I like Russell Johnson for Reed.
Retro-casting superhero films and shows
- Thread starter JRoss
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I like Russell Johnson for Reed.
Pernell Roberts as Reed Richards
Michael Landon as Johnny Storm
Lorne Green as the Mad Thinker
Guest Actress of the Week as Sue Storm
1966: The Amazing Spider-Man
Spider-Man: Kurt Russell (or maybe Tommy Kiirk)
Mary Jane Watson: Sally Field
J Jonah Jameson: Keenan Wynn
The Chameleon: David McCallum
Nailed it. Of course this reminds me of another film that I can't quite put my finger on.
X-Men
Tony Perkins- Slim Summers
Ann-Margret- Jean Grey
Troy Donahue- Warren Worthington, III
Ricky Nelson-Bobby Drake
?-Henry McCoy
and
Yule Brynner as Professor X
with
Michael Rennie- Eric Lensherr
Natalie Wood- Wanda Maximoff
James Dean-Pietro Maximoff
Vincent Price- Jason Wyngard
Marty Feldman-Mortimer Toynbee
Tony Perkins- Slim Summers
Ann-Margret- Jean Grey
Troy Donahue- Warren Worthington, III
Ricky Nelson-Bobby Drake
?-Henry McCoy
and
Yule Brynner as Professor X
with
Michael Rennie- Eric Lensherr
Natalie Wood- Wanda Maximoff
James Dean-Pietro Maximoff
Vincent Price- Jason Wyngard
Marty Feldman-Mortimer Toynbee
Crispin Glover for Norman Osborn?
Too young. He'd be better as Harry.
Here's what I came up with for the original FF and Avengers:
Fantastic Four
Mr Fantastic - Russell Johnson
Invisible Girl - Donna Douglas
Thing - Gary Lockwood
Human Torch - Johnny Crawford
Doctor Doom - Robert Wagner
Avengers
Iron Man - Guy Williams
Thor - Peter Lupus (in a wig)
Giant Man - Gary Conway (with a dye job)
Wasp - Stephanie Powers
Hulk/Banner - Andre the Giant (in greenface)/Bill Bixby
The X-Men were a little harder, because most of them are so young:
X-Men
Professor X - Yul Brunner
Cyclops - Kent McCord
Beast - ?
Angel - ?
Iceman - ?
Marvel Girl - Lori Saunders (in a wig)
Magneto - Richard Boone (with a dye job)
Fantastic Four
Mr Fantastic - Russell Johnson
Invisible Girl - Donna Douglas
Thing - Gary Lockwood
Human Torch - Johnny Crawford
Doctor Doom - Robert Wagner
Avengers
Iron Man - Guy Williams
Thor - Peter Lupus (in a wig)
Giant Man - Gary Conway (with a dye job)
Wasp - Stephanie Powers
Hulk/Banner - Andre the Giant (in greenface)/Bill Bixby
The X-Men were a little harder, because most of them are so young:
X-Men
Professor X - Yul Brunner
Cyclops - Kent McCord
Beast - ?
Angel - ?
Iceman - ?
Marvel Girl - Lori Saunders (in a wig)
Magneto - Richard Boone (with a dye job)
I was kind of thinking about him for Angel, but I dunno.
Dude, Kent McCord is the perfect Cyclops! If you're gonna go with that, why not Kevin Tighe as Beast?
What about Robin? Remember, before the '70s or '80s, Batman and Robin were an inseparable duo. You never would've seen a '40s Batman without Robin by his side.
Penguin was originally depicted as a small, comical man, suggestive of his namesake. A small, dapper comedy star might be a better choice. Harold Lloyd? Jack Benny? Bob Hope had the nose for it. Height aside, Oliver Hardy might've been good.
I believe the Riddler was originally modeled on Fred Astaire.
I don't know... Two-Face was supposed to be a handsome, heroic DA who was horribly scarred and broken. It calls more for a leading-man type capable of darker character roles. Fred MacMurray? Who better for Two-Face than the star of Double Indemnity?
“Leading man capable of darker character roles” sounds like a perfect description of Cagney, though he admittedly wasn’t a classically handsome leading man.
I get what you're saying. Yeah, Fred Astair would be cool as Riddler. Harold Lloyd, then for Penguin. Ooh, Dean Stockwell for Robin, or maybe Robert Blake. Bogey for Two-Face, then.
I'm not aware of any other villains of the 40s. But if we could have had some of the later villains in the 40s, I'd say Greenstreeet for Falcone, then, Maureen O'Hara for Poison Ivy and Van Johnson for Hush
Oh, but we'd have to save MacMurray for the crossover with Captain Marvel?
I like these + Veronica Lake for Poison Ivy
(who Thurman might have been channeling). Bette Davis could possibly have been interesting female Joker!
Ruby Keeler Or Olivia DeHavilland for Vicky Vale.
Prime handsome Welles could have been an interesting Bruce Wayne/Kane
I'd have Peter Lorre or Edward G. Robinson as Penguin; Greenstreet as a Kingpin (I know not DC) or King Tut
Manic Cagney or George Raft could have made an interesting Riddler
How about Dick Powell as Two-Face/Harvey Dent? Handsome leading/musical man in 30s, but proved in later films he could go dark
Bogey has been brought up more than once here. I think it should be pointed out that one, he would have needed to be filmed in full body shots for fight scenes, and second, he was only 5'4". Characters that are supposed to be able to go toe-to-toe with Batman need to look like they can do so.
Now, Orson Welles as Two-Face, and Dick Powell as Riddler, that would work.
But the fact that Harvey started out as classically handsome is built into the story -- it's why the scarring of half his face is so shocking, and why he's so devastated by it, because so much of his sense of self-worth was based on his looks and charm. So it should be someone really good-looking, a leading man type, but one brave enough as an actor to ugly himself up physically and psychologically.
I like these + Veronica Lake for Poison Ivy
She was doing more of a Mae West impression, wasn't she?
Back in 2003, Mark Millar wrote a hoax column claiming that Orson Welles had actually tried to make a Batman movie in the '40s. A lot of people (myself included) fell for it before it was admitted to be a hoax. Here are Millar's casting choices:
He also claimed that the project fell apart because Welles wanted to play Batman but the studio insisted on Gregory Peck.
Robinson is a good choice.
