FromMickey 17toThe Alto Knights, 2025 has an unusually high number of upcoming movies starring lead actors playing multiple different roles. 2025 is shaping up to be a very interesting year for movies.Paul Thomas Anderson has a new film starring Leonardo DiCapriothat’s rumored to be a modernized adaptation ofVineland, James Gunn’s rebooted DC Universe will begin proper with the release ofSuperman, and Tom Cruise’sMission: Impossiblehero Ethan Hunt is coming back to the big screen one last time forThe Final Reckoning.
The movies of 2025 will continue a few ongoing trends in the film industry. The new versions ofLilo & StitchandHow to Train Your Dragonwill continue the trend of live-action remakes of animated classics.ScreamboatandPeter Pan’s Neverland Nightmarewill continue the trend ofhorror movies based on iconic characters in the public domain. It looks like 2025 will start a new trend, too, sincefour major releases coming out this year have their lead actors playing more than one character.
Several 2025 Movies Feature Actors Playing Multiple Roles
A bunch of upcoming 2025 movies have their lead actors playing multiple roles.Michael B. Jordan is playing twin brothersElijah and Elias in Ryan Coogler’s vampire thrillerSinners.Elle Fanning is set to play two sistersin Dan Trachtenberg’s new futuristicPredatorsequelPredator: Badlands.Robert De Niro is playing rival 1950s mob bosses Vito Genovese and Frank CostelloinBarry Levinson’s crime biopicThe Alto Knights.Robert Pattinson will play “expendable” Mickey Barnes and 18 of his clonesin Bong Joon-ho’s sci-fi satireMickey 17.
Actors Playing Multiple Roles In The Same Movie Is Becoming More Common
The Multiverse Trend Is Making Dual Roles More Common
Actors playing multiple roles in movies is nothing new: Peter Sellers played three roles inDr. Strangelove, Tom Hardy played both Kray twins inLegend, and Eddie Murphy played the entire Klump family (except for Ernie, Jr.) inThe Nutty Professor. But it’s becoming more common for mainstream movies to feature an actor playing multiple leading roles; it’s a great showcase of their range and comedic talents. InSonic the Hedgehog 3,Jim Carrey played both Dr. Robotnik and his grandfather Gerald.
It’s becoming more common for mainstream movies to feature an actor playing multiple leading roles; it’s a great showcase of their range and comedic talents.
This trendcan largely be attributed to the trend of multiversal storytelling in comic book movies. Benedict Cumberbatch played multiple variants of Stephen Strange inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Ezra Miller played a pair of mismatched Barry Allens inThe Flash. Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman played multiple variants of their titular mutants inDeadpool & Wolverine. As long as superhero movies keep exploring the limitless possibilities of the multiverse, their actors will have plenty of alternative roles to play.
