History TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter / LiveActionFilms

* Hawkeye is considered one of the most underused Avenger and superhero. In contrast to his fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and other BadassNormal heroes, he doesn't have enough moments to shine (he spent most of ''The Avengers'' as a brainwashed pawn of Loki) and has the least amount of screentime (he didn't appear in any Phase 2 movie aside from ''Age of Ultron''). Granted, his archery skills wouldn't be much use against world-ending aliens and robots, but he was absent from more grounded installments like ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'' and ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' that could have put him on a more level playing field. Subverted in ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' when [[spoiler:Hawkeye gets to play a major role in restoring those erased by The Snap, including his wife and kids, the loss of which sent him on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge during the 5-year TimeSkip killing various criminal organizations around the world as the sword-wielding Ronin]]. Marvel will finally put him in the limelight in [[Series/Hawkeye2021 his own Disney+ show]] - granted, it's one that involves PassingTheTorch to [[Comicbook/KateBishop the other Hawkeye]], but at least finally Clint got some attention.

** Comicbook/{{Cyclops}}, leader of the X-Men and one of the main characters of the comics: the guy was less than a cameo. The character had to deal with the ''death of his lover'', but apparently that wasn't worth exploring, nor were his, you know, actual leadership abilities. Also, with Xavier's death, the idea of Cyke taking leadership of the X-Men as a whole and not just the field team was very doable (he's been the leader of the majority of the mutants for years in the comics), and would've made sense in the context of the story. But no, he was thrown out like yesterday's trash just so Fox could have more of the eternally overexposed Wolverine. This was partly due to James Marsden opting to do ''Film/SupermanReturns'' which clashed with the filming of the third film - so he had to be written out.
** The film wastes not only Colossus but Comicbook/{{Psylocke}} and Multiple Man as well. Even Callisto could have gotten more characterization mileage than simply being another of ComicBook/{{Magneto}}'s lackeys. Basically, there are two kinds of characters in the third film: on one hand, you have the characters who could all be the poster children for this trope. On the other hand, you have ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}.

** Wade Wilson[=/=]Comicbook/{{Deadpool}}. After getting the chance to display a weary snarky persona, he's taken out of the film until the climax, where we see that Stryker has basically turned him into a HumanoidAbomination. With his mouth sewn shut, essentially robbing him of the sole trait he had in the movie. Luckily, he gets [[Film/Deadpool2016 much better]] [[Film/Deadpool2 received movies later]], the latter of which quite blatantly mocks his characterization in the film as it ends with [[spoiler: Deadpool using time travel to kill his unpopular past self.]]
** Comic fans had been calling for Comicbook/{{Gambit}} to show up in the movies since the first X-Men film. When he finally does here he's little more than a built-up throwaway gag.

* ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'': The only mutants in the future who get any meaningful dialogue are Xavier and Magneto, with the rest essentially being glorified cameos, even established characters like Storm, Iceman, and Comicbook/KittyPryde. This is mostly a result of several scenes cut from the film in order to keep the runtime short. Those hoping for more of the ''First Class'' mutants in future installments had their hopes dashed when nearly all of them were [[BusCrash killed offscreen]]. Unless said characters are revealed to be NotQuiteDead (which certainly could happen with Emma Frost as she was not among the autopsies of confirmed dead mutants) or come BackFromTheDead, they aren't going to be used again - which is a bit strange when you consider that this movie resurrected every other character.

** Unlike previous installments (in which she made token cameo appearances, sometimes as a DamselInDistress), Comicbook/{{Jubilee|MarvelComics}} was intended to play a bigger role in ''Apocalypse''. Lana Condor was cast to play the character and was a big part of the ViralMarketing campaign (appearing in an in-universe ad promoting the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters). However, her role in the final film is minimal at best -- she's in the background of several shots, goes to a movie with Scott, Jean and Kurt, then gets knocked unconscious by [[spoiler:General Stryker]] and doesn't appear again until the very end of the film, after the final battle. It doesn't help that Condor herself mentioned that she had scenes showcasing her powers that were cut from the final product, as well as a longer mall sequence which [[MissingTrailerScene only appeared in a TV spot]].

** Unlike previous installments (in which she made token cameo appearances, sometimes as a DamselInDistress), Comicbook/JubileeMarvelComics was intended to play a bigger role in ''Apocalypse''. Lana Condor was cast to play the character and was a big part of the ViralMarketing campaign (appearing in an in-universe ad promoting the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters). However, her role in the final film is minimal at best -- she's in the background of several shots, goes to a movie with Scott, Jean and Kurt, then gets knocked unconscious by [[spoiler:General Stryker]] and doesn't appear again until the very end of the film, after the final battle. It doesn't help that Condor herself mentioned that she had scenes showcasing her powers that were cut from the final product, as well as a longer mall sequence which [[MissingTrailerScene only appeared in a TV spot]].

