Comic books as movies are pretty much the currency of the business these days. DC and Marvel Entertainment have development deals with every major studio on their slate for pretty much every character they own. I’ll offer the opinion that when comic book movies are done well and with respect to the source material they’re quite good. Batman Begins, the first X-Men and Blade were superior films. But when they get turned into star vehicles (Daredevil, Fantastic Four) the underlying premise gives out and they end up pretty junky.

A headline from a few years back illustrated an extreme example of the problem:

Nicholas Cage IS Superman
Qualifications: None. This deal– hung on Cage’s BO appeal and the fact he’s an avid Superman fan– held for a surprisingly disheartening number of months, until cooler heads prevailed and a relative unknown (Brandon Routh) was cast as the Big Blue Schoolboy in Superman Returns (2006). That chin, the flyaway hair, the long nose: It was a deal that only made sense on paper. And in Nicholas Cage’s head.

The Salkinds almost made the same mistake on the original Superman (1979): They originally wanted Robert Redford for the title role. Then Dustin Hoffman. And so on down the A-list. This led nowhere, so new Hollywood wisdom was coined for the superhero film genre: Cast big stars as the villains. Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, Willem Dafoe, Kevin Spacey, and so on.

It’s wisdom that’s often violated for the sake of putting together a boffo deal. In fact, Nicolas Cage got his lead comic book turn with the titular part in Ghost Rider (2007) which choppered to oblivion in the plexes but did rather well on DVD.

This willful abeyance of prevailing wisdom may have led to these casting curiosities:

Seth Rogen IS The Green Hornet (2009)
Qualifications: Nobody remembers the Green Hornet. As Daniel pointed out his driver Kato will in all likelihood be the actual star (Jet Li?). It’ll also probably be produced for laughs.

And the next curiosity:

Robert Downey Jr. IS Iron Man (2009)
Qualifications: None come to mind. He’s pretty skinny so he’ll probably fit into the suit well. This quote, taken from an interview in Time Out, may reveal the deeper truth for this choice:

“Stan Lee created the character on a dare to see if he could make a wealthy, establishment, weapons manufacturing, hard drinking, womanising prick into someone who is likeable and a hero.”
— Robert Downey Jr on Tony Stark [Iron Man's alter ego]

Even curiouser:

Edward Norton IS The Incredible Hulk (2008)
Qualifications: He’s not Eric Bana. This sequel of sorts has been completely recast, is being shot in Canada, and they’re even planning on changing The main character’s green skin tone. Norton was believable enough as a person who liked fighting and smashing things in Fight Club, so who knows?

I’ll use the power of imagination and extrapolate a few more:

Sarah Silverman IS Wonder Woman
Qualifications: C’mon, it’s PERFECT! She’s grouchy, righteous, AND she’s a brunette. This pic is slated for 2009 release, and it’s in all sorts of trouble already. Joss Whedon, everyone’s apparent go-to helmer for this pic, ankled it months ago. Silverman might be a step in the right direction.

Sasha Baron Cohen IS Captain America
Qualifications: See: He’s British, and he played a Kazakh reporter in Borat, so naturally he.. uh… let’s just say it’ll play on several levels. This film is actually in development and is as yet uncast.

And finally…
Ghostly Americans: The long awaited indy comics face-off combining Ghost World (2001) and American Splendor (2005). It’s a casting dream come true: Paul Giamatti IS Harvey Pekar, Scarlett Johansson IS Rebecca. The entire film takes place in a donut shop.

–Skot C.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 26th, 2007 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Acting, General, Motion Pictures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.