i personally think will could have been as capable as denzel...or just a hair below (i mean denzel was a trained actor, will was natural talent that was honed in real-time through fresh prince and his early movies), but he never really branched out. the success of independence day (and MIB) deaded his risk taking from the start, therefore limiting the breadth of the types of roles he'd take on. denzel came up through dramas, if will took on some dramatic roles (even if they were duds) after fresh prince, i think it would've broadened his risk-taking, he would have taken on more complex roles, and he'd have a better resume than he has now. will was too family-friendly at one point, dude couldn't let himself get "dirty".
i really think him passing on d'jango was the last moment he had to pivot his career, him really getting into that role would've given him the confidence to take a different path in act 3 of his career...now he's doing orc cop movie that go straight to netflix
That's a good way of looking at it
"...then he did 
