Fanboys Anonymous

One of the glaring absences from the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot was the lack of a core character, Casey Jones. Fans have naturally been speculating that the hockey mask wearing vigilante would make an appearance in the sequel that has been announced. If that is going to happen, who should play the part? Hollywood is packed to the brim with talented guys that could pull it off, but who stands out in our minds? On this edition of FANBOYS CAST, several members of the website discuss who they would like to see take on the role of April O'Neil's love interest—as much as she wouldn't want to admit it.

Nicholas D'Agosto (Tony Mango's choice)

Casey Jones to me consists of basically four different characteristics all combined into one person that somewhat embodies the collective mindsets of all four turtles. First and foremost, he must be humorous. He's interacting with giant mutant karate expert turtles, but after the initial shock, he's game. This puts him in a good spot with Mikey, being able to play off the other's jokes. The original '90s film had a great scene where he and Donatello bonded over fixing the car, showing that he's not a complete lunkhead. Obviously, there's the jerk mentality that he brings to the table. This puts him at odds with Raphael, but eventually leads to a mutual respect. Then, there are times where Casey steps up to the plate and can be a true leader, like Leonardo.

Nicholas D'Agosto has all of these in his repertoire. His time on Heroes showcased a rebellious side where he was charming in his anti-hero ways. He's kind of a prick in it and defies authority, but he does it with a smile on his face. He eventually succumbs to his good heart rather than being all about his own desires. He's done some comedies since then, which allowed him to improve on his acting chops and comedic timing. D'Agosto is close enough to Megan Fox's age and handsome enough to be a justifiable love interest. I doubt there would be an issue with him pulling off the action required of him.
 
Three other names that I had considered when thinking about this were Kellan Lutz, Garrett Hedlund, and Jared Padalecki (who I almost went with, but decided that he would probably cost more money in comparison to D'Agosto). All in all, D'Agosto has a cocky sense of humor, but doesn't rub people the wrong way, which is exactly what Casey Jones does to not only April O'Neil, but the rest of the team.

Taylor Kitsch or Zac Efron (Sam Lascio's choice)

There are two different ways we can go with casting an actor to play Casey Jones:

First, the studio could go with someone younger. Megan Fox herself is 28, but they could get an actor in his mid-to-late 20s. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles reboot was made primarily for younger audiences, and with this in mind, I would choose Zac Efron. Now, let's all take a deep breath. When we think of Casey Jones, our minds don't automatically go to the kid from High School Musical, but have you seen the guy lately? The dude's got some muscles. Not to mention that actors put on muscle mass (or lose muscle mass) for roles all the time. Efron could totally bulk up more and pull off the intimidating physique of Casey Jones. This would draw in that younger audience they're looking for, but I think Zac Efron could give even us older fanboys a great incarnation of the character.


Now, the studio could also go with a slightly older actor. This would give us a Casey Jones that would be older than Megan Fox, but not so much older that it's creepy. You know, like they tried doing with Will Arnett? Call me old fashioned, but a 44 year old trying to hit on a 28 year old just seemed odd, and I think the general movie-going audience agreed. With that in mind, I'd go with 33 year old Canadian actor Taylor Kitsch. Aside from giving us a sub-par, albeit not completely trashed, performance as Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I thought his acting in John Carter was one of the highlights of the film. He tried to have a break out role in Gambit and it didn't work out. He tried to carry a film with John Carter and THAT didn't work out. However, I believe that if he were to be cast as Casey Jones, that he's got the look, he could give us the attitude, and he could reignite the flame of an old fan favorite character that we all loved from the 1990 film played by Elias Koteas (we won't talk about the 3rd film in '93).

Jason David Frank (Mike Paden's choice)

Casey Jones is a rough, yet cheesy character. It requires a certain look and attitude to portray accurately. For me, the perfect mix lays with the former Mighty Morphin Power Ranger turned MMA fighter Jason David Frank. His skills earned while fighting give legitimacy to his tough-guy persona while his time as a Ranger showed his ability to act for a young audience, yet still put on an entertaining performance for all ages. Perhaps he can call in the Dragonzord to battle the Technodrome? Fun fact: JDF's second professional MMA fight was against Chris Rose, who made his entrance wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles robe.

The current speculation and rumors are pointing to Jared Leto being the top choice to play Doctor Strange in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe phase 3 film. This has not been confirmed, but it seems to make a lot of sense, considering his recent Academy Award for Dallas Buyers Club as well as his increasing star potential. Jared Leto—in my personal opinion—is someone who could pull off the role of the Sorcerer Supreme and would fit in nicely amongst the superheroes that have already been established.

