Best casting in a comic book/superhero movie?

[Orrex]

Here are my top five. I mean six. In no particular order:

1. Ron Perlman as Hellboy. Perfect.
2. Michael Chiklis as The Thing. Very close to perfect.
3. Christopher Reeve as Superman. Well, duh.
4. Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon. Terrific performance despite the scoffers.
5. Mickey Rourke as Marv. Surprisingly good.
6. Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. A great match of actor to role.

Your suggestions?

[blogslut]

1. The entire cast of Batman Returns

Some people hate the film. I think it's just delicious.

[Orrex]

2. Michael Caine is excellent as Alfred, and I prefer Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes

You're right--great casting throughout.

[blogslut]

5. No, silly

I think you're yanking my rusty chain. ;)

[Orrex]

6. Not at all--I really like the film!

I truly do prefer Katie Holmes as Rachel. I found Maggie Gylenhaal entirely unremarkable in the role.

And how could you top Michael Caine?

[blogslut]

9. :(

I still think you're pulling my leg.

I totally dug Batman Begins and The Dark Night was okay but left me cold - a reversal of the way I felt about the two Burton Movies, Batman and Batman Returns.

[MiddleFingerMom]

23. I thought of Michael Caine, too...

.
...although his role was not that of superhero, his portrayal of
Alfred fit MY imagination when I was reading the comic books.
.
How do you top him? Go back in time and bring back Sir John Gielgud
for the role.
.

[Orrex]

29. I call foul.

Gielgud is the nuclear option. There's nobody cooler.

[MiddleFingerMom]

30. Gielgud=Godwin in a "Who would you cast?" thread. Agreed. n/t

[Sky Masterson]

3. Famke Janssen as Jean Grey

Also Patrick Stewart as Professor x

[Liberal Veteran]

15. It was adequate, but I thought she was a bit too old for the role.

[Orrex]

18. I had the same thought

[Bucky]

4. I don't know who the actor is, but the Toxic Avenger was letter perfect

does Eraserhead count for a poll like this?

[PassingFair]

7. Chloe Moretz as HitGirl in "KickAss"....

I think SHE'S kickass.



Abigail Breslin had better watch her back, this kid
is AMAZING!


She's also been cast as the little vampire in the
"Let the Right One In" American remake...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Me_In_%28film%29

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. Chiklis as The Thing rocked. Ioan Gruffudd as Mr. Fantastic SUCKED, , with MegaÜBER-suction.

In the original Lee-Kirby FF, yeah...Reed Richards was a "brain." But he was never the goofball nerd that Ioan Gruffudd portrayed. He might as well have sported Coke bottle glasses, greasy hair, a short sleeve shirt and a pocket protector.

[MiddleFingerMom]

10. My first thought was Ron Perlman....

.
...and I agree with your choices for Superman and The Thing.
.
I was underwhelmed by the character of Commissioner Gordon
(although I don't recall being aware then or until now that
it was Gary Oldman (who has turned in some INCREDIBLE work
in other movies).
.
Marv?
.
I wasn't a big Iron Man comic book fan, so I don't know if
Downey Jr. was a good match to the original character or not,
although I did like his performance.
.
"Hellboy" was one of my favorite movies of that year... and
that style of film usually doesn't make THAT list.
.

[Orrex]

14. There's a great quote about Perlman as Hellboy on Wiki

John Anderson said the film would be "almost unthinkable" without Ron Perlman in the lead role...

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellboy_II:_The_Golden_Army

"Marv" is from Sin City, a film that achieves some impressive things even though it's far from perfect.


And your absolutely right about Gary Oldman doing "INCREDIBLE" work. For my money, he's far and away the best character actor in the business today. I can't even think of a close competitor.

[MiddleFingerMom]

25. In "The Professional", when they did the overhead shot...

.
...of Oldman emptying the contents of that capsule into
his mouth, and then his reaction (to the bitterness or to
the IMMEDIATE effect, I was never quite sure) made me
scared of whatever that drug was... but also made me
wonder if it were real and whether or not I could afford it.
.
EXCEPTIONAL as the dreadlocked one-eyed white dealer/pimp
in "True Romance". I had no clue as to who that was until
I saw his name in the credits.
.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. Tobey Maguire as Spiderman

[Orrex]

17. Yes--another fine pick!

[fishwax]

37. and J. K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson

:)

[Gidney N Cloyd]

38. I agree with Simmons. Not so much with Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane, as Morbius said downthread.

