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Andrew Bitner
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Posted: 20 April 2021 at 6:46am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Marsan would be brilliant as Mole Man, as would Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew in the Harry Potter movies).

Michael Shannon would be great as Doom-- saw him on Broadway and man, he has intensity his movies have barely tapped. Unleash that and you have a Doom for the ages.

For Sue, I'd suggest Dove Cameron, who's in DISNEY'S THE DESCENDANTS and had a short stint on AGENTS OF SHIELD. She can do funny and serious real well.

For Johnny, I'd probably go with a young unknown, as the part could be a breakout role for the right actor.

Reed and Ben have been discussed pretty well here so far. Krasinski would be great but if his wife isn't Sue, then maybe make her Namora and let her attack the surface world looking for the long-lost Namor. That could give them great scenes together.

Might be controversial, but I liked Michael Chiklis as Ben.

Maybe Ben Whishaw as the Wizard. (He was Q in the latest Bond movies.) I'd like to see the Frightful Four-- and honestly, I'd rather NOT see Doom or the Surfer in the first movie. Give us Mole Man and set up Namor--that's plenty for a first movie to do.
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Mark Haslett
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Posted: 20 April 2021 at 12:14pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

The Silver Surfer is, basically, a voice-casting role.

I can imagine the "spirit" of Keanu being a match for the Surfer, but I hear the Surfer's voice as one of effortless, impeccable enunciation and well-earned weariness.

I think one of the elder English voices out there might conjure him more fully for me. Sir Anthony? Mark Rylance? Who's got that interstellar diction and experience?

Edited by Mark Haslett on 20 April 2021 at 12:19pm
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 22 April 2021 at 12:42pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

I have been thinking long and hard over a current cast that could work. 

This is what I've come up with (none playing the actual FF are American, but have all shown in film and TV that they can do American accents):

Jamie Dornan as Mr Fantastic. He is 38 and he'd be playing 38. He has the right kind of intensity in the eyes that I see in Kirby's rendition. He's just under 6' tall, the right age, has charisma and can act.


Kathryn Winnick as the Invisible Woman. She is 43 and would be playing early 30s -- which she can do as she looks like she is in her early 30s. She is beautiful, likeable and can kick ass.


Thomas Brodie-Sangster as the Human Torch. He is 29 and would be playing 17 -- which he can do, as he has a tiny frame and looks somehow eternally preserved as a youth.


James Norton as the Thing. He is 35 and would be playing late 30s. He has the kind of rugged face and physique that conjures the spirit of Ben Grimm.


Possible villains:

Aforementioned Michael Shannon as Dr Doom.

Walter Goggins as the Super Skrull:



Toby Jones as the Mole Man:


Gabriel Ebert as the Impossible Man:


With some tweaking:


Concept poster with the proposed cast:


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Marc Baptiste
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Posted: 22 April 2021 at 1:29pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

Peter,

I love your choices for Reed and Sue, but Johnny - not so much.  I think Johnny's hair should be more along the lines of Sue's blond than that actor's dark dishwater blond.  And PLEASE do NOT suggest bleaching!!  

Also, there is just something not classically handsome enough about that actor to play Johnny.  When I think of Johnny, I think of a bit of a "golden boy" - almost a surfer type, but with a less casual edge.  More clean cut, etc.

Marc
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 22 April 2021 at 2:30pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Fair comment, Marc. I would say Brodie-Sangster's hair is pretty blonde (edited to add: or at least, can be. I think you're unlikely to get around some kind of highlights having to be put in):

For example:


Point taken thought that he might lack that all-American look. One of the problems that I think will always be lurking in casting Johnny Storm is that you'll get more of a man than a teenager -- or if you cast an actual teenager, you end up with someone quite different for the sequel. That was one of the problems with Chris Evans, who we know is a very good actor -- he just looked too filled out, too grown up (And he was only 24 when he appeared in Tim Story's film version). Brodie-Sangster sort of gets round that problem by being so wiry and child-faced. But I accept he might look a little more indie kid than golden boy.


Edited by Peter Martin on 22 April 2021 at 2:33pm
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 22 April 2021 at 2:45pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

And glad that you like the suggestion for Reed and Sue!
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Harry Bauer
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Posted: 22 April 2021 at 3:27pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Peter - I think those are great choices and the thing that I really like about those choices is they are really off the map. I recently found a great British series called Grantchester and the lead James Norton, in my mind, would make a great Reed. More than anything, I welcome the idea of "new" faces to play the team. I'm not on the Krasinski-Blunt fan caravan. I think Krasinski is very talented and will make the part his own if it goes that way, but I don't understand why people want him so badly. I always saw Reed as a more real/grounded and non-corny version of the Professor from Gilligan's Island when I was young. Krasinski certainly does not fit into that mold.
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Ted Downum
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Posted: 23 April 2021 at 8:20am | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Peter, those are excellent choices. Jamie Dornan in particular is somebody I wouldn't have thought of as Reed, but he has the look, and he can play brainy and intense (as he did playing the serial killer Paul Spector in The Fall, a few years back). 

The idea of Walton Goggins as the Super-Skrull boggles the mind, in a good way. 


Edited by Ted Downum on 23 April 2021 at 8:22am
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 23 April 2021 at 8:37am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Thanks for the positive comments, guys. I considered a lot of actors, I can promise you!

A lot of better-known names were just too old or not suitable.

It makes you realise how hard these things would be to cast in reality -- here I can go through everyone and don't have to worry about availability, cost or if they would actually want to take the role. And even without worrying about those things, it's still tough!
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Joseph Gauthier
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Posted: 24 April 2021 at 5:48pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

I've gone back and forth over the years between Clint Howard and Wallace Shawn for the Puppet Master.


Edited by Joseph Gauthier on 24 April 2021 at 5:59pm
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Eric Jansen
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Posted: 25 April 2021 at 5:40am | IP Logged | 11 post reply

I tried to think outside the box a little bit on this one, and I ended up with some people we'd have to steal away from the DC movies or who otherwise probably wouldn't take the roles, but here's what I came up--


Henry Cavill as Reed Richards (the hunkier Reed from the Kirby days)
Margot Robbie as Sue Storm (because--well, there's lots of reasons!)
Brad Pitt as Ben Grimm (pre-Thing Ben seemed pretty handsome and popular in comic flashbacks and losing that would add some real pathos to the movie version)
Not this particular kid as Johnny Storm (this is some model I don't know the name of) but he should look pretty close to this (and the right actor to play Johnny as a 15-17 year-old is probably 12 or 13 right now)

Christoph Waltz as Dr. Doom (I'm thinking an Austrian/German actor like him needs to play Doom and he was SO menacing in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS!)
Danny Devito as the Mole Man (half of the characters he's already played have been pretty Mole Man-ish!)
Steve Buscemi as Puppet Master (those eyes! and he's the right age to play the father of--)
Michelle Williams as Alicia Masters (she rocks the short red hair Alicia should have and she has the acting chops to really play blind at the best level)

With this casting, I would watch a whole movie with just the Thing and Alicia too!


Edited by Eric Jansen on 25 April 2021 at 5:55am
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Robert Bradley
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Posted: 25 April 2021 at 7:37am | IP Logged | 12 post reply

Steve Buscemi as the Puppet Master.  That would be amazing.

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