However, one of the most fun things to do as fans of movies and the source material that they draw from is to theorize and express our opinions about casting decisions that we'd like to see happen. That is why we present to you another edition of FANBOYS CAST, wherein several members of the website partake in a fan cast of a particular character. This time, we are (obviously) focusing on Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange from director Scott Derrickson's upcoming film.


JOSEPH FIENNES (Tony Mango's choice)

There was a time that I used to throw out the name Patrick Dempsey, after hearing that he was interested in playing the part. I still think that that may not be a bad route to go, but as time goes on, I like the idea of Joseph Fiennes even more. I think he has the look down and the acting chops to pull it off, but even more than that, I think he's got the right type of star power. By that, I mean that he is a big enough star where they don't need to start promoting the film from the ground up, but his casting won't trump the character itself. People watching the movie won't be thinking of Joseph Fiennes when they watch it; they'll be thinking of Doctor Strange.

KEANU REEVES (Sam Lascio's choice)

I think Keanu Reeves would have been interesting for the role.

Yeah, he's gained a bit of a reputation where some of his films flop and his acting isn't exactly great, but when he nails it, he freaking nails it.

If he could nail Doctor Strange, it would make for a very interesting movie.

Not only could he do the part acting-wise, but I think he has the look down, too.

PAUL MCGANN (Tom Jackson's choice)

While I believe there's merit to casting lesser known actors to play iconic superheroes in summer blockbuster films, I think there's a far more impressive well to be tapped than B-List American actors; British actors. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman have risen to stardom from their work on Sherlock and the massively successful Game of Thrones is filled with characters from an abundance of British shows. Furthermore, Marvel has tapped Christopher Eccleston and Karen Gillen, both of Doctor Who fame, for roles in their films. British actors have the perfect combination of ambiguity and massive talent to be perfectly suited for Marvel roles, and no one needs one more than Paul McGann.

McGann played the short lived Eight Doctor in the Doctor Who movie by Fox, in which he was severely underserved, and went on to record an array of exceptional radio shows as The Doctor. As Doctor Strange, he would need to sell dialogue laced with all sorts of mystical mumbo jumbo, the sort of dialogue that can eradicate suspension of disbelief if not delivered well. McGann has already proven that he can sell the high concept world he's tasked with playing in. He's also demonstrated exceptional range in the crime series Luther. Doctor Strange is a broken man who gets his powers from a sojourn to fix himself. McGann proved during his tumultuous time on Luther that he has the range to handle the heavy character moments as well as the supernatural elements. With McGann on board, Doctor Strange could fill the mystical void left in the wake of Harry Potter and ignite Marvel's third phase of films.

It has been announced by Brian Singer that in 2016, the follow-up to X-Men: Days of Future Past will be called X-Men: Apocalypse, which naturally has to feature one of the series most powerful (if not THE most powerful) enemies, Apocalypse.

A Little Background on the Character:

Generally speaking, Apocalypse's backstory is that he was born thousands of years ago in Egypt, and at that time, he was named En Sabah Nur (or "The First One"), which is referenced many times to imply that he was one of the first mutants in history.

His powers are immense and include virtually everything out there. He is immortal, invulnerable, has superhuman strength, can alter his size and molecular structure, manipulate matter, and pretty much anything else you can name.

Challenges on the Screen:

1) Big frame, unless you go with CGI
2) Intimidating
3) Sense of being regal

In a lot of ways, this is similar to trying to figure out who you would cast as Thanos, which still hasn't been confirmed yet despite Damion Poitier playing him in The Avengers.

Who wins this fist fight?

If he were still alive, my top choice would probably be Michael Clarke Duncan. Unfortunately, that's no longer a possibility. I've never been able to think of anyone else that can do the character justice with a relative size proportion, so instead, I think they need to go with heavy CGI and in that case, you don't need anyone that particularly resembles the character at all.

If you're going with just voices, my first thoughts run to Keith David or Kevin Michael Richardson. If you're going for an actor who can provide a voice and also do the facial expressions and such, I'm going with Javier Bardem. He's nowhere near as physically big as the character, but neither is Mark Ruffalo, and he was the Hulk, so that's something to get around.

Bardem has an evil-looking face, and I think it can be manipulated enough to look like Apocalypse. Plus, he has a deep and distinct enough voice that, with some extra editing, I would buy into it. Being Spanish obviously isn't the same as being Egyptian, but it's much more believable to me to have someone like Bardem play the character than a stark white Irish person or someone who sounds like they're from Brooklyn, that's for sure.


