If I had to sum up the style of Garth Ennis’ writing, I’d mention his disdain for traditional super-heroes, –though Superman gets a pass- his irreverence in handling topics of a religious nature, a fascination with war and military culture, but to my mind Ennis most of all likes writing about friendship and depicting male-to-male bonding. Hitman might be the best example.
Hitman was a series that was published from 1996 to 2001 by DC Comics. With artist John McCrea, Ennis brought us the adventures of Tommy Monaghan, set in the Cauldron, the crime-ridden, lower class Irish district of Gotham City. Tommy Monaghan worked as a freelance assassin and hung around with others of his profession at Noonan’s, a bar run by his father-figure and frequented by a supporting cast of colorful characters. Monaghan and his circle of fiercely devoted friends fought a myriad of foes, including demons, aliens, dinosaurs, zombie seals, British Special Forces, the CIA and Batman. Well, Monaghan didn’t really fight him as much as he just blew chunks all over his boots.
It was hilarious, heartwarming and fun as all hell. Ennis’ trademark violence, dark humor and mocking of superheroes were well present without being gratuitous.
It could be a great movie and a better TV-series. And so, here is my own fan-cast of a Hitman HBO series or LIONSGATE movie…
Timothy Olyphant as
Tommy Monaghan
A former Marine and a freelance assassin with the seldom used powers of telepathy and X-ray vision. Monaghan grew up an orphan in the Cauldron with the Noonans as the closest thing he had to family. A botched drug deal led to him joining the Marine Corps and later becoming a hitman. Despite growing up in a violent environment, Monaghan remains a genuinely nice guy who is loyal to his buddies and goes out of his way to avoid harming innocent people even when it may cost him.
Timothy Olyphant is one of those actors, such as Thomas Jane, that I wonder why he isn’t a bigger deal. He starred in the completely unrelated, disappointing adaptation of the Hitman video game series – that is something that I literally just realized – and he was the villain in Die Hard 4 and little else. If ever he could have a break out role, it would be great if it would be as Tommy Monaghan.
Maybe they should change the name of the movie/series to
Monaghan, though.
Rockmond Dunbar as
Nat ‘The Hat’ Walls
One of Monaghan’s two best friends, whom he met when both were in the Marines and served together in Dessert Storm. He later moved to Gotham and became involved in Monaghan’s exploits.
You may have seen Dunbar as C-Note on
Prison Break.
Harvey Keitel as
Sean Noonan
A veteran of the Korean War and a hitman in times past. He runs
Noonan’s Sleazy Bar, which is frequented by hitmen, including Monaghan, whom he had been a father-figure to all his life. Despite his years, Noonan has not gone soft as can be attested by anyone who starts anything in his bar and finds himself looking down the belt-fed .30-cal he keeps behind the bar.
Harvey Keitel has both necessary parts of Sean Noonan down pat, the kindly father vibe and the sense of being a stone-cold badass. You may have seen him in
Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and the US version of
Life on Mars.
Keith Nobbs as
Pat Noonan
Sean Noonan’s nephew and Monaghan’s childhood friend, occasional roommate and supplier of various wares including guns and ammo.
You may have seen Nobbs in
The Black Donnelleys and
The Pacific.
Chin Han as
Ringo Chen
A mysterious Chinese hitman and patron of Noonan’s bar, despite being of a much more refined nature than its usual working class clientele. Regarded as one of the hitmen in Gotham City, he and Monaghan have a very friendly rivalry going on, as they wonder which one is the best.
Ringo Chen was very obviously based on the characters played by Chow Yun Fat and is a wholesale homage to the heroic bloodshed cinema of Hong Kong and John Woo.
I’d have loved Chow Yun-Fat, but he’s too old and high profile to be Ringo. You may know Chin Han as Lau from
The Dark Knight.
Dominick Lombardozzi as
Hacken
A good-natured, dimwitted low-level thug who seems to hang around at Noonan’s too much to be doing any actual assassinating. Though the frequent butt of their jokes, he’s often protected by his friends.
You may know Lombardozzi as Herc Hauc from
The Wire.
Drea De Matteo as
Maggie Lorenzo
A single-mother resident of the Cauldron who frequently goes to Monaghan for help when she she’s in trouble.
You may know De Matteo from
The Sopranos and
Desperate Housewives.
Marlyne Barrett as
Deborah Tiegel
A Gotham PD Detective who is forced out by the rampant corruption and Monaghan’s on-and-off girlfriend.
You may know Barrett from
The Wire.
Lena Headey as
Kathryn McAllister
A CIA Agent responsible for sicing Green Lantern Kyle Rayner onto Monaghan early in the series. She later returns as an ally and love-interest.
Kathryn O’Brien was a character that appeared in Ennis’ Punisher MAX stories and was very heavily implied to be one and the same as McAllister. I had Headey as O’Brien so it only makes sense she should also be McAllister.
You may know Headey from
The Sarah Connor Chronicles and
300.
John Doman as
Lieutenant Connolly
A Gotham City Police officer who as a rookie beat cop was rescued from a mob execution by Sean Noonan and thus became grudgingly indebted to him.
You may know Doman as Colonel Rawls from
The Wire.
Jason Isaacs as
Johnny Navarone
Purported to be the world’s greatest assassin. He travels the world, drawing the best local hitmen to a duel, which naturally lead him to confronting Monaghan.
Christopher Lloyd as
Men’s Room Louie
One of the main mob bosses in Gotham and a frequent client of Monaghan. Due to a medical condition, requires constant toilet use, from where he conducts all business.
You may have seen Lloyd in the
Back to The Future trilogy.
Peter Gerety as
Agent Truman
A CIA Agent who wants Monaghan under his thumb to be used to reign in and kill super-heroes.
Look, I can’t help it if there was lots of great actors on
The Wire.
And there are a few other characters that would be great to see, except they’re weird. Really weird. Including could drastically change the tone of the series if not handled right, so I’d accept it if they were left out, but a little part of me would still wish they were there.
Wallace Shawn as
Sixpack
A diminutive inebriate who frequented Noonan’s and claimed to be a superhero. He had the superpowers of eviscerating people with broken bottles and occasionally led the bizarre team known as
Section 8.
Ron Jeremy as
Bueno Excellente
An overweight, sweaty, trenchcoat-clad Latino man. As a member of ‘Section 8’, he fights crime with 'the power of perversion'. Yup, Batman has gadgets and his training and his detective methods, but Bueno Excellente just sneaks up on criminals and buggers them.
Adam Baldwin as
NIGHTFIST!
A Gotham City vigilante who claims to rule the night and is prone to over the top acts of violence and narration. He’s a lot like Batman, except Batman never beat up drug dealers only to steal their drugs and sell them. He has the superpower of hitting you with his fists.
Steve Buscemi as the voice of
BAYTOR
Baytor was once lord of insanity in hell. Thanks to Monaghan, the demon Etrigan and Catwoman, he came to be the bartender at Noonan’s.
Baytor can only say “I AM BAYTOR!” and what can be more fun that hearing Steve Buscemi say “I AM BAYTOR!” over and over again? You know, aside from a red dinosaur in a smoking jacket holding a massive revolver that sounds like Tom Waites.