A genuinely great comic book movie stands and falls on the quality of its casting. Nina looks over some of the highs and lows…
The one thing that worries me about this unrelenting influx of comic/graphic novel adaptations to film (besides the idea of authors writing books with the movie in mind, which makes me cringe), is the missteps that have and will take place in the casting of iconic and beloved characters.
Avid bookworms are no strangers to the celluloid bitch slap of seeing portrayals of their favorite characters destroyed by the It Girl of the moment, the teen heartthrob vying for big screen fame, or the universally recognizable star straining to master a foreign accent.
Looking at comic book films from 2010 and many that are in development, however, there appears to be a shift in the way movies are bringing these characters to a new medium.
There has often been a great disconnect from how studios are casting these films and how fans, especially those of the original material, would envision their favorite heroes and villains on screen. Movies like The Fantastic Four (and its sequel), Spider-Man (and its sequels), and some of the early Batman adaptations suffered from many things. Many, many things.
But the common thread throughout all of them was inappropriate casting. Because producers and filmmakers want the movies to grab the interest of a general audience rather than just comic book readers, they cast actors that have mass appeal. It would make sense if the aforementioned movies actually garnered those desired results.
The films that achieve enduring critical and financial success like Iron Man, Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight, take risks in their choice of actors for the sake of the material, not just box office numbers.
It is unfortunate that many filmmakers shy away from the alternative to big-name casting, creating new movie stars. It might be a lot riskier to sell a movie without a name, but it allows undiscovered or lesser known actors to showcase their talent and become stars through these larger than life characters.
Not many people knew who Chloe Moretz was before she put on a purple wig and threw knives into mobsters as Hit Girl, but now it would be impossible to think of Kick-Ass existing without her in that role.
When I hear fans discuss what made Edgar Wright's Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World so fantastic, I am surprised that the unbelievably spot-on cast is often overlooked. Wright populated his movie with young actors who play off of each other's strengths and work seamlessly as an ensemble. Every time I try to pick a favorite, I fail miserably.
Even Michael Cera, who plays the titular character and is arguably the most well known of the cast, captured the mannerisms and personality of Scott Pilgrim (despite claims that he played it like he did many of his other roles, which are not as substantial as one might think). Many of their contemporaries are more famous and recognizable in a tabloid-ish 'I've outgrown Disney', kind of way, and thankfully, they were not in this movie.
It is unfair to pass on a talented actor for a part because he or she is a 'name', but when casting decisions become more about the actor than the role, that's when a movie starts to suffer.
Movies like Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim illustrated a more prominent shift in 2010 in terms of casting. Certainly unconventional casting is nothing new, but comic and graphic novel films are being seen less and less as risky endeavors, so filmmakers are exercising more creativity.
Just compare the Spider-Man franchise reboot to its predecessor. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone? Both of them are just now finding success in movies, more often as character actors than leads (Stone's turn in Easy A being the only exception).
It would be premature to conclude that this new Spider-Man will be a total success simply because he's not Tobey Maguire, but with more and more superheroes leaping to the screen, some for the third or fourth time (still waiting to hear the identity of Zack Snyder's Superman), competent casting choices are usually the first hurdle towards a film that even the comic book fans might love. Might.
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