Often, when a movie turns into a box-office hit, the audienceeagerly anticipates its sequel. Many times, these sequels are pre-planned during the development of the first film, bearing in mind that it may take a series of installments to deliver the full story, something that frequently happens with screen adaptations such asHarry Potter. On other occasions, sequels are triggered almost fortuitously, spurred by the unexpected success of the original film. These follow-ups usually focus on a new storyline starring familiar and beloved characters and, due to the high expectations of the audience, they can either turn into huge hits or resounding flops.
Regardless of the circumstances, a sequel implies a great commitment from both the production team and the cast, as their dedication to a character and story usually lasts longer than expected. For many reasons, in some cases, actors are unable to reprise their roles, which forces producers to find different ways to replace them in the sequel. Sometimes, they directly decide tokill off the characterfrom the sequel, or if possible, to technologically reconstruct them, according to the relevance of the character.
Other times, they choose to replace the original actor with another one who looks similar, hoping that the substitution won’t feel too harsh. This article reviews eight instances in which an actor had to be replaced by another one in a sequel and why.
Update August 17, 2025: This article has been updated with even more actors that were replaced in film sequels.
15Crispin Glover — Back to the Future Part II
Crispin Gloverwas cast as George McFly, the father ofBack to the Future’s main character, Marty. Following the blockbuster’s popularity, plans forBack to the Future Part IIwere quickly put in motion, calling back the actors from the previous cast. From the very beginning of negotiations, Glover was unable to reach an agreement with the producers: he asked for too much money to be involved in the script.
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Upon his refusal, the script was restructured in order to keep the character on screen as little as possible, with George being played by actor Jeffrey Weissman, who wore make-up to resemble Glover. In addition, images of Glover from the first film were used, which led the actor to file a lawsuit claiming that they had used his image without his consent, as outlinedby Slash Film. Despite this and some other modifications, the film still became a box-office hit.
14Emma Fuhrmann - Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
The role of Cassie Lang has been played by many actresses in the MCU. The first was Abby Ryder Fortson inAnt-ManandAnt-Man and the Wasp. Fans always knew Cassie Lang would eventually grow up and take on a superhero mantle as she did in the comics when she joined The Young Avengers.Avengers: Endgameused the five-year time jump to age Cassie Lang up, with actressEmma Fuhrmannhaving a brief role in the film.
Many fans, and Fuhrmann herself, assumed this meant she would be Cassie Lang in the MCU moving forward and eventually step into the role of a superhero in the third film,Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. After all, Marvel Studios has cast many relatively unknown talents and launched them to superstardom. Yet that isn’t what happened. Fuhrmann was replaced with rising star Kathryn Newton forAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.Fuhrmann did not find that she would not be reprising her roleat the same time everyone else did during the 2020 Disney investor call.
13Rachel Weisz — The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
In 1999’s reboot ofThe Mummy,Rachel Weiszis Evelyn Carnahan, the clever librarian who ends up marrying the main character, Rick O’Connell (Brendan Fraser). The second installment ofThe Mummy, in 2001, featured all the main characters reprising their roles, but this was not the case for the third installment,The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, in 2008. Several years after the second movie, Weisz decided to decline the offer to reprise her role as Evelyn.
Per Screen Rant, the main reason for declining the part was that the actress wanted to spend more time with her family, but she also wasn’t very happy with the script. As a result, the character of Evelyn was played by Maria Bello, but unfortunately, the third film in the franchise was poorly received by critics and audiences alike.
12Terrence Howard — Iron Man 2
Terrence Howardappeared in the 2008 movieIron Manas Colonel James Rhodes, an Air Force officer and close friend of Tony Stark. Yet, the actor did not rejoin the MCU for any other film, since, upon being approached to take part in theIron Mansequel, he could not come to an agreement with the producers about his salary.
Thus, sinceIron Man 2and subsequently in other films of this cinematic universe, the character of Rhodey was entrusted to Don Cheadle. Thankfully, the fans were happy with this new casting, and grew fond of him throughout the rest of the films.