I figured Mary Jane to be more of a hottie. But I'm an old silver age fan so maybe they dialed her down after that.

[Dr Morbius]

45. Apologies, but I always had sort of had a thing for Ms Dunst.

She's plenty hot enough for me. :) Her best role was in Bring It On (my daughter likes it): she's completely believable as a cheerleader, and looked great in those outfits.

Meh. They squeezed three movies out of Spidey, one of them really good but the others not so much. I'd like to see the webslinger in other Marvel-based flicks now. Spidey was always most fun when he was interacting with others, in my view.

[Alexander]

12. Patrick Stewart as Professor X

[Orrex]

16. My geeky high school friends and I picked him for the role way back in about 1986

We'd seen him in Dune and we knew that he was slated to become Captain Picard, and we said "he'd make a good Professor X."

That's about as far as we got in the casting. I think we picked Alyssa Milano as Kitty Pryde, but only because we couldn't think of anyone else.

[MiddleFingerMom]

24. I think in 1986 for geeky high school nerds...

.
...no female existed other than Alyssa Milano.
.
Never quite understood that.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
(edit to remove a redundant other other)

[RoyGBiv]

52. Oh, no ...

Phoebe Cates existed.

[hunter]

44. Patrick Stewart can be anybody.

He could play Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles, and Dr. Who Himself in a single motion picture.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_cwI1Xj4M

[NewJeffCT]

55. I'd agree with this one

He was perfect as Professor X, though the movies tended to focus more on Wolverine than the rest of the X-Men.

[Liberal Veteran]

13. Jessica Alba as Sue Storm

:rofl:

[Richard Steele]

22. Nice use of the 'rofl' smiley- I was thisclose to putting you on "ignore" for a sec there!

That was horrendously bad casting, wasn't it?
Luckily, the script sucked as well, so few people noticed.

[Liberal Veteran]

26. Yeah. There was nothing about Alba that worked in that role for me.

The only casting I think was worse was Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe. She brought absolutely no gravitas to the role. Plus, her accent kept shifting.

[Richard Steele]

27. I agree completely with everything you just said.nm.

[Dr Morbius]

19. It's hard to imagine anyone doing a better Rorchach than

Jackie Earle Haley.

Heath Ledger was an unforgettable Joker.

Edward Norton was a pretty good Hulk, much better than Eric Bana.

My choice, though, is Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane in the Spiderman movies. She is just about perfect for the role.

[lazarus]

33. I thought Laura Prepon

would have made a better MJ. Plus, she's a natural redhead.

[Mojambo]

43. Man. Can you imagine Prepon in that alley in the rain scene?

Dunst looked great, but Prepon would have brought the house down in that wet blouse.

[Lucian]

20. Wesley Snipes as Blade.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

21. I don't have high hopes for the Captain America movie.

None of the actors they were considering looked even close.

[Liberal Veteran]

28. Strangely, Chris Evans (who is a major hottie) is the only person I liked in Fantastic Four.

Not sold on him as Steve Rogers though.

[mitchum]

31. Of course it is Philip Seymour Hoffman as Big Boy. He was Shoneyriffic!!!

[sarge43]

32. Would Antonio Bandaras as Zorro qualify?

Agree about Oldman. Gordon is usually portrayed as a dithering fool. Oldman had gravitas, totally believable that Batman would trust him

[Orrex]

34. Definitely--I loved him in that role!

I've always thought that he deserves more credit than he gets.


And your right about Gordon The Dithering Fool. Pat Hingle was a fine actor, but he was 100% wrong for the role in the Burton films. I can't imagine how they made that casting choice.

[Frank Cannon]

35. I know it's a TV show, but Lynda Carter as Wonder Woman

Like Perlman and Reeve, an almost perfect match of actor to character.

I hear they're working on a Wonder Woman movie, and I just know they're going to get some anorexic post-adolescent to play her. Wonder Woman should be a woman, for crying out loud.

[Orrex]

40. A little over a decade ago, there was talk of casting Gabrielle Reese

She's like nine feet tall and can bench-press a Volkswagen in real life anyway, so the role wouldn't have been much of a stretch for her.

