History OvershadowedByAwesome / LiveActionFilms

** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseKaiju Rodan]] is a giant, HotBlooded, MagmaMan bird who can create village-ravaging cyclones just by flying, and he utterly ''trounces'' and mercilessly decimates a jet squadron deployed to occupy him. However, he shares the movie with two other Toho-originated monsters whom are capable of handing his ass to him, acting as the main Kaiju hero and the movie BigBad respectively: Godzilla himself (whom here [[spoiler:survives ''the very thing that vaporized the original Godzilla '''and''' goes full [[Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah Burning mode]] without dying'']]), and King Ghidorah (here returned to the character's original roots as a world-ending eldritch threat that's ''at least'' as powerful as the aforementioned Godzilla and can hold its own in a fight, with MultipleHeadCase for cool factor and with the abilities to form world-ending gigantic alien storms and dominate the other {{Kaiju}} on Earth, Rodan included, as its slaves).

** ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' lampshades this InUniverse [[spoiler: with Creator/AndrewGarfield’s Spidey from ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' universe saying he feels lame compared to his [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Raimi Trilogy]] and [[Film/SpiderManHomecoming MCU]] counterparts since he hasn’t even battled aliens on [[Film/SpiderMan3 earth]] or [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar space]], having at most fought a [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 crazy russian man in a rhino mech-suit]]. Despite this, he manages to prove he’s badassery and worth in the climax, not only to his allies but most importantly to himself after [[TeamDad Raimi Spidey]] tells him YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre.]]

** ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' lampshades this InUniverse [[spoiler: with Creator/AndrewGarfield’s Spidey from ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' universe saying he feels lame compared to his [[Film/SpiderManTrilogy Raimi Trilogy]] and [[Film/SpiderManHomecoming MCU]] counterparts since he hasn’t even battled aliens on [[Film/SpiderMan3 earth]] or [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar space]], having at most fought a [[Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan2 crazy russian man in a rhino mech-suit]]. Despite this, he manages to prove he’s badassery and worth in the climax, not only to his allies but most importantly to himself.]]

** ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's portrayer Creator/ChrisEvans himself joked on the ''Creator/JimmyFallon Show'' that he watched the movie and realized he "had no business with this crew! The [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] can rip jets in half, Thor is calling down thunder, ComicBook/IronMan can shoot missiles, and I'm over here going, 'I'll take the stairs!'" Evans said Cap's superpower is [[TheHeart "heart"]]. "He'll help you move on a Sunday!" Similarly, Creator/ScarlettJohansson expressed fears of this happening to her character Black Widow (another BadassNormal) being swept aside as an Avenger. Thankfully, this turned out [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier not to be true]] for both [[Film/BlackWidow2021 her]] and Cap.

** ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': [[Characters/MonsterVerseKaiju Rodan]] is a giant, HotBlooded, MagmaMan bird who can create village-ravaging cyclones just by flying, and he utterly ''trounces'' and mercilessly decimates a jet squadron deployed to occupy him. However, he shares the movie with two other Toho-originated monsters whom are capable of handing his ass to him, acting as the main Kaiju hero and the movie BigBad respectively: Godzilla himself (whom here [[spoiler:survives ''the very thing that vaporized the original Godzilla '''and''' goes full [[Film/GodzillaVsDestoroyah Burning mode]] without dying'']]), and also with King Ghidorah (here returned to the character's original roots as a world-ending eldritch threat that's ''at least'' as powerful as the aforementioned Godzilla and can hold its own in a fight, with MultipleHeadCase for cool factor and with the abilities to form world-ending gigantic alien storms and dominate the other {{Kaiju}} on Earth, Rodan included, as its slaves).

* Anguirus from the ''Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'' franchise, a giant dinosaur whose only power is his huge size and strength (no flight, no transformations, no crazy energy beams), is the trope's {{kaiju}} equivalent.

** Ironically, Hawkeye manages to avert this, due to director Creator/JossWhedon [[AuthorsSavingThrow amending for complaints about the first film]]. Despite initially losing to ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}, through {{Combat Pragmatis|t}}m Hawkeye's the only Avenger to take on and win against both Maximoff twins. Hawkeye manages to further avert this in his [[Series/{{Hawkeye}} solo series]], proving to be a Film/JohnWick-esque MookHorrorShow.

** ComicBook/CaptainAmerica's portrayer Creator/ChrisEvans himself joked on the ''Creator/JimmyFallon Show'' that he watched the movie and realized he "had no business with this crew! The [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk Hulk]] can rip jets in half, Thor is calling down thunder, ComicBook/IronMan can shoot missiles, and I'm over here going, 'I'll take the stairs!'" Evans said Cap's superpower is [[TheHeart "heart"]]. "He'll help you move on a Sunday!" Similarly, Creator/ScarlettJohansson expressed fears of this happening to her character Black Widow (another BadassNormal) being swept aside as an Avenger.

