It’s no secret around here that I love Comic Book movies, and as such, I like to talk about them. Over the years there have been some very good casting decisions (see my post on the best casting decisions in comic book movies), there have been some very bad ones (Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane for example) and there have been a ton of “ok” ones too.
Anyway, I thought I’d throw together this little list of Alternate casting ideas… people I would have put in certain roles. Now, just because I suggest an alternate doesn’t necessarily mean I think the person who got the role did a bad job… just that I think it would have turned out even better (possibly) if they had gone in another direction.
So having said that… for your consideration (and inevitable debate) I submit to you my top 10 Alternate Casting suggestions for comic book movies:
MICHAEL BIEHN AS CYCLOPS
Who played it: James Marsden
I’m not the first one to suggest Biehn as Cyclops… his name was being batted around since before the first X-Men movie went into production. I understand Bryan Singer wanted to go in a much younger direction, and I have no complaints with how Marsden played the role… but to me Michael Biehn was born to play Scott Summers, fearless leader of the X-Men. Whenever I see the guy, that’s still all I think about.
RUTGER HAUER AS MAGNETO
Who played it: Ian McKellen
This is one of those situations where I have absolutely ZERO complaints about who actually got the role (Ian McKellen), nor am I suggesting that Rutger Hauer would have been “better” than McKellen. However, when I think of the comic book version of Magneto, I don’t think of McKellen… I think of Hauer. McKellen is a BRILLIANT actor, and as such he would have found a way to make ANY role work… hell, he could have convinced us he was Wolverine. For me, Hauer better represents the spirit of who Magneto was… the rawness… the power. There is something about him that resonates with me more for that role and I would have loved to have seen him play it.
ANGELINA JOLIE AS CATWOMAN
Who played it: Halle Berry
I know I know… this one looks like I’m just trying to throw in the name of a big star, but seriously, how good would Jolie have been as Catwoman. Sometimes when I’ve seen her in other roles it almost seemed like she was playing Catwoman anyway. Now, the Catwoman I envision Jolie playing would have called for a MUCH different one than they eneded up with in that mess of a movie Berry played in (worst comic book movie ever, and one of the worst movies all time), but the attitude, the swagger, the seductiveness and the aura of Catwoman are all totally embodied by Jolie in my opinion. Not to mention seeing her in tight leather wouldn’t have been so bad either.
YVONNE STRAHOVSKI AS SUE STORM
Who played it: Jessica Alba
I’d be very hard pressed to come up with an answer if you asked me “Hey John, who would have been an even WORSE choice to play Sue Storm than Jessica Alba?” Maybe Joan Rivers… perhaps David Hasselhoff… other than that I can’t come up with many more names. You may not know who Yvonne Strahovski is right now… but you will in the coming years. She’s one of the main characters in that new show “Chuck”, and she’s fantastic (pardon the pun). Not only is she a drop dead blonde bombshell, she’s got a good feel for the genre and a ton of potential with her comedic timing. All this would have made her a terrific Sue Storm in my opinion… and who knows… maybe we’ll see her get the chance eventually.
ANNE HATHAWAY AS MARY JANE
Who played it: Kirsten Dunst
Ok, let’s play that little game again… if you were to ask me “Hey John, who would have been an even WORSE choice to play Mary Jane than Kirsten Dunst”… then wow, I’m not sure what I’d say. Perhaps an old leathery shoe? Pauley Shore? Man, you’ve got me. Ok, to be fair at first I didn’t mind her being cast, but for my money Anne Hathaway would have been a 10x better choice. Mary Jane is supposed to be one of the hottest women in the Marvel Universe (Hathaway has got that all over Dunst) and Hathaway is just flat out better actress than Dunst too. Now please… before anyone shoots “BUT SHE’S NOT A REDHEAD!” at me… please remember this is Hollywood, and they could make her look like Clint Eastwood if they needed too. Making her a redhead would be zero problem at all for them.
CRISPIN GLOVER AS THE RIDDLER
Who played it: Jim Carrey
When it comes to playing disturbed, psychotic, twisted individual… I’m not really convinced that you can call what Crispin Glover does “acting”. Have you ever seen him interviewed??? This guy is certifiable crazy. I think he’s as entertaining as hell and love watching him work… but if I ever have kids I won’t be looking up his number when I need a baby sitter. There were a lot of people who thought Glover would have made a terrific Joker (I was one of them), and he would have… but the role I always really saw him playing was The Riddler. The twisted, and yet almost cerebrally schizophrenic nature of the character would have been a perfect shoe fit for Glover. Who knows… maybe we’ll see him do it. Or maybe he is the next Joker now that Ledger is sadly gone.
MILA KUNIS AS ROUGE
Who Played it: Anna Paquin
I’ve always liked Mila Kunis, but never really thought anything exceptional of her. But then I saw her in Moving McAllister and although I didn’t love the movie, I thought she was great in it. However, when watching Forgetting Sarah Marshall, for some inexplicable reason I could just see her as Rouge in my head. I don’t know why… she wasn’t doing a Southern Accent or anything… but the image got planted in my head and it pops up now whenever I see her on screen or hear her talk as the voice of Meg Griffin on The Family Guy. She has such a natural ease on screen that i think would serve well for Rouge… oh… and she’s crazy hot too in case you haven’t noticed yet.
JOHN TRAVOLTA AS GREEN GOBLIN
Who played it: Willem Dafoe
Now just stay with me here a second ok? Before you start laughing at me for putting John Travolta on this list at all… just follow me here. Travolta has the right body type for Goblin. He’s actually a bigger guy and pretty thick too. If done up right he’s got the look of a genius business man too. But most importantly, when he’s been called upon to play a crazy bad guy, he’s been AWESOME. Yeah Broken Arrow wasn’t that great a flick, but Travolta almost saved it… and his performance in Face Off was one of the best bad guys I’ve ever seen (well… when he was the bad guy that is). So yeah, I know it looks crazy having him on here… but think about it for a minute… I think he would have been a great Goblin.
BRIDGET MOYNAHAN AS JEAN GREY
Who played it: Famke Janssen
Jean Grey ranks right up there with Mary Jane Watson/Parker as one of the women who is supposed to be one of the hottest in the Marvel universe. She’s also staggeringly intelligent, strong yet vulnerable at the same time… and while I have ZERO complaints with the job Famke Janssen did with the role, I can’t help but think how even more memorable the character would have been if Bridget Moynahan had played it. Besides the fact that she’s stunningly beautiful, I’ve seen her play all those Jean Grey characteristics in various roles and would have loved to have seen her put it together for X-Men. It’ll never happen now… but who knows… maybe if they do an X-Men 4 they can use the whole Phoenix excuse to explain a change in her appearance. Naw… it’ll never happen…. too bad.
ED HARRIS AS DOCTOR DOOM
Who played it: Julian McMahon
Granted, having Ed Harris play Dr Victor Von Doom would have called for changes to the script of Fantastic Four… but who cares? The script needed about 300 changes anyway. The gruff, seething power… the egotistical mind bent on domination… man… Harris would have NAILED this role (granted, as a world class actor he’d nail just about any role you throw at him). Can you imagine how different Fantastic Four would have felt if all you did was alter the back storty just enough to accommodate a Doom who is older than Mr. Fantastic and then inserted Ed Harris into the role? Tears comes to my eyes international friends.
So there you have it. Which ones of my choices do you think are pure genius? Which ones do you think are terrible? Which ones would you have added to this list?
