Tobey Maguire. Since then, there has been a litany of sequels, reboots, and spin-offs that have explored the world of the web-slinging teenager Peter Parker. Spider-Man has been portrayed by Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland in a variety of series that all came together in Spider-Man: No Way Home where the multiverse linked all the various adaptations that viewers had been following for almost 20 years.
6 Batman (1943 – Present)
The Batman franchise has had 13 live-action films
The Batman franchise has seen a horde of cast and character changes since the Caped Crusader Gotham City philanthropist Bruce Wayne first appeared on the big screen in movie serials in 1943. Since then, Batman has been portrayed by nine different actors across 13 live-action movies. It is not just The Dark Knight who gets continuously recast as with each subsequent reboot of Batman all the villains in the Batman world are portrayed by new actors with Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, Jared Leto, and Joaquin Phoenix being among the many actors to play the Joker.
5 Jurassic Park (1993 – 2022)
The Jurassic Park franchise has had six films
The Jurassic Park franchise has seen many cast changes across a variety of releases since Steven Spielberg directed Jurassic Park in 1993. While the core trio of Sam Neil as Dr. Alan Grant, Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler, and Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcom have been established iconic characters in the Jurassic Park series, Chris Pratt as Owen Grady and Bryce Dallas Howard as Claire Dearing also took the lead in the Jurassic World trilogy. The success of this series being reimagined for a new generation showcased its ability to stay relevant almost 30 years after groundbreaking CGI first wowed filmgoers in theaters in the first Jurassic Park.
4 Bourne (2002 – 2016)
The Bourne franchise has had five films
While the character of Jason Bourne in the Bourne franchise has always been played by Matt Damon, the series has seen its fair share of character changes. In particular, the fourth instalment in the Bourne series, The Bourne Legacy, which did not feature Damon at all and instead centred on the new character of black ops agent Aaron Cross, played by Jeremy Renner. The Bourne Legacy attempted to continue the series with a completely new cast, however, Damon returned to the role in the following film Jason Bourne in 2016, which is the most recent release in the series.
3 Alien (1979 – Present)
The Alien franchise has seven films in the main series
Over more than 40 years, the Alien franchise has seen a large number of cast changes. Despite the series’ most iconic character Ellen Ripley being played by Sigourney Weaver in first four movies, Alien has also had several instalments with entirely different characters such as Ridley Scott’s prequel films Prometheus and Alien: Covenant as well as the upcoming stand-alone instalment Alien: Romulus. The cast change for the upcoming Alien movie also offers an opportunity to fix their decades-old mistake of not focusing on any younger protagonists in the Alien franchise.
2 Halloween (1978 – 2022)
The Halloween franchise has had 13 films
The first Halloween was one of the most influential slasher movies in horror history and acted as the starting point of a long-running franchise that would include plenty of cast changes. Across the various timelines and reboots of Halloween, a total of 21 actors have portrayed the serial killer Michael Myers, with six actors taking up the role in the original 1978 Halloween alone. Despite Myers’ most famous target Laurie Strode being readily associated with Jamie Lee Curtis’ iconic performance, even her character has been played by three different actors.
1 Terminator (1984 – 2019)
The Terminator franchise has had six films
Despite being readily associated with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s iconic performance as the cybernetic android T-800, the Terminator franchise has been reimagined several times with massive cast overhauls. Linda Hamilton played the mother of a future revolutionary Sarah Connor in the first two Terminator films, directed by James Camron, but was portrayed by Lena Headey in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Emilia Clarke in the reboot movie Terminator Genisys. Sarah’s son, John Connor was portrayed by Edward Furlong in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, but has also been played by Nick Stahl, Christian Bale, and Jason Clarke.
