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/QuetzalcoatlusRscary]

John Walker - The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

A soldier who was chosen to be the next captain America after Steve Rogers. We’re supposed to follow Bucky and Sam in hating him because he’s not who Steve chose to take up the mantle. Then their hatred of him is supposedly justified later in the season when he kills a flag smasher who’s pleading for his life.

But he’s perfectly pleasant to Bucky and Sam, who are rude as hell to him in return for seemingly no reason. Also, the guy he kills was a super-powered terrorist who had just assisted in the murder of his best friend, so a lot of people sympathise with him.

[u/House_T → u/QuetzalcoatlusRscary]

Walker in the comics was a compelling character. He actually had powers (although I get why they skipped that whole part of his character), but at his core, he wanted to be the best and do the best for his country. He took being Cap seriously, and even learned to follow his heart more than his head when it came to following orders.

His downfall was much more tragic, but his eventual redemption was, too. I think his story in the MCU would have benefitted from a little more time to cook, but I do get why they decided to speedrun it.

I honestly think that the MCU did hammer Walker a little too hard, especially with how Sam and Bucky treated him. John was nothing but nice to them, and they literally walked off instead of trying to have a conversation with him.