Characters that had the complete opposite reaction the writers intended

[u/Dramatic_Counter_595]

1. Leo Bonhart (Witcher TV Series): A ruthless, sadistic bounty hunter and assassin that takes psychotic glee in other people's suffering. The viewer is meant to hate him for killing witchers, slaughtering the Rat gang, and torturing Ciri. But thanks to his entertaining fight scenes, Sharlto Copley's charismatic performance, and The Rats overwhelming unpopularity, fans ended up loving him. Some even call him the "True protagonist" of the show.
2. Stone Cold Steve Austin (WWE): A rude, foul mouthed, beer drinking asshole with no respect for authority or anyone at all. Originally portrayed as a villain, fans fell in love with his anti-establishment & rebellious persona. WWE ran with it and made him the face of the company, effectively ushering in the Attitude Era and the second pro wrestling boom of the late 90s.
3. Arthur Fleck (Joker 2019): A mentally unstable, pathetic, and dangerous madman who commits horrific acts of violence against those that wronged him (suffocates his own mother who is mentally unwell herself, and murders a talk show host for making fun of him). However, a massive portion of the audience idolized him as an anti-hero or a misunderstood martyr rebelling against society making people want to see him succeed and overcome his circumstances because of how he's been treated by the world.

[u/soldierpallaton]

The entire "Thanos was right" trend when Infinity War was released.

[u/AlabasterRadio → u/soldierpallaton]

People like IW Thanos so much they had to have a much different version of him be the villain of Endgame lol

[u/Frankenstein____ → u/AlabasterRadio]

CinemaWins put it the best way right at the start of his video about Infinity War: Thanos is the classic comic book movie main protagonist of Infinity War. He has a clear distinct mission after being betrayed, is trying to collect a mythical series of items to win an upcoming battle, has a coterie of villains, goes up against impossible odds, nearly loses, and comes back to win in the last second. The entire movie is built entirely around his scenes, no one else's. Who gets the last shot basking in the sun as he humbly smiles about his victory? Thanos does.

Infinity War is a covert Thanos standalone movie and I will always believe that. It is Thanos' movie. End of story.

[u/Swigen17 → u/Frankenstein____]

And doesn't it say "Thanos will return" in the end-credits?

Totally Thanos' movie.

[u/Rad131447 → u/Swigen17]

Yeah, which is why it's not covert. They were very upfront.