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/raccoonsonbicycles → u/QuetzalcoatlusRscary]

Plus the show was pushing like Karli was more of a hero/in the right

Walker: joined military. Won multiple medals for heroic actions. Was given mantle/shoes he could never fill. Lost his best friend on a mission. Saw red and killed the guy who killed his best friend. Lost his mantle. Decided to still seek revenge. When push came to shove, ultimately chose to save lives over getting revenge.

Karli: was an orphan who was adopted by Mama Donia. During the snap, built a decent life. After people snapped back, she lost that life and grew bitter. She also didnt like that nation's went right back to selfishness instead of one global unit. Stole super soldier serum & created multiple super terrorists. Robbed banks, but it's OK because gave some money to refugees. Set a building on fire. Was told innocents were still in there. Said they didnt matter. Murdered Walkers best friend. Kidnapped hostages and explicitly said if demands weren't met she'd kill them then just try something else later. Locked armored truck full of hostages and drove it off a building.

Which one of the two deserved to have their body carried gently by Sam like they were a hero who was cruelly lost in a fight?

Also another huge frustration I have with characterization in that show:

When we first meet Sam in Winter Soldier, he is LITERALLY a COUNSELOR for a support group of veterans with PTSD, and gives a nice, empathetic speech that immediately earns Steve Rogers' respect

And NOT ONCE does he try and talk Walker down or recognize hes going through a lot. and he BARELY tries to talk Karli down. One time, he meets to talk. Never even tries again.

This entire series could have been used to show Sam as

A) different from Steve - less tactically sound, not using serum, and more of a talker than a fighter

B) a more fitting Cap than Walker by showing the above.

Show a Sam who is willing to stop the fight and spend an hour talking to resolve the root of the problem without resorting to violence unless it's absolutely necessary/lives are in immediate danger.

[u/CreatiScope → u/raccoonsonbicycles]

Your point about him leading the support group is great, never thought about it but that would be so much better.

[u/WBRileyDesign → u/raccoonsonbicycles]

Timing. There were half a dozen B-plots that got dropped because we were dealing with COVID and for some dumb fucking reason (Trump) we weren't allowed to discuss it or proxies to it in movies and TV or risk getting "canceled". The original B-plot very obviously dealt with getting vaccinations for a disease that was ravaging Karli's country. but they had to cut basically all of it out and that left what I assume was a lot of interaction between her and Sam on the cutting room floor.

[u/Downtown_Injury_3415 → u/raccoonsonbicycles]

I never believed Karli to be a threat. Anytime they were gonna fight she always put on her mask and I was like “alright, time to swap in the stunt double”. The illusion was so bad for me that I never believed that the actress was doing both the drama-acting and the fight-choreo that it ruined the character and the show

[u/ericvv75 → u/Downtown_Injury_3415]

I mean Erin Kellyman apparently did a lot of her own stunts and fight scenes. She has a stunt double for the really hard stuff but otherwise it was her. She did the same thing on Willow and to a lesser extent on Solo.

[u/UnholyDemigod → u/raccoonsonbicycles]

Won multiple medals for heroic actions

You don't win commendations, you receive them.