[Frank Cannon]

42. Oh, yeah

No question she would have been believable!

[AllenVanAllen]

49. The last I heard Australian model Megan Gale

was going to play her in the new movie. Who knows what's going on at WB now.

[DerekG]

36. Christopher Reeve

The only one who made me believe a man could fly.

[AllenVanAllen]

39. Here's two from "The Watchmen"

Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs / Rorschach

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake / The Comedian

and I also have to mention Brandon Lee as James O'Barr's "The Crow."

[kedrys]

53. I was blown away by Haley

I honestly didn't think anybody could pull off Rorschach, but he did and then some.

And I'll see The Losers just because Morgan's in it. He was great as The Comedian.

No argument about Brandon Lee either.

[unpossibles]

41. good picks. The worst misuse of good casting, imo

was putting that stupid armor on Willem Defoe's face as Green Goblin. I mean, come on! Let's get this perfectly creepy-looking guy and put a goofy mask on his face so we can use CGI instead of his acting! Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Also brilliant - Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull. Perfect.

Hated FF. X-Men was pretty good - I disagreed with what's his face as Wolverine but he changed my mind once I saw the movie. The Beast, Magneto, and Prof X were perfect and Cyclops was all right. Storm and Phoenix were not good choices, imo.

I loved the casting in Sin City and Iron Man in general, and Oldman can almost do no wrong in my book.

[flvegan]

46. Tom Jayne as The Punisher.

Robert Downey Jr as Stark is an excellent choice as well.

[LearnedHand]

47. Eartha Kitt as Cat Woman. Heath Ledger as the Joker.

Priceless

[Lindsey]

48. Christopher Reeve as Superman. n/t

[Orrex]

50. I didn't like Kitt in the role when I was younger, because who can say no to Julie Newmar?

But later on, when I realized that Kitt was, in fact, part feline, the casting made perfect sense. And I hope that you appreciate my choice to spell "perfect" correctly and not Bat-phonetically...


As to Ledger, I never would have thought to cast him in the role, but he was so good in it that he completely eclipses any other portrayal, including Romero's, Nicholson's, and even that of the beloved Mark Hamill.

[Shell Beau]

51. I am very partial to Superman.

And he will always be Christopher Reeve in my mind. I know he wasn't the first Superman, but he is the only Superman to me. Of course it was popular when I was a wee little thing, so that may factor into it as well.

[sarge43]

54. Reeve owns that role.

It'll be a long time, if ever, before any actor will match him, let alone top him.

[NewJeffCT]

56. There have been a lot of well cast comic book heroes

Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man
Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man
Chris Reeve as Superman
Christian Bale as Batman

[Broken_Hero]

57. Well,

Of course Christopher Reeve as Superman :)

C. Bale as Batman

James Marsden as Cyclops

Ledger as the Joker

I agree completely with your top 5 list

I don't have high hopes for the guy playing Thor though....

[Lindsey]

58. I have to add Heath Ledger as the Joker. IMO he was

awesome.

[Radical Activist]

59. Jack Nicholson as the Joker.

I guess that one fell out of favor but it was a great role.

[Orrex]

64. I mentioned up-thread that my friends and I named Patrick Stewart as the ideal Professor X

In that same series of discussions we named Jack Nicholson as the perfect Joker. Again, this was in about 1986.


Unfortunately, I disliked Burton's Batman from the very first time I saw it, which was Saturday of opening weekend. I had so wanted to love it, and I was even a Burton fan at the time, but it was almost completely wrong in almost every way, including Nicholson's portrayal. And don't get me started on Robert Wuhl, who is so awful that he could retroactively ruin Casablanca just by talking about it.

A gross disappointment, with one bright spot:

I went to see it with a good friend who was, coincidentally, named Robin. After we were seated, I went to the lobby to get our drinks and popcorn, and when I returned I walked down to the front-and-center of the theater, turned around, and yelled "Robin, where are you?"

She was not impressed.

[ohiosmith]

60. Leopold Stotch aka Butters as Professor Chaos. There is no equal!

[Dr. Strange]

61. Good call.

Welcome to DU!

[ohiosmith]

62. Thanks. I've been away for a few months. It's nice to be back.

:hi:

[blm]

63. SNL....Belushi as Incredible Hulk coming out of the 'restroom'

,