** Ironically, Hawkeye manages to avert this, due to director Creator/JossWhedon [[AuthorsSavingThrow amending for complaints about the first film]]. Despite initially losing to ComicBook/{{Quicksilver}}, through {{Combat Pragmatis|t}}m Hawkeye's the only Avenger to take on and win against both Maximoff twins.
** In ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'', despite being trained agents, [[ComicBook/{{Agent13}} Sharon Carter]] and Black Widow aren't at the level of a super-soldier. Perhaps to avoid calling too much attention to this, Sharon Carter's fight scene happens while the higher-powered Tony Stark, Comicbook/BlackPanther, etc, are temporarily unable to use their equipment, and Black Widow is unseen for most of the supers-vs-supers airport fight until a critical moment in the end.

* In the last 30 minutes, this happens to Batman in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''. When Doomsday shows up, both Superman and Wonder Woman give ''excellent'' displays of their power and skill against him, and even if they can't take him on they still make it clear that they're ''trying''. Batman, though, is basically powerless against him and spends the fight...running away (quite literally; the most he can do is duck when he gets shot at and leap away from attacks, then towards the end fires a single grenade at him). It's noticeable because a few minutes before that, he got an impressive scene showing him ''destroying'' Lex's hired goons, and he won the fight with Superman (though only because Superman was only trying to disarm Batman while Batman was giving it his all).

* One criticism of The Flash in ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'' is that both Superman and Wonder Woman come off as being just as fast as he is, making his one superpower seem rather redundant. Especially as Superman's strength and Wonder Woman's gauntlets complement their speed very effectively. And in case anyone is wondering: Batman is overshadowed in this film too once the actual League is assembled, although he at least still has a role as the brains and money of the group. One scene demonstrates this trope for the Flash: both he and Superman are rushing to evacuate the civilians around Steppenwolf's base. Barry saves a family... before turning around and seeing Superman carrying an entire apartment building to safety. ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' doesn't have any such issue meanwhile, as the film balances the team better (even when Superman shows up) and gives them more to do.

* One criticism of The Flash in ''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}'' is that both Superman and Wonder Woman come off as being just as fast as he is, making his one superpower seem rather redundant. Especially as Superman's strength and Wonder Woman's gauntlets complement their speed very effectively. And in case anyone is wondering: Batman is overshadowed in this film too once the actual League is assembled, although he at least still has a role as the brains and money of the group. One scene demonstrates this trope for the Flash: both he and Superman are rushing to evacuate the civilians around Steppenwolf's base. Barry saves a family... before turning around and seeing Superman carrying an entire apartment building to safety.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', pretty much anyone compared to a force sensitive that is trained to use the force, even without much experience, is this. While force sensitives with no training can draw on the force instinctively to give them an edge, a trained force user gets so many advantages over regular people that it's stupidly unfair. A force initiate that can only use the basics still gains CombatClairvoyance, SuperReflexes, MindOverMatter abilities, minor levels of MindReading, and general {{Clairvoyance}}. Then their are the [[ThePaladin Jedi]] [[MagicKnight Knights]] and the [[BlackKnight Sith]] [[BewareTheSuperman Order]] who are not only masters of the force but also using it in combat which means that can take down some of the best BadassNormal fighters in the universe like they were nothing more than {{mooks}}.

* In ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', Will is supposed to be the main character. He has the sympathetic perspective and gets the romantic subplot after all. The thing is, you just plain can't outdo Creator/JohnnyDepp in a role like [[CrazyAwesome that]].

* It's not that uncommon for a show-stealing performance to come from a supporting actor over the lead. Examples include Creator/ChristianBale's performance in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' being overshadowed by Creator/HeathLedger's (and to a lesser extent, by Creator/TomHardy's in ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises''); Creator/JohnTravolta in ''Film/PulpFiction'' getting overshadowed by Creator/SamuelLJackson; Creator/RachelMcAdams stealing the show from Creator/LindsayLohan in ''Film/MeanGirls''; Creator/KevinSpacey over Stephen Baldwin in ''Film/TheUsualSuspects''...

** Somewhat ironically, when the film was released, much more praise was heaped upon F. Murray Abraham's performance as Salieri than on Tom Hulce's as Mozart. Both men were nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars that year but Abraham won and his performance is now the one most remembered from the film.

** In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', Steve's group gets hit with this. They get a dramatic introduction, but are mainly confined to making preparations for the battle in Wakanda. The rest of the film is about Thor's revenge quest which has him [[TookALevelInBadass level grinding in badass]], while Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Dr. Strange team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to fight Thanos in space, so the heroes on Earth can't help but feel underused in comparison. The writers even commented that Thor would have stolen the entire film [[spoiler: if not for his fatal mistake at the end]].

** In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', Steve's group gets hit with this. They get a dramatic introduction, but are mainly confined to making preparations for the battle in Wakanda. The rest of the film is about Thor's revenge quest which has him [[TookALevelInBadass level grinding in badass]], while Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Dr. Strange team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy to fight Thanos in space, so the Avengers on Earth can't help but get the short end of the stick. The writers even commented that Thor would have stolen the entire film [[spoiler: if not for his fatal mistake at the end]].