How many times have you seen a CBM and thought; “Man! This could have been great, but…”? Most of the time all these movies suffer from is bad casting. So, I had an idea. I want to start doing fancasts … with a twist! In these castings I will be taking older CBMs that had potential but fell short. I will recast those films in an interesting way… I will cast them using members of popular TV shows. These strange castings will be known as “CBM Assassin MASH-UPS”
This first casting will be a mash up of GhostRider and FX’s Sons of Anarchy!
I got this idea while watching Sons of Anarchy recently. I had the thought; “Now this is a believable biker… I wonder if Nicholas Cage has ever watched this show?” From there the following casting was born!
We will start with the Most important role:
Johnny Blaze -
Charlie Hunnam
Charlie Hunnam plays the lead role in Sons of Anarchy; Jackson 'Jax' Teller. Jax is a pationate and sometimes violent visionary who is wanting to make a change in SAMCRO where he is also the vice-president. He’s a solid actor and as I watch the show I can see him adopting the role of Johnny Blaze… and if nothing else he looks WAAAAAY more natural on a motorcycle than Nicholas Cage.
Notable Roles: Jackson 'Jax' Teller – Sons of Anarchy
Other CBM Roles: None
Mack -
Ryan Hurst
Ryan Hurst plays Harry “Opie” Winston. What better person to play Johnny Blaze’s best friend and business partner than the guy who is the childhood friend and cobiker to “Jax” on SOA? Hurst is an actor who has pulled off a huge variety of roles… all of which he has done well. He has shown his comedic ability in
Lone Star State of Mind, a passion for drama in
Remember The Titans, and has shown the ability to be a believable @$$ Kicker on
Sons of Anarchy
Notable Roles: Tinker Johnson – Lone Star State of Mind
Other CBM Roles: None
Roxanne -
Maggie Siff
Tara is the (main) love interest of “Jax” in SOA. She has an amazing chemistry with Charlie Hunnam and honestly, that’s all that Roxanne needs in this film.
Notable Roles: Tara Knowles - Sons of Anarchy
Other CBM Roles: Teresa Stowe – Push
Caretaker -
William Lucking
This was one of the hardest roles for me to cast. I mean, how do you replace Sam Eliot?! But due to the rules of this casting “Mash-up” I am forced to replace him with a SOA actor. So, after much thought I have decided to cast William Lucking. He plays “Piney” on SOA. Piney is the older wiser biker of the group and I could see him as the mentor of Johnny as he discovers his powers.
Notable Roles: Colonel Lynch – The A-Team (TV Series)
Other CBM Roles: None
Now on to our Villains!
Mephistopheles -
Ron Perlman
My own rules will not allow me to change plot lines, only cast members. I will however speak to the wardrobe of this cast member. I want to see a Comic Book Villain! NOT Peter Fonda in a trench coat! I’m sorry but a flash of superimposed sharp teeth don’t cut it. I want to see Ron Perlman in all of his red skinned, horn, smoke shooting from his nostrils Mephistopheles glory! I understand he needs to look normal when making the “deal” with Johnny… but once the cat’s out of the bag… cut him loose! That’s why I picked Ron Perlman. In SOA he can have a strong fatherly appeal one minute and then be ready to rip someone’s head off the next. Besides, we all know he looks great in red!
Notable Roles: Hellboy – Hellboy I +II, “Clay” Morrow-Sons of Anarchy
Other CBM Roles: Hellboy, Hellboy 2, Blade 2, The Tick, and other various Voice work
Blackheart -
Henry Rollins
(Read what I said above about wanting a REAL Comic Book Villain and apply it here also) Henry Rollins is a #^$#%$ B@d@$$!... Nuff said. Some will say that Henry Rollins is too old to be Satan’s son… to that I say: “How old is the Son of Satan?”
Notable Roles: AJ Weston-Sons of Anarchy
Other CBM Roles: An uncredited role as a “driver” in The Crow, several voice roles including Green Lantern Emerald Knights, Batman; Brave and the Bold, Batman Beyond, etc…
Bring on the Henchmen!
Abigor -
Mark Boone Junior
I love Mark Boone Junior. He just looks gnarly. No one would ever cast him for this role because of his portly size. I however think he could be pretty intimidating. I would like to see his take on this “Air Demon”.
Notable Roles: Burt -Memento
Other CBM Roles: Detective Glass – Batman Begins, Beau Brower – 30 Days of Night
Gressil -
David Labrava
David Labrava plays “Happy” on SOA. Happy is the guy who has no problem killing
anyone in
anyway that is needed by the club. Labrava plays characters that intimidate very well. I’m sure this role will be no different.
Notable Roles: “Happy” – Sons of Anarchy
Other CBM Roles: None
Wallow -
Kim Coates
Coates plays “Tibs” on SOA. He is absolutely ruthless, a womanizer and completely without conscience. In SOA he is the one chosen to gun down a member of his own “MC family”… Sounds villain material to me. He also would look cool as this “Water Demon”.
Notable Roles: “Tibs” – Sons of Anarchy
Other CBM Roles: None
Don’t Forget the Babies!
Young Johnny -
Johnny Lewis
He doesn’t look
that young in SOA but if you give this guy a clean shave and a haircut I think he is passable for a Young Charlie Hunnam. Besides, even though this isn’t a perfect match I still think it is better than the likeness of the two original actors.
Notable Roles: “Half Sack” – Sons of Anarchy
Other CBM Roles: Ricky - AVP: Requiem, Gabriel Duncan – Smallville
Young Roxanne -
Taryn Manning
“Cherry” is both sassy and indepent while struggling to find someone to give her security… sounds like Young Roxanne to me… how about you?
Notable Roles: “Cherry” – Sons of Anarchy
Other CBM Roles: None
Keep in mind that this was to be a challenge and in no way how I would cast this film … but rather HOW I would cast this film using only the actors within the show that is involved in this Mash-up.
THOSE LEFT BEHIND
There are a few SOA actors that I want to give honorable mention to. These actors have blown me away in their roles on Sons of Anarchy… I simply could not make them fit into this cast.
Tommy Flanagan - Filip 'Chibs' Telford
And
Katey Sagal - Gemma Teller Morrow