I recently came past an article in which Mark Millar praised Josh Trank's vision for the new "Fantastic Four" film set to open in 2015. While it was deliberately vague about what Trank has in mind for his reboot, it left me wondering WHO should fill out the blue spandex suits this time around. The first cast was... well, Mr. Fantastic was bland, Jessica Alba couldn't pull off brainy, and Dr. Doom wasn't very menacing. So I rattled around my brain for a little while and tried to come up with a cast that would suit new - and hopefully better - material.
David Tennant as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic
Most sci-fi fans know Tennant as the 10th Doctor from "Doctor Who." The idea of him crossing the pond to play an American superhero seemed a bit outlandish... until I gave it some thought. During his time as the Doctor, he showed can pull off not just brainy but brilliant - you can buy Tennant as the smartest man in the room. He also mastered the ability to be nerdy and aloof yet incredibly charming at the same time. I can totally see him as Reed Richards, getting lost in his own science projects, babbling to himself - and still being every bit the leader and hero of the Fantastic Four. His nebbish charm is going to be incredibly valuable to the role if audiences are to buy the Reed-Sue romance. Which brings me too...
Anna Torv as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman
She's blonde, she's beautiful, but most important, she can act. The Australian actress has spent the last 5 years playing (at last count) 4 different version of the same character on "Fringe." Like Tennant, she's got the chops to pull off the brilliance, but more importantly as she's displayed this season on "Fringe" she can temper that with with great warmth and wisdom. I can already imagine her looking after/ripping into her younger brother. Bringing me to...
Charlie Hunnam as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch
This one is a bit of a gamble for me - I have to confess I have not yet seen "Sons of Anarchy." But I have seen Hunnam in "Undeclared" from way back in the day. Between that and what I've heard about SOA I imagine Hunnam could be quit the hothead (pun intended). And that's part of the fun of Johnny - someone who flies in the face of the more stuffy crowd of Reed, Sue, and of course...
Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Ben Grimm/The Thing
I can't say whether I think this should be motion capture, pure voice-over, or put him in the suit, but I think Morgan is the right man for this job. After seeing him as the Comedian in "Watchmen" I'm convinced he could tackling the many facets of Ben Grimm. The gruffness, the anger, the sadness, and most importantly the badass yells before clobberin' commences.
Oh, and one more for good measures...
Christoph Waltz as Dr. Doom
Doom has always puzzled me as a villain - depending on the writer he can be a menacing genius or a goofball in a skirt. Waltz is the only person I know who can walk that line between menace and camp without falling too far into either. Just thinking about him in "Inglourious Basterds" reminds me of how fiendishly evil and cartoonish he can be at the same time ("That's a bingo!"). Giving him a good script and letting him cut loose against Tennant's Mr. Fantastic would be one hell of a show.
And there is my take on who should suit up as the new Fantastic Four. It's too bad Fox isn't part of Marvel - should this come to pass I would have loved to seen Tennant's Richards having science fun time with Downey and Ruffalo, or Waltz and Hiddleston's Loki teaming up for some mustache-twirling shenanigans. In the meantime, I hope this spreads the word for Trank & Co. to look for the good actors for this film - they're out there.