MR. FREEZE - BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH (STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS, SHERLOCK)
One of the most complex and interesting comic-book villains of all-time was butchered by never-ending puns and bad writing in
Batman & Robin, so I think that it's about time for some good old fashioned redemption. Benedict Cumberbatch is undeniably one of the best working actors in Hollywood today, he's fired up the big-screen already once before with his portrayal of Khan in
Star Trek Into Darkness, but it's his work away from the big-screen that has surely captured his true talents, most notably his uncanny portrayal of the always uncompromising detective Sherlock Holmes in the brilliant BBC series
Sherlock. If anyone was going to challenge Heath Ledger's The Joker as Batman's best on-screen villain, I think it'd, without a shadow of a doubt, be Cumberbatch's Mr. Freeze. Take his character arc from
Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero and BOOM! There's a great villain.
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THE PUNISHER - JOSH BROLIN (GANGSTER SQUAD, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN)
I never thought much about who should play The Punisher before, until I finally finished watching
Gangster Squad last week. Though it's definitely not at all a great movie, it's a good one, the cast is likeable all-around and Brolin in particular is great as the leading man who takes charge in taking down Sean Penn's Mickey Cohen. Watching individual scenes throughout the film, especially the scenes where he's involved in fist or gun fights, it's almost uncanny how similar he looks to Frank Castle. Even in his mugshot he looks a bit like Frank Castle! I think Brolin would be fantastic as Castle, especially since his filmography includes some solid R-rated movies that have done pretty well box-office wise (
Gangster Squad did alright, but
Oldboy flopped, but both
No Country For Old Men and
American Gangster however did great business).
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GHOST RIDER - SHARLTO COPLEY (DISTRICT 9, ELYSIUM)
Though he surely hasn't been in too many movies, Sharlto Copley has quickly become a recognizable face in the business and both the films he has done with Neill Blomkamp have shown how good he is at drawing a fine line between good and evil. Though he was technically a good guy in
District 9, he wasn't a likeable guy at all, which made his arc all the more satisfying, and in
Elysium he has a lot of fun playing the bad guy. The balance he finds between his roles is what inspired me to nominate him for the next Ghost Rider instalment. If he brings the same level of energy that he brought in those two films, even a lesser film like
The A-Team, a Ghost Rider revamp would surely be in the right hands indeed.
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VENOM - TOM HARDY (WARRIOR, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES)
A great talent. He's already proven himself in the comic-book genre, as the intimidating and menacing Bane from
The Dark Knight Rises, so why not give him the chance to play a villainous anti-hero this time? Watching
Bronson, I think he'd be perfect at portraying the madness and rage that is within Eddie Brock, and yet he's a capable enough actor that he could make the character strangely likeable to audiences even though his character is rather evil, as he has proved in
Bronson before. He't got the physique, he's got the resume. Now, all he needs is the phone call.
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THE JOKER - RICHARD DE KLERK (REPEATERS, COLE)
Most of you guys reading this probably have no earthly idea who this guy is, but he's a talent worth getting to know. I've only seen one of his films,
Repeaters, but, just from that one film I've seen with him, I have the utmost faith in this guy delivering yet another stunning portrayal of The Clown Prince of Gotham. If you guys haven't seen Repeaters yet, which you should, let me give you a quick rundown of what it's about and why his performance in the film inspired me to select him for this editorial.
Repeaters is like
Groundhog's Day on drugs, it's the same premise, except, this time, it deals with three characters living the same day over-and-over together until they resolve their problems. In the film, Klerk's character, Michael, starts out fine as a person but progressively throughout the film he begins to lose his mind as he takes full-advantage of his "repeats", in doing this he: kills a cop, rapes an underage woman and eventually turns against the only two people that understand his madness. It's a crazy little indie thriller and a crazily-written character who's portrayed almost perfectly by Klerk, his laugh even sounds a bit like Mark Hamill's.
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Also, I wanted to post this article up.
I believe I was the first to ever mention Justin Theroux possibly playing Dr. Strange and, two months after my original article was published, suddenly I started seeing my casting choice get more traction. I think Theroux's a solid actor who would bring a ton of energy to the role of Dr. Strange. Plus, he's a fresh face. Haven't we seen enough of Johnny Depp in big action blockbusters anyway? Leave it to a fresh face and the pay-off will be much better (look at Chris Hemsworth as Thor, for example). But Jon Hamm could make a great Dr. Strange as well (since his name was mentioned in a spoilers article posted for
Captain America: The Winter Solider if I do believe and remember correctly).