History AdaptationalHeroism / LiveActionFilms

* In the comic book story arcs ''Film/{{Aquaman|2018}}'' is based on, [[spoiler:Vulko]] is the BigBad; manipulating Orm, Black Manta and the Trench and provoking an Atlantean attack on the surface that kills hundreds of innocent people, all in order to force Arthur to take the throne. In the movie, he's TheMentor and an unambiguous good guy, with most of his villainous actions [[AdaptationalVillainy given to]] Orm.

* ''Film/Daredevil2003'':
** ComicBook/{{Elektra}} wants to avenge her father's death by killing Daredevil, whom she falsely believes to be his killer, and the worst thing she does is to attack Daredevil under false pretenses. In the comics, she's a contract assassin who killed people for kicks while in college, and once belonged to an evil cult of ninjas known as the Hand.
** Elektra's father was an abusive husband and implied to have molested his daughter. While not much is shown, it's clear he's just an overprotective father who still has security following Elektra despite the fact that she's an adult capable of protecting herself.
** In Elektra's [[Film/{{Elektra}} spin-off film]], Stick is a nicer, more caring person than the cynical hustler who put Matt through Hell while training him.

* ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'':
** In ''ComicBook/BatmanYearOne'', Commissioner Loeb was a CorruptCop and part of the BigBadDuumvirate. ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy'' paints him as an honest cop, perhaps incompetent but not openly villainous.
** James Gordon Jr., who displays no signs of being the AxCrazy bastard that he was in the comics. Rather, he seems like a normal kid.
** In ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', Harvey Dent falsely claims to be Batman, knowing full well what he's risking, in order to appease a mob while leaving the real Batman free to do what's needed. Unlike the film, the comic doesn't directly show what Dent was like before [[spoiler:he became Two-Face]], but there's no indication of any such heroism in his background.
* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse:
** Dr. Emil Hamilton has a history of going through the HeelFaceRevolvingDoor in the comics, but ''Film/ManOfSteel'' sees him [[spoiler: die a hero and never become a supervillain]].
** In ''ComicBook/BatmanTheDarkKnightReturns'', one of ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''[='=]s influences, Superman goes after Batman on the orders of the President of the United States, who only wants Batman brought in because Batman's effectiveness makes the government look bad. In the movie, Superman is genuinely opposed to Batman's vigilantism and only goes to Gotham because Lex Luthor is holding his mother hostage.
** Comicbook/{{Deadshot}}, ComicBook/HarleyQuinn and several other characters in ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'' are portrayed as more moral than their comic counterparts and despite their insistence that they're "the bad guys" but really come off as quite heroic. But the most blatant example is '''ComicBook/TheJoker!''' Of all people, as in comics he's a MonsterClown who frequently abuses Harley, in the movie he's a caring boyfriend who risks his life several times to rescue her and succeeds in doing so in the end. [[spoiler: ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020'' corrects this, with Joker being portrayed as abusive enough that Harley leaves him. Though even then in the modern comics, he's chased Harley down and held her captive for "betraying him" whereas in the film he just leaves her alone meaning he's still far less evil than the comic version. In The Stinger of ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' he's a Retired Monster who forms an alliance with Batman.]]
** ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020'' does this to Helena Bertinelli aka ComicBook/{{Huntress}}. In the ComicBook/PostCrisis comics she's a vicious AntiHero who has absolutely no qualms about killings criminals, and though she does mellow out somewhat in later comics she's brutal enough that she makes an easy transition to villainess in ''Series/{{Arrow}}''. In the film, Huntress's amoral traits are toned down and she actively saves and helps people, never once showing her comic book counterpart's willingness to torture suspects or kill a teenager and crack jokes about it.
** ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'' besides the aforementioned Harley has four pronounced examples in Bloodsport, Polka-Dot Man, Ratcatcher and Nanaue aka King Shark.
*** Bloodsport when he first appeared in ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' comics was a PsychoForHire BigScaryBlackMan and PhonyVeteran who had no qualms using a innocent woman as a HumanShield against Supes and is no less AxCrazy in later comics. In the film he's at worst a PunchClockVillain and JerkWithAHeartOfGold, who has a daughter whom Waller threatens to get him onboard the mission and he also shows great [[PapaWolf care]] for his teammates especially Ratcatcher II. [[spoiler: By the end of the movie, Bloodsport is willingly to give genuine heroism a go by disobeying his orders to save Corto Maltese from Starro. This is most likely a result of his character being a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to Deadshot from the previous ''Suicide Squad'' film.]]
*** Polka-Dot Man although silly is still a unpleasant {{Idiosyncrazy}} petty criminal, with a psychotic streak seen in later DarkerAndEdgier comics like ''Batman: GCPD''. In the film Polka-Dot Man is very much TheWoobie, thanks to his DarkAndTroubledPast with his MadScientist mother and his [[CharacterDevelopment arc]] from a man wishing for death to someone [[GoodFeelsGood overjoyed]] at being a superhero is beautiful [[spoiler: and [[SurprisinglySuddenDeath tragic]] in its conclusion.]]
*** Ratcatcher in Batman comics is a skulking lunatic and MisanthropeSupreme who places rodent above human life and has no qualms trying to kill everyone in Gotham with a SwarmOfRats as TheBeastmaster. The film version of Ratcatcher is TheAntiNihilist, who states to his beloved daughter/[[LegacyCharacter successor]] Cleo that if the lowliest and most despised of all creatures such as rats can have a purpose, than everyone can.
*** King Shark is little more than TheBrute in ''Aquaman'' comics being a serial killer who works for villainous teams like Secret Six or Secret Society of Super-Villains for no reason beyond money, bloodlust or just ForTheEvulz. In the film, Nanaue similar to his ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn'' show incarnation is more innocent as lacking the awareness and intellect of his comic version he doesn't attempt to eat Ratcatcher II out of malice but simple hunger and after being stopped and befriends Cleo, becoming a GentleGiant who helps save the day by the end.

