Best Casting Decisions for Iconic Characters

[Hanley!]

Can people give examples of what they think are some of the best casting decisions for iconic pop culture characters? Famous characters from books, or stories, or comic books or even from older films. Actors who were under a lot of pressure to do justice to an established character, and knocked it out of the park.

To make it a bit more fun, I'm going to ask people to break down their responses into two categories: traditional takes on the character, and new unusual takes on the character.

I'll start things off with two of my own.

Traditional take: Ian McKellan as Magneto
New take: Andrew Scott as Moriarty, in Stephen Moffat's Sherlock series

[Circled Square]

Freddie Highmore has done great as Norman Bates. Even down to Anthony Perkins' mannerisms.

[DanielsonTHAGOAT]

Heath Ledger as The Joker is the only correct answer.

You can also throw in Daniel Day Lewis' portrayal of President Lincoln

[Everlong]

I've really, really enjoyed Daniel Craig as Bond. He's brought some realism and depth to the role that hadn't been there recently.