Same Actor/Character in Different Continuities

[Mr. Sin]

A few more Doctor Who ones:


Sylvestor McCoy and Sophie Aldred in Death Comes To Time, which is a different 'ending' for the Seventh Doctor. Also those unofficial audio dramas where they were the "Professor" and Ace.

Richard Grant played a Doctor in both the official but no longer canon Scream Of The Shalka and the spoof Curse of Fatal Death.


Derek Jacobi has played two "Good" Masters in two continuities-the Master robot in Scream of The Shalka, and also Professor "Yana" in the TV series.

Carole Ann Ford as Susan in both the Tv series and in an Unbound audio as an alternate Susan.

Nicholas Courtney as the Brigidiar in the TV series and in unbound. Also, he had a turn as an alternate universe "Brigade Leader" in Inferno.

Lalla Ward as "The Mistress" when she's obviously intended to be Romana (Also in audios).

Also Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant in "The Stranger"-although that's stretching it a bit.

 

[diankra]

Just struck me: Dixon of Dock Green is right on the OP.
In the film The Blue Lamp, Jack warner plays PC George Dixon, an ageing copper who's about to retire when he's shot dead by a young tearaway (Dirk Bogarde, as it happens).
In the BBC TV series that started a year later, Dixon's still played by Jack Warner, but is alive and well and stays so until he retires 20 years later (at the start of the last season, when Warner was so far past compulsory retirement age that it wasn't even in his back mirror any more).

Also: a slight OT one, but during the run of RObin of Sherwood, Clive Mantle (who played Little John) was also in a radio comedy show, In One Ear. They did a RoS parody, where he played Robin...

 

[MeanJoePhaser]

Michael Sheard played Adolf Hitler in a number of different productions, including ...a Tomorrow People serial where Hitler is revealed to be a shapeshifting alien.

Which the History Channel later edited into a "documentary".

Oh, how about the Duke Brothers (Ralph Bellamy) and Don Ameche) from Trading Places appearing in Coming to America?

Same characters, but can there be a world with two Eddie Murphys?

 

[flandry84]

Has anyone mentioned Bruce Campbell in the Spiderman movies?

 

[Christopher]

Has anyone mentioned Bruce Campbell in the Spiderman movies?

Well, that's the same actor playing different characters in the same continuity, not the same character in different continuities. If, say, he did a voice role as a fight announcer or a snooty usher or a French waiter in a Spectacular Spider-Man episode, then he might qualify.

 

[flandry84]

Guess I'll read the thread title more carefully next time.
It's a great source of comfort knowing that you are out there Chris.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Oh, how about the Duke Brothers (Ralph Bellamy) and Don Ameche) from Trading Places appearing in Coming to America?

Same characters, but can there be a world with two Eddie Murphys?

I'm sure there can, given that a lot of our favorite TV series make frequent reuse of guest actors. Trek and L&O (all varieties) do this all the time.

 

[Marc]

Related question: Law and Order UK has receylce scripts from the US versions... does that mean it's in a different continuity, as the samecase happened twice, with different cops and lawyers involved?

no that means they had a contractual obligation with Dick Wolfe to do remakes for their first season.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Has anyone mentioned the original Star Trek crew voicing the Animated Series? Or is that particular can of worms - the canonicity of TAS - best left sealed?

I'd say that The Animated Series is non-canon as far as everything after it is concerned, such as The Next Generation. However, I believe that The Original Series exists on parallel courses with the canon of The Animated Series on one hand and the canon of The Next Generation on the other hand.

Has anyone mentioned Bruce Campbell in the Spiderman movies?

Well, that's the same actor playing different characters in the same continuity, not the same character in different continuities. If, say, he did a voice role as a fight announcer or a snooty usher or a French waiter in a Spectacular Spider-Man episode, then he might qualify.

I prefer to think that Bruce Campbell's 3 appearances in the Spider-Man movies are all the same character who just happens to bounce from one random job to the next.

Doesn't Robert Patrick have a cameo as the T-1000 in one of the Wayne's World movies?

Jason Mewes & Kevin Smith appear as Jay & Silent Bob in several films, including Chasing Amy, Clerks, Clerks II, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, and Mallrats. However, I understand that it's difficult to reconcile Dogma with the continuity of the other 5 movies.

Patrick McGoohan played Number 6 on The Prisoner. He later reprised that role on an episode of The Simpsons where Homer gets sent to "the Island" because he "knows too much."