* Unlike the comics, where he eventually betrayed ComicBook/ThePunisher, Microchip spends all of his screentime in ''Film/PunisherWarZone'' as still loyal to Frank.

* ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'':
** In ''Film/SpiderMan2'', ComicBook/DoctorOctopus is rewritten a good man turned into a monster by an accident, and he even [[RedemptionEqualsDeath dies heroically]] in the films' climax. [[spoiler: Reaffirmed in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' as while Ock begins the movie trying to kill Peter Parker (although as he discovers it's [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse not]] ''his'' Peter), he gets his fractured mental state fixed when Peter designs a new inhibitor chip for his tentacles and out of gratitude, helps the good guys in the climax, even getting SparedByAdaptation.]]
** The Green Goblin is less sympathetic, but gets a [[spoiler:dying]] moment of decency that would be utterly foreign to the comic-book version of ComicBook/NormanOsborn. Though at the very least prior to being the Green Goblin, Norman was shown to be a good man if a bit of an aloof father and stressed businessman, and the Goblin formula drove him insane and created a split personality. In the comics, as Peter pointed out, "He was a bad man turned worse". [[spoiler: [[AdaptationalVillainy Inverted]] in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'' where Norman is TruerToTheText, personally believing the Goblin formula was a blessing and not a curse, he encourages the other villains to embrace their power as "[[AGodAmI gods]]", straight up kills MCU Aunt May purely ForTheEvulz and tries goad to that universe's Peter into giving into murder. While he is ultimately rid of the Goblin formula and SparedByAdaptation, it's only after severe damage is done and it's still left ambiguous if he's truly reformed.]]
** The Sandman is similarly softened in ''Film/SpiderMan3'', but this may simply be an adaptation of his heroic, reformed characterization in the 1980s and 1990s. In the comics, he makes a HeelFaceTurn, but in the movie, he only ''ever'' stole to get the money needed to save his DelicateAndSickly daughter, and departs on good terms with the hero after telling his story. This is... ''not'' how their early encounters went in the comics. [[spoiler: Sandman's heroism also crosses over universes as he selflessly aids MCU Spidey while fighting Electro in ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', a level goodness beyond even his reformed comic counterpart.]]
** Peter himself in the famous burglar incident. In the comics, he'd let the burglar go figuring it just wasn't his problem. That's why it was such a turning point when that guy went on to kill Uncle Ben. The "great responsibility" thing really hadn't sunk in. Here, he lets the robber go because the underground wrestling arena had cheated him, so it feels like poetic justice to him and his mistake is more understandable. This change goes with a change to Peter's personality in ''all'' adaptations -- early Spidey could be legitimately hotheaded or arrogant at times and had to grow out of it.
** Even with all the flaws without which J. Jonah Jameson wouldn't have been recognisable as a character, this version never takes his hatred of Spidey to such extremes as becoming a villain by funding illegal genetic experiments to dispose of him. As for Scorpion, he may appear in the tie-in video game and is still a genetically engineered cyborg man, but one that Jameson has not a hand in.

* ''Film/Venom2018'': Both the symbiote and Eddie Brock get this. At the time of Venom's origin, Eddie Brock was a danger to himself and others, and with the symbiote attached, spent several years trying to kill and possibly eat Peter Parker. In the film, the symbiote decides pretty quickly that it actually kind of likes Earth, and Eddie is much more heroic and is very quick to restrict the number of people it is allowed to eat and under what circumstances.