During a recent interview, UFC champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (The A-Team) was asked if he would ever consider playing a comic book character like Luke Cage.
“That’s kind of crazy. I actually had a meeting with Marvel a long time ago about… I don’t know if I can say that,” said Jackson, stopping short of revealing that he’s in talks to play the character on the big screen.
Now, there’s a many number of things that come to mind here. First of all, while I can’t be sure if Cage will be teamed up with Danny ‘Iron Fist’ Rand, I’m hoping that would be the case, for a buddy action film would please many. Second, both characters, while having a loyal following, are, for better or worse, second tier. Some may even consider them third tier characters. It’s no secret Marvel has been considering some characters of that caliber to modest budget films.
Third – Luke Cage alone is very adaptable. And he already wears chains :)
But there’s the fourth advantage. I, like some int’l friends here, grew up on Chuck Norris movies. There was also a time where we got a martial arts movie fu fix in the late 80s to the mid 90s. Van Damme, Jeff Speakman, Cynthia Rothrock and so on. Point is, most of the stars of such films started out in kickboxing and related martial arts tournaments.
So if Jackson is cast, I’m not opposed to it. That said, he would need a good director. Someone like an Andrew Davis, if they could find one. I don’t think they can actually *get* Andrew Davis, but they will, in my view, need someone like him. Not just a director who can direct action, but can get decent if not satisfactory performances out of action stars like Norris or Steven Seagal.
What do you think, folks? Should Marvel and the Mouse House pursue this avenue?