Jon Lovitz voiced Jay Sherman on both The Critic & The Simpsons. It's not impossible to reconcile their continuities but it's very difficult to reconcile their animation styles. It's fairly easy to change the pigmentation of a Critic character and put him into the Simpsons universe but it would just look too weird if you tried to do it the other way around.

I believe Mike Judge did voice Hank Hill when he made a cameo on The Simpsons. In that particular instance, they made no effort at all to make the King of the Hill characters look like they belonged in the Simpsons universe.

While I suppose there's no explicit reason to say they take place in separate universes, Richard Kiel played Jaws in both the James Bond movies and in Inspector Gadget.

IIRC, Jon Lovitz was the only actor from the movie A League of Their Own to carry over onto the short-lived CBS TV version.

 

[Christopher]

Has anyone mentioned the original Star Trek crew voicing the Animated Series? Or is that particular can of worms - the canonicity of TAS - best left sealed?

I'd say that The Animated Series is non-canon as far as everything after it is concerned, such as The Next Generation. However, I believe that The Original Series exists on parallel courses with the canon of The Animated Series on one hand and the canon of The Next Generation on the other hand.

The declaration that TAS was non-canonical was made by Gene Roddenberry late in his life and has been increasingly ignored ever since his death. Elements from TAS have been acknowledged in many subsequent Trek productions (such as TNG's "Unification" referencing Spock's backstory from TAS's "Yesteryear").

Besides, at the time the actors performed in the show, it was considered as part of the same continuity as TOS, and contained direct sequels to a number of TOS episodes. So the actors performing in it and the people writing and producing it didn't consider it a separate continuity, regardless of how other people have subsequently reinterpreted it.

I prefer to think that Bruce Campbell's 3 appearances in the Spider-Man movies are all the same character who just happens to bounce from one random job to the next.

That's one way of looking at it, but you'd think that Peter would've recognized him and vice versa. Also, he would've had to be quite a chameleon to change his personality (and accent) so completely to fit his different jobs.

Here's a question: how many of Stan Lee's Marvel movie cameos can be assumed to be the same guy? Obviously his two Fantastic Four cameos can't, because in the first he's Willie Lumpkin and in the second he's Stan Lee. (Unless it's really Willie claiming to be Stan Lee in hopes of getting into the wedding.) And the guy doing yard work in X-Men: The Last Stand can't be the same guy as the other Lee cameos because it's 20 years in the past.

Jon Lovitz voiced Jay Sherman on both The Critic & The Simpsons. It's not impossible to reconcile their continuities but it's very difficult to reconcile their animation styles. It's fairly easy to change the pigmentation of a Critic character and put him into the Simpsons universe but it would just look too weird if you tried to do it the other way around.

I believe Mike Judge did voice Hank Hill when he made a cameo on The Simpsons. In that particular instance, they made no effort at all to make the King of the Hill characters look like they belonged in the Simpsons universe.

I'm reminded of the episode of the Disney Channel's Lilo and Stitch series that crossed over with Kim Possible (or was it the other way around?). Both sets of characters had their standard designs and animation styles, and they clashed profoundly. But they were still treated as belonging to a single shared reality.

 

[Greg Cox]

Here's a question: how many of Stan Lee's Marvel movie cameos can be assumed to be the same guy? Obviously his two Fantastic Four cameos can't, because in the first he's Willie Lumpkin and in the second he's Stan Lee. (Unless it's really Willie claiming to be Stan Lee in hopes of getting into the wedding.) And the guy doing yard work in X-Men: The Last Stand can't be the same guy as the other Lee cameos because it's 20 years in the past.

.

And was he the same guy who appeared on BIG BANG THEORY last night?

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Jason Mewes & Kevin Smith appear as Jay & Silent Bob in several films, including Chasing Amy, Clerks, Clerks II, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, and Mallrats. However, I understand that it's difficult to reconcile Dogma with the continuity of the other 5 movies.

I'm sure Dogma is considers an "official" part of the Viewaskewniverse. Even thought it was the second movie Kevin Smith wrote after Clerks, it was made with the intention that it be the final film in that shared 'verse. But then he made the other two--Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, which uses elements from their comic book adventures, and Clerks II.

If anything, one could say that the characters and actors from Clerks are involved in a different continuity in the Clerks: The Animated Series, which Smith has said doesn't count in the overall timeline that even he has trouble sorting out.

Moreover, Jay and Silent Bob do visit Degressi High. They also appear briefly in Scream 3.