11Gloria Foster — The Matrix Revolutions
During the first two films ofThe Matrixfranchise,Gloria Fosteris The Oracle, a crucial character in the development of the plot. However, forThe Matrix Revolutions, the third installment released in 2003, Foster was sadly unable to take part as the actress passed away two years earlier due to complications from diabetes. The person in charge of carrying on with the character was Mary Alice, which resulted in a slight modification of the script to explain the transformation of the character’s appearance.
10Kimberly J. Brown — Return to Halloweentown
Kimberly J. Browncaptured the hearts of audiences everywhere with her spirited and memorable portrayal of teen witch Marnie Piper in 1998’sHalloweentownand two of its fan-favorite sequels, sharing the screen with Hollywood legend Debbie Reynolds in the Disney franchise. For the fourth and final entry in the spooktacular series,Return to Halloweentown, devoted viewers were left stunned when Brown did not reprise her role as Marnie and was instead replaced by Sarah Paxton, with the decision significantly affecting the film’s popularity.
While the film’s producerSheri Singer later statedthat recasting Marnie “was not something we wanted to do. We could not come to terms that we felt were fair. We just weren’t able to. We couldn’t make the deal work”,Brown disputed these claims, stating, “Some people heard that I was working on something, which was not the case at the time… I was bummed and obviously loved the character, but they just decided to hire another actor.”
9Tyler Mane — X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Former professional wrestlerTyler Manelanded the role of Wolverine’s feline-like foe and sadistic Brotherhood member Sabretooth in the 2000 superhero flickX-Men, with the two going head-to-head in the first installment in the epic Marvel franchise. For 2009’sX-Men Origins: Wolverine,Liev Schreiber appeared opposite Hugh Jackman and took over the part, with the character having a more prominent storyline as his backstory and relationship with Wolverine were explored more.
Mane had hoped to reprise his role in the sequel and revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that no one had asked him to do so; hetold the outlet, “That was the producers’ decision. The storyline was them rising as brothers, and Liev [Schreiber] and Hugh look a lot closer in that respect, so I understand. I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed. I’d love to get my claws back into that role. But that’s Hollywood.”
8Claudia Wells — Back to the Future Part II
Claudia Wellsoriginated the role of Marty McFly’s high school sweetheart Jennifer Parker, in the celebrated ’80s sci-fi classicBack to the Future, and the blockbuster hit became a massive success that effectively launched an enduring and cherished franchise. Elisabeth Shue replaced her in the following two installments, a decision Wells herself made after her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and she subsequently decided to put her Hollywood career on hold.
Wells never regretted her decision to step back from acting at the time,telling the HuffPostin 2015, “My mother had fourth-stage lymphoma… I had so much happening personally that deep down, I never considered reprising my role, and deep in my soul, I knew this was the right choice for me.” Both Wells and Shue made the character of Jennifer their own and delivered dynamic performances in the series.
7Richard Harris — Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Richard Harris' story bears some similarity to that of Gloria Foster. Harris was responsible for bringing Albus Dumbledore, the mythical headmaster of Hogwarts, to life inHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s StoneandHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. A few weeks prior to this latter film’s premiere, the actor passed away, so production was left with the daunting task of replacing an actor who was already beloved by audiences.
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InHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the 2004 film, Michael Gambon made his first appearance as Albus Dumbledore, and through the use of makeup, the actor looked very similar to Harris. However, the tone of this new Dumbledore was considerably harsher than the one in the first two films, something that was criticized by fans. For that reason, by the next movie, his personality was somewhat softened, though progressively, as the movies got darker, so did Dumbledore.
6Rachelle Lefevre — The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Rachelle Lefevrestarred as the red-haired, catlike predator and fierce vampire Victoria inTwilightandThe Twilight Saga: New Moonbefore the villainous role was taken over by Bryce Dallas Howard forThe Twilight Saga: Eclipse.The studio claimed the decision to recast the character in 2009 was due to scheduling conflicts with the actress' other projectBarney’s Version, but Lefevre was left heartbroken by her dismissal and upset by being replaced.
Levfevre told Entertainment Weeklyshortly after, “I was stunned by Summit’s decision to recast the role of Victoria forEclipse. I was fully committed to the Twilight saga and to the portrayal of Victoria… Although the production schedule forEclipseis over three months long, Summit said they had a conflict during those ten days and would not accommodate me. Given the length of filming forEclipse, never did I fathom I would lose the role over a ten day overlap.”