My first thought on casting Apocalypse also was Michael Clarke Duncan. He had the size, the voice, and just overall aura that represent the character. Since Michael is no longer with us (may he rest in peace), I would go with Idris Elba. I love him in the Thor movies. Idris as Heimdall just exudes royalty—a trait that Apocalypse himself exhibits—which is a perfect reason to cast Idris. His voice alone would make a great Apocalypse, since it's deep and carries authority. The studio may have to CGI Idris's size, but I can't see that being a problem. Idris Elba is the only actor I can think of being able to capture the essence that is Apocalypse.


When I imagine how they might want to portray Apocalypse aesthetically, I imagine something of a Hellboy-esque prosthetics job with a touch of CGI. Then again, I might be wrong. They might go for full-on mocap suits and have a voiceover actor instead. So I'm looking to take the middle ground and try to imagine not only who would look similar to Apocalypse, but also who I imagine could pull off the voice.

First off, I'm going out on a limb to suggest Vin Diesel stop trying to be so likeable and go full villain. The guy would look spot on with a bit of blue and grey greasepaint on his slaphead and, of course, the prosthetics. He also has a very deep, aggressive voice, which I imagine would work well. Otherwise, because Fox has been very ballsy in casting the X-Men franchise, it's very possible they may go with a great big hulking wrestler superstar to provide both the bulk and a huge boost in popularity. We've all seen how monstrously big Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been getting for his films over the last year or two. The guy can play a villain, and as he proved with Fast & Furious and GI Joe: Retaliation, he has all a filmmaker needs to turn an ailing project around and make it a success.


Based on body size and facial structure, I like Jason Momoa from Conan to play Apocalypse. He's massive and very serious and has a great face for it. I don't know if it's fitting since his skin isn't quite dark enough (to be Egyptian, I mean) and we would have to do something about that voice, but he's the one who comes to mind. If the character is going to be portrayed in any way like the animated series, then maybe it deserves a total rethink.

Welcome to the first edition of FANBOYS CAST, wherein several members of the Fanboys Anonymous team pitch their ideas of which actors and actresses could play certain roles in film and television. As with most fan casts that you see out there, it should all be taken with a grain of salt. These are merely some suggestions that we would be interested in seeing—not official casting calls that have been made.

What better film to start out with than the movie that has the most buzz in regards to casting right now, the latest installment of the Star Wars saga.

Virtually nothing has been announced for this film. We have no confirmed plot, title, or cast of characters. Even the list of people we assume are guaranteed to return still hasn't been 100% solidified. The only thing we know for sure right now is that R2D2 will return, and there's no need to try to recast that droid.

As such, we are going to speculate on some characters we could potentially see in this new film. Since this is a rather blind guess, we could be completely off, not only in regards to casting, but even as to the characters themselves. Still, we invite you to join in on the fun and think of the possibilities we're presenting below.


I'm of the impression that we're going to see a few characters from the Expanded Universe incorporated into the film, but not necessarily to a T. We should see some legacy characters that are the children of the older ones like Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian.

Ben Skywalker played by Alex Pettyfer

First off, I think the lead character of this story should very well be Luke Skywalker's son, and I think that they should name him Ben. It just works for how simple it is. If there is the character of Luke's son Ben, I think Alex Pettyfer is the perfect actor for the role. He has all the elements necessary to pull off what is required of him. In the looks department, he not only resembles a young Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) mixed with Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker), he's also marketable to the female base because of how handsome he is. He was in Magic Mike, after all. It isn't as though he's some no-talent model, though. Pettyfer has acting chops as well. He's also in a good spot as far as being a big enough star to carry a film, but not so big that he would bankrupt the film to sign on. Pettyfer was on the list of people rumored to have a spot in the film, and if it were this role, I think it would make perfect sense. Some people think Ryan Gosling is better suited, but I think Pettyfer is the way to go.

Han & Leia's Daughter played by Chloë Grace Moretz

Is it unoriginal? Sure. Does that mean it is invalid by default? Absolutely not. Moretz was another name in the rumor mill, and my instincts for where I would like to see her in this film instantly gravitated towards this role. She's proven herself as far as acting talent and skill with action sequences, so there's no risk in casting her. Her character could easily have the rebellious tomboy nature that her parents (more so her father) have.