* ''Film/MackennasGold'': Hesh-Ke and Hachita. The former has no dialogue, the latter is only SuddenlyVoiced in one scene, and neither of them do anything to seriously affect the plot, instead just hanging around looking menacing. Hesh-Ke's interesting backstory with Mackenna and Hachita's belated EnigmaticMinion reveal are interesting, but lack any real focus or depth, when many fans would have liked seeing Hesh-Ke and Hachita be prominently fleshed out in a way actually important to the plot.

*** Melanie is pregnant by Brandon, is the principal's daughter, and is close friends with Penelope, all of which could have given her more reasons to interact with the other characters.* ''Film/TheNightOfTheGrizzly'': Cole's niece Meg is one of the least important or developed characters in the movie, and many people agree this is a shame, as she shows some promise in her UST-filled interactions with Curry's younger son and the comic moment where she takes a drink from a spiked punchbowl.

* ''Film/TheNightOfTheGrizzly'': Cole's niece Meg is one of the least important or developed characters in the movie, and many people agree this is a shame, as she shows some promise in her UST-filled interactions with Curry's younger son and the comic moment where she takes a drink from a spiked punchbowl.

* Double-whammy version for Minn-Erva in ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}''. In the comics, Minn-Erva was a Kree HotScientist and Eugenicist whose pet project was using Mar-Vell's genes to improve the Kree, creating an interesting connection between Minn-Erva and both Mar-Vell and Carol. The movie abandons this backstory, with promotional material describing Minn-Erva as the previous star player of Star-Force who feels threatened by Carol's power and competence. Despite either of these backstories providing plenty of depth for the character, the movie itself [[spoiler:uses Minn-Erva as little more than another goon for the Kree empire, ignoring any potential character development she could have gotten. The nail in the coffin is that she seemingly gets killed off in the finale, preventing her from getting any future character arc to live up to her potential]].

** Due to the inherent KillEmAll nature of this franchise, many films have at least one character who is regarded this way. Tommy's sister Trish from ''Film/FridayThe13thTheFinalChapter'' (who never appears again despite being sister of TheHero of the franchise), Pam Roberts from ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVANewBeginning'' (who was originally set to return but was scrapped), and Sean Robertson from ''Film/FridayThe13thPartVIIIJasonTakesManhattan'' (who was passed over for an appearance in ''ComicBook/FreddyVsJasonVsAsh'' in favor of his less popular co-lead Rennie) tend to top the "wish they'd appeared more/wish they'd come back" lists most often.

** Morgan's status as a guy who's only working for the villains because the heroes fired him could have been played up a lot more, and he doesn't even get to fight Dalton onscreen during the climax.

* ''Film/TheNightOfTheGrizzly'': Cole's niece Meg is one of the least important or developed characters in the movie, and many people agree this is a shame, as she shows some promise in her UST-filled interactions with Curry’s younger son and the comic moment where she takes a drink from a spiked punchbowl.

* ''Film/PacificRim'': A number of viewers were disappointed that none of the Jaegers aside from Gypsy Danger really get a chance to shine, particularly Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon, which are destroyed almost immediately in their first and only battle in the movie.

** In the actual movie, that Zoe Bell 'character' does nothing to suggest that death is a waste.

* ''Film/RoadHouse:''

* Believe it or not, [[OverarchingVillain Thanos himself]] falls victim to this in ''Film/AvengersEndgame.'' He's killed in the first twenty minutes with [[DroppedABridgeOnHim little fanfare,]] completely throwing any further CharacterDevelopment out the window, when he could have been shown that his attempt to "balance" the universe had ''not'' been WorthIt, and thus be forced into a Redemption arc like his comics counterpart. Instead, he's replaced with his past self who has not undergone the sacrifices or hardships from ''Infinity War,'' thus coming across as more of a GenericDoomsdayVillain and making the final battle feel far less [[ItsPersonal personal]].

* ''Film/Halo4ForwardUntoDawn'' builds the backstory for young Thomas Lasky, future Captain of the UNSC ''Infinity'', who learns to shoulder responsibility in the face of doom thanks to the example of Master Chief. As for his supportive best friend Chyler Silva, she gets promoted to his girlfriend for forty minutes before getting abruptly StuffedIntoTheFridge. ''{{VideoGame/Halo 4}}'' then introduces Sarah Palmer, the chief officer of the ''Infinity''[='s=] Spartan-[=IVs=] [[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute who is also]] TheLancer to Lasky.