 

[Captaindemotion]

I prefer to think that Bruce Campbell's 3 appearances in the Spider-Man movies are all the same character who just happens to bounce from one random job to the next.

That's one way of looking at it, but you'd think that Peter would've recognized him and vice versa. Also, he would've had to be quite a chameleon to change his personality (and accent) so completely to fit his different jobs.

Perhaps he's a jobbing actor?

Here's a question: how many of Stan Lee's Marvel movie cameos can be assumed to be the same guy? Obviously his two Fantastic Four cameos can't, because in the first he's Willie Lumpkin and in the second he's Stan Lee. (Unless it's really Willie claiming to be Stan Lee in hopes of getting into the wedding.) And the guy doing yard work in X-Men: The Last Stand can't be the same guy as the other Lee cameos because it's 20 years in the past.

Plus he might really have been intended to be Hugh Hefner in Iron Man!

 

[votd]

How about Christopher Lambert in Highlander? The continuity there is a mess!

He plays Connor McLeod in H1, and maybe the same Connor in H3 but maybe not depending on whether he actually won the game in 1; a different Connor in H2 who is an alien, or in the directors edition a man from the ancient past; he appeared in the pilot of the TV series which is in another continuity, then H4 which may or may not be in direct continuity with the TV series.

You could throw Sean Connery in there as well playing two/three versions of Ramirez.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Or Adrian Paul, if H4 isn't in continuity with the tv show.

 

[The Fatman]

True, but Belzer also played Munch on "The X-Files" and on "The Wire." You'll have a hard time reconciling those continuities with the "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "Law & Order" universe.

Not only a hard time, but an impossible time, since X-Files is established as a fictional TV show within that shared L&O/H:LOTS 'verse (in an early Homicide ep, Munch says something about "on Friday nights most people are at home watching X-Files").

And don't anyone even think of bringing up that Tommy Westphall crap.

As silly as it sounds, I like to think that Detective John Munch is a nexus point in the multiverse. He exists in all realities and fictional worlds, even if we never see him.

As far as I'm concerned, that's the only way to reconcile some of the characters more odd appearances like X-Files, The Simpsons, and Arrested Development

While this thread was certainly partially inspired by the Superman reboot thread, there was more to it.

Also to show that our current expectations of ironclad continuity for everything is relatively new. In the past fans would have been happy to see the same actor return to a popular role without caring about the continuity implications.

For example I suspect that many film goers viewed Never Say Never Again as a "Sean Connery James Bond Film" versus Octopussy which was seen as a "Roger Moore James Bond film". Because honestly was there really any stronger connection between, lets say Dr No and Octopussy than Dr No and Never Say Never Again ?

I've noticed that too. I partially blame the very dedicated fans of a certain low rated sci-fi show from the 60's who obsessively rewatched 79 episodes and had nothing better to do than argue of percieved flaws...

Of course, the more accurate answer was the onset of home video and more recently, DVR and DVD sales of TV shows. Previously, producers couldn't expect people to remember every detail of something no one had seen in 2 or 3 years, so they were able to play fast and loose.

 

[Chris3123]

Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier

• The 4 X-Men movies
• The 2 X-Men Legends games
• X-Men: Next Dimension (also a game)

Steve Blum as Wolverine

• The X-Men Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
• Wolverine and the X-Men

Also, I just noticed that are a few fighting games featuring the X-Men that pretty much just use the cast from the 90s animated series. Of course, I saw those cast lists on IMDB, so it might not be accurate.

Moreover, Jay and Silent Bob do visit Degressi High.

Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith were portraying themselves in their guest appearances on Degrassi: TNG, not Jay and Silent Bob.

 

[Christopher]

Steve Blum as Wolverine

• The X-Men Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
• Wolverine and the X-Men

And Hulk Vs. Wolverine and The Super Hero Squad Show and the Marvel Super Hero Squad video game.

 

[Chris3123]

Steve Blum as Wolverine

• The X-Men Legends and Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games
• Spider-Man: Web of Shadows
• Wolverine and the X-Men

And Hulk Vs. Wolverine and The Super Hero Squad Show and the Marvel Super Hero Squad video game.

Yeah, I had SHSS but I forgot to type it in. And Hulk vs. Wolverine is in the same continuity as Wolverine and the X-Men, BTW.

 

[Christopher]

And Hulk vs. Wolverine is in the same continuity as Wolverine and the X-Men, BTW.

I thought I'd read that it was ambiguous, that they were very close but might not be exactly the same.