The Phantom is the 21st in a line of crimefighters that originated in 1536, when the father of British sailor Christopher Walker was killed during a pirate attack. Swearing an oath to fight evil on the skull of his father's murderer, Christopher started the legacy of the Phantom that would be passed from father to son, leaving people to give the mysterious figure nicknames such as "The Ghost Who Walks", "The Man Who Cannot Die" and "Guardian of the Eastern Dark", believing him to be immortal.
That being said, I think the Phantom should wear gray as Lee Falk ORIGINALLY INTENDED or at least grey with small hints of purple. And yes, I think a redesign is needed. Its a character that was never updated. Here is a design I liked by Mattcrap of deviant art:
It's time for a proper Phantom movie. Without the Phantom there would be no Batman. The long history of the Ghost Who Walks is a great thing that has not been explored to it's full potential. It's time to take away the striped underwear and evolve this character. This does not mean to make it dark and gritty, but to explore the character and grow him past the avenger who hunts pirates to something more...
CAST:
SCOTT ADKINS AS THE PHANTOM
FILMS:
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing
Undisputed III: Redemption
The Bourne Ultimatum
El Gringo
Zero Dark Thirty
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
Ninja
I want an actor whose physically capable of actually dishing out the justice the Phantom supposed to be able to dish out. The perfect person for this role is also my choice for Batman, and thats Scott Adkins. I havent seen anyone move like him in a action role. He's a unique Martial Artist and he really is getting a lot better in his acting roles.
JUST IMAGINE The phantom taking out a villain or a thug with the precision and effectiveness that Scott does as Yuri Boyka in Undisputed or any other of his films!
DONNIE YEN AS KABAI SINGH
Donnie never got his due in the U.S. Originally from Boston, He speaks perfect english and is one of Asia's most amazing talents. He only has gotten bit parts in the U.S.
I've seen Donnie play good guy bad guy and everything in between and he has developed in to a decent actor. certainly better than Jet li IMHO and a lot more menacing to boot. He just recently got worldwide acclaim for Ip man, but In my opinion Donnie has been the best Martial artist in Asian cinema since the mid 90's!
FILMS:
Iron Monkey
New Dragon Gate Inn (Main Villain)
Legend of the Wolf
Blade II
SPL: Sha Po Lang
Seven Swords
Flash Point
An Empress and the Warriors
Ip Man
Bodyguards and Assassins
The Lost Bladesman
Wu Xia
DJIMON HONSOU AS GURAN
FILMS:
Amistad
Gladiator
The Four Feathers
In America
Blueberry
Blood Diamond
Constantine
Never Back Down
I'm gonna go against the grain of what the traditional Guran supposed to be as I don't find it flattering at all to that character. The goofy pigmy look just takes away completely from what the Phantom could be. It's like keeping the original design for Alfred in the comics to this day. It just doesn't work.
Honsou is an amazing actor and would be a great support to Scott as the Phantom. Honsou also is very good at phisically demanding roles just look at Never Back Down or Blood Diamond!
NICOLE KIDMAN AS REBECCA MADISON
FILMS:
Stoker
The Paperboy
Rabbit Hole
The Golden Compass
Eyes Wide Shut
Billy Bathgate
To Die For
Moulin Rouge!
The Others
I know, why pull Rebecca Madison out of The Phantom 2040?
To tell you the truth In my opinion. Rebecca seems to be the most interesting villain I've ever seen come out of The Phantom mythos. I would steal this character for my movie. She's part of the reason I enjoyed watching the Phantom series. I can't say the same for any of the pirate villains or for any of the Singh Brotherhood!
And as for Nicole. She is not only one of the best actresses in Hollywood, Her villains in films can be truly frightening with the right direction.