Casting is a very controversial topic, especially for comicbook fans. This is because we have grown seeing drawings of characters we love and we imagine those characters in live action.
Characters have different aspects
Every character has different aspects, such as personality, history, social relations, motivations, skills, gender, sexuality and
look. When adapting these characters, filmmakers not always adapt every aspect because
some aspects not always work for the story they want to show. For example, Nolan’s Batman lacked detective skills (he is supposed to be the world greatest detective), Tobey Maguire’s Spiderman lacked the funy jokes in his fights and Cavill’s Superman lacked saving civilians.
LOOKS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR THE CHARACTER
Now, a lot of people argue that looks (and some even that the gender and sexuality) aren’t essential to the character. I heard many people say that they don’t care about the race or gender as long as the actor is good for the personality. They are wrong
. Looks aren’t essential to the personality, but they are essential to the character. If I made a movie about Abraham Lincoln, I wouldn’t make him bald, why? Because Lincoln is not bald! Lincoln is Lincoln, period. His look is part of who he is, and who we know he is. I think nobody here will disagree that we would not like a blond Superman, or a Flash with a green suit. These are not essential for their personalities, but they are essential for the characters.
I want to see live action adaptations of the characters I know, NOT the director’s version of the character.
Looks have been changed before
We all know that many of our characters have lost their suits or changed their appearances before. As I said, some aspects of characters are not always translatable to the big screen. The Xmen lost their suits because they didn’t match the tone of Singer’s take on the characters. When defending stupid casting choices, many people bring up the fan outrage following the casting of Heath Ledger. But Nolan’s Joker is not the same character as the one from the comics (nor is Ayer’s). Nolan’s was such a great character that we all praised what they did. Other characters, like Abomination or Whiplash have been changed but these are characters that we don’t really love so we don’t really care. But, a character like Johnny Storm or Aquaman, is someone that I really, really want to see on the big screen. Again, the character I know, not the director’s version of the character.
I am actually all right with some of the changes
Sadly, most of the world’s pop culture comes from the pre-21st century America and UK and, as a result, most of the characters are white and male. Again, I love these characters, but it is just sad that there are millions of kids from other ethnicities or genders that have to settle with being a sidekick (Falcon or Warmachine) or Black Widow. Therefore, I think its justified to change some character’s look. And no,
you cannot simply create new great black/chinese/whatever characters that could stand on the same level as Superman, Batman, etc. In short, I approve of Michael B Jordan’s casting, or of a possible Idris Elba or Angelina Jolie James Bond.
In Conclusion
Live action characters will never be the exact same characters that they are adapting. I just wish filmmakers adapted them as similar as possible to the source material because
those are the characters we love, with
all of their aspects. Looks
are essential parts of them. However, it
is cool for Hollywood to diversify and change them when it is for a good reason.
Thats all guys! What do you think? Please comment on your thoughts below!
Ps. I know the title of the article is pretentious i just dont care