Justice League Casting Call Part Two

Last time we talked about Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Zatanna, Green Arrow,Green Lantern, Aquaman...so today we are casting Flash, the Martian Manhunter and a slew of cameos.

So let's have some fun.

On to The Flash!

Now it's interesting to point out that a few days ago, a friend let me know about this:

so...what's up with that? It could work. I especially like the idea of them using Wally. So we're going to go with that casting choice.

Scott Porter would be an almost perfect choice for Wally West. He can be seen in the "Friday Night Lights" show. Or could be seen. I think the show got axed this past season. Wally needs to be a bit young, without looking like a kid. He has tons of experience being Kid Flash and when Barry died, he ascended to the mantle of the Flash. I wasn't a big Flash fan growing up, I was mainly a Spider-Man, Batman and Green Lantern. While Porter recently turned 30, he still has a boyish look to him that I think Wally reflects perfectly.


Martian Manhunter.

Hrm. Now, I might have to take the cheap way out and just say cgi him. I mean it worked for the Silver Surfer. Though I disagree with his voice. Doug Jones should have been his body AND his voice. Perhaps a combination of state-of-the-art make up and CGI, sort of how they worked the werewolves in "Underworld".

His voice should be something regal, yet, alien. I think Phil Morris is doing a great job on "Smallville" with the role, but it's missing something a bit stronger. So, I really dug Miguel Ferrer's take on the character in "New Frontier". Yes, it's a bit cheating since he's already done the role, but I like it.

Cameos cameos cameos!!!

I'd really love to see characters, you know, out of costume that are staples of the DC universe, just as nods to fans.

I think John Hurt would be tremendous as an older Wesley Dodds, the Golden Age Sandman. Plus it'd be interesting for him to try an American accent. What'd be even interesting is a brief flashback or so of him in costume. Nothing more than say a couple of seconds or so. Similar to how they treated the Hollis Mason flashbacks in "Watchmen". Dodds has an incredible story and experience. Not sure how you would tie him in, but there should always be room for a character such as him.




Next time, I'll cast more cameos, supporting roles (Lois Lane, John Zatara, etc) and the villains I'd love to see them throw down with.

Justice League Casting Call Part One

I've had this idea in my head for a while now. With the recent casting of Ryan Reynolds as Hal "Green Lantern" Jordan, and with Brandon Routh's Superman contract expiring, will we ever see a Justice League movie, sort of how Marvel is getting the Avengers together?

Probably not in the next decade or so. But I'm not a major Hollywood casting agent *cough*yet*cough*, so I just want to have some fun here.

Okay, let's start with a new Superman.

Adam Scott. He has a pretty impressive resume, though I just discovered him on the show "Tell me you love me", which was a somewhat hit for HBO a while back. He has the stature, though he's my height, but camera tricks can work around that. He's pretty built, but put homeboy here on a workout regime and it'll be pretty good. He has the voice as well. In "Tell me", he played somewhat a mousy character named Palek, who reminded me a lot of Clark.





Now Batman...

....

I kind of refuse to recast Batman. Bale has owned this role since before he even had it. Check out "Equilibrium" if you want to know what I mean.


Now on to Wonder Woman. I refuse to case some 20-something as Diana. It doesn't seem right. Especially somebody like Meghan Fox or...yeah. So I went with another Megan. Megan Gale. Standing in at 5'11" and with a body that just doesn't stop, I think she'd be perfect, in addition to her "unknown" status so you could imagine her BEING Wonder Woman and not anybody else. I think she works on so many levels. The body, the face, the stature. She's not some lame, skinny 20-something WASP. I'm sure they'd redesign her costume a bit.





Now this guy was my pick to play Thor. Mainly because, you know, he actually has Nordic roots. I digress. Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård, or just Alex Skarsgard is my choice to play Aquaman. Now, Aquaman is an interesting choice for any JL movie, but I think with the "green movement" on everybody's mind and "going green" is a buzz phrase, I'm sure Hollywood wouldn't have a problem putting him in. He's a noble character that just never seems to find a great writer that lasts more than 20 issues or so. He's basically King Arthur...underwater. Literally. The entire ocean is his kingdom! I think he's underrated and would fit right in.


I'm being a little bias here including Zatanna into the fray, but I think Ms. Zooey as Z would totally work. Nobody, in my eyes, could do it better. Even if it's just a bit role, for example let's say Bruce goes to her asking to be on this new team, but she refuses for two reasons. A) It'd be time away from her job, since crime-fighting doesn't pay the rent and B) it would distract her from looking for her father, who has mysteriously disappeared. I'm ALL for this. Plus her in that outfit? Yes please.


