We often learn about a certain actor signing on for a certain part and immediately decide it’s a bit of a stretch. Most of the time we’re right. But on occasion questionable castings turn out to be awesome. Here are eight examples of just that.

Matt Damon as Jason Bourne. In 2002 the majority of reactions to The Bourne Identity trailer were some version of, “Really? Matt Damon?” No one had an issue with Matt Damon the actor, but there were a lot of questions about Matt Damon the action star. Namely, could he kick our ass? Little did anyone know all three Bourne movies would rock our collective faces and make us totally forget The Talented Mr. Ripley ever happened.

Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man. Casting an aging drug addict who recently finished a stint on Ally McBeal as the billionaire womanizing superhero for a summer blockbuster seemed unorthodox even to us. But then RDJ brought the awesome and MADE Iron Man the movie that it is.

Jeff Bridges as the Dude. The Coen brothers followed up the success of Fargo with a quirky flick about a burnt out anti-hero played by…a middle-aged guy who spent his last movie sucking face with Barbara Streisand?! Ten years later and we can repeat every line of The Big Lebowski verbatim. Who knew?

Michael Keaton as Batman. We don’t have any recollection of the initial reactions, but we have to think casting Mr. Mom as Bruce Wayne was viewed as a bit of a stretch. Moral of the story: never doubt Keaton’s versatility. Word is he’s playing Barack Obama in an upcoming biopic.

Daniel Craig as James Bond. A blonde Bond? How shocking. Bonds have dark hair. Anyone who had seen Layer Cake should have realized Craig as Bond was definitely doable, but we have to admit we never anticipated the added dimension of brutal awesomeness he brought to the role. If he keeps it up he could go down as the second best Bond ever.

Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow. Disney. Magic Kingdom rides. Dudes in eyeliner. Johnny Depp? If your initial reaction wasn’t, “Worst idea ever” you’re either lying or you suck.

Bruce Willis as John McClane. Before Die Hard Bruce Willis was, “That dude on that show with Cybill Shepherd, he’s alright I guess.” Now we plan on naming our first born John McClane, regardless of gender.

Heath Ledger as the Joker. You knew it. We’d lose our website license if we made a movie list in 2008 without including a Dark Knight reference. There’s not much talk of it now, but Ledger was announced as the Joker back when “I just can’t quit you” was really catching fire. Casting the guy from Brokeback as Batman’s most notorious villain seemed like an odd choice at the time. And we’re pretty sure we made a joke involving open mouth kissing and Jake Gyllenhaal that seems distasteful now.

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