Since Cooper here didn't get the Green Lantern role, I decided he'd be just as good as Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. I had originally thought it'd be kind of cool to put in Conner Hawke instead for a number of reasons: the team was looking for new blood, we already have a rich tycoon in tights, Connor and Zatanna would have something in common with their missing fathers and possibly a story involving her actually joining, but whatever. I figured if you had Hal, you'd have to have Ollie here on the action. Though where as Batman is the brooding billionaire, Ollie is the more swashbuckling type. I'd totally write him as the old Errol Flynn type, too. Originally I was trying to see if Kin Shriner would work as Ollie, but I realized I just didn't think it would. Kin did the voice for GA on the JLU cartoon a few years back. It's the voice I hear when I read Ollie in anything. He looks a bit like him, too. Oh well.

That's it for now. Next time we'll discuss Flash, Martian Manhunter and a slew of cameos. Wesley Dodds? Ted Grant? Fire? Kyle Rayner?

Who knows.

Justice League: the New Frontier DVD

If you consider yourself a fan of comic books, then more than likely you have heard about New Frontier by Darwyn Cooke. If you're a fan and never got around to it, but you recognize the name, please pick it up. It's the way the superhero genre was intended to be told. It's something your parents could watch because the way the story is told, all the heroes are brought to life as if they stepped out of our collective memory. "Frontier" is set in the early 1950's. Communism and the space race are hot topics in the film. There is a sense of panic from the general public about these mystery men and women in masks. Batman is seen as a demonic figure, even from a child that he is trying to rescue from an cult. Even Flash's mostly-red costume is subject to ridicule, because of red being associated with Communism. The actual book has a different opening, but is hinted during the prologue about the McCarthy hearings and how he set out to disband superhero teams, such as the Justice Society of America.

Though the movie does not really revolve around the DC Triad (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman), it focuses more on Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern. As mentioned, the space race is a very hot topic in the film. Hal is a pilot in the air force, but struck down by enemy fire after a ceasefire was called. After he lands on enemy grounds, he had to kill to survive. Not because he was told to by a superior, but for his own life, which in turn makes him seem like a pacifist during wartime. Something not favorable especially post-WWII era.

The main villain of the story isn't one from comic lore. It is an original creation by Cooke himself, an entity known as The Centre. Unlike science-fiction stories of the 1950's in which an alien spacecraft lands on Earth and wants total domination and what have you, there is a role-reversal here. The only aliens that land on Earth are benevolent. One being the Martian Manhunter, a longtime hero in the DC Universe, the other being Abin Sur, the Green Lantern of sector 2814 (Earth) who passes his powers to Jordan. Though The Centre is different, it's been on Earth since creation and evolved to an advanced life form. That to me, meant our only real danger comes from within. Panic and terror will tear any nation apart, no matter how strong the foundation.

The title comes from President Kennedy in his acceptance speech in 1960 to the Democratic National Convention at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as the Democratic nominee. Originally, just a slogan to inspire America to get behind him, the phrase developed into a label for his administration's domestic and foreign programs:

"We stand at the edge of a New Frontier—the frontier of unfulfilled hopes and dreams. It will deal with unsolved problems of peace and war,unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus."

In the beginning of the film, we see these metabeings being persecuted. By the end of it, they are trusted and honored by President Kennedy himself. We see how they evolved as they did in real time. Batman in "New Frontier" started out as he looked in the 30's, with the elongated ears and smaller gloves. Later, as time progressed he took in a ward, Robin. Longer gloves and smaller ears on his costume to make him seem more human. When asked about the sudden change, by Superman, he replied "I'm out to scare criminals, not children." Which at first may seem strange coming from such a dark figure in literature, but it once again showcases the positive attitude towards a new era dawning.

I want to say I loved this movie, but it left me wanting more, as films usually do with only a seventy-five minute length. The Losers, the Blackhawks, and Challengers of the Unknown are just left as cameo roles, instead of somewhat-important plot points as they are seen in the graphic novel. I can say, however, I recommend this movie to anyone who hasn't picked up a comic in years, or maybe not a fan of the superhero genre. It makes us believe again why these characters were created, not just for entertainment, but to inspire us.

To give us hope.
To help us believe that we were meant for something greater than what was handed to us at creation.
To make us believe, that behind all our insecurities and doubt, there is a hero in us.