Lando's Son played by Michael B. Jordan

If Lando is in the film, I would like to see him as part of the new Republic, maybe as a senator of sorts. If he has a son, he should be cocky and cool like him, but maybe with a softer side. If you're asking me for my fan fiction, I'd make him a member of the military and the love interest for Han and Leia's daughter. Michael B. Jordan absolutely killed the idea of a charming socialite with a softer side in Chronicle, and like the two others mentioned above, he has a very bright future.

C'mon. Lando's son. You can see it, can't you?

Primary Villain played by Benedict Cumberbatch

Again, it's unoriginal, but that's just because it works so well in theory that you can't avoid talking about it. Benedict Cumberbatch just has that "it" factor where he could play a dark, disturbing member of the Sith (or whatever they want to do in regards to evil Jedi-esque villainous characters, if the Sith are indeed gone for good).

So what if he was already a villain in Star Trek Into Darkness? Jack Nicholson has played a villain a bunch of times and people don't complain. Morgan Freeman is almost always a wise helper to the protagonist and nobody complains. Cumberbatch has it in him to nail a role like this, and that should be utilized. He could be part Darth Maul (physical threat), but still as cunning and intelligent of a threat as ever. Extra bonus points if he played a Jedi that was excommunicated and was one of Luke's first students.


High-Ranking Jedi played by Tom Hiddleston

Tom Hiddleston is a great villain as Loki in the Marvel films, but it's undeniable how likable he is despite his character being evil. I say you should flaunt that. Make Tom Hiddleston the equivalent of the Mace Windu character, where he's the second-in-command—or at least a high-ranking member—of a Jedi Council led by the new Yoda of the bunch, Luke himself. Tom's character can be a bit of comedic relief (but not in the stupid Jar Jar Binks way, in the lighthearted and fun guy way) or he can just be someone that the audience can get behind full storm. Then what do you do? Well, you have to kill him in Episode VIII, of course, and rip our hearts out in the process.


Mara Jade Skywalker played by Sigourney Weaver

If Luke has a wife, I don't see why they shouldn't just make her Mara Jade. If they do include Mara Jade, she needs to be around the same age as Mark Hamill. How many women in Hollywood could fill this role? When brainstorming, I could only think of two: Jane Seymour and Sigourney Weaver. While I think Seymour could bring a certain level of class to the part, I think Weaver suits it better. She's also had her share of action in the past and she's no stranger to working in space, so I'm hard-pressed to think of someone better.

Ben Skywalker's Love Interest played by Emma Stone or Anna Kendrick

I'm a big fan of both of these women, and I think either of them could be great in this capacity.


Anakin Solo played by Chandler Riggs

He's been a pain in the ass as Carl in The Walking Dead, but we've seen how much of a little ass kicker he can be. He's the right age for the part, in my mind.

Jace Solo played by Sebastian Stan

We've seen him play Captain America's buddy Bucky, and he'll soon be a hopefully-badass Winter Soldier. If all pans out well for him in the Cap sequel, he should fit perfectly into the role of the fallen son of Leia and Han.

Jaina Solo played by Chloe Grace Moretz

We've seen Chloe kick ass in the Kick-Ass series, and she's the perfect age to play Leia and Han's only daughter that will one day evolve into a Jedi Master.

Mara Jade Skywalker played by Jaclyn Smith

She's still gorgeous and one of the original Charlie's Angels. She'd make a perfect Sith-turned-Jedi and love interest for Mark Hamill.

Kyle Katarn played by Liam Hemsworth

His brother got his breakout role playing Thor, and we have seen that he can be an action star in The Expendables 2, so why not give Liam the rugged Han Solo part of this new generation?

Lando "Chance" Calrissian Jr. played by Noah Gray-Cabey

I can't see Jr. being a huge character in the next three films if my hopes for Katarn and the Solos pan out, but hey, he played Micah in Heroes.

Ben Skywalker played by Josh Hutcherson

He's making a name for himself in The Hunger Games, and I expect him to bite the dust in the next film. Assuming that happens, he would make an awesome Ben.

Jedi played by David Morrissey

He is another fantastic Walking Dead actor. He's living on borrowed time on that show, and I think he'd make an excellent Jedi that helps rebuild the temple.

Villain played by Giancarlo Esposito

He needs to play the villain in the new franchise. He is a cold, calculating, evil man in both Revolution and Breaking Bad. I don't care who needs to be paid off, he needs to be a Sith lord or some kind of bad guy in the upcoming films.


Son of Luke or Han turned to the dark side played by Dane DeHaan

He was great in Chronicle and he's shown that he can play the timid, quiet, nice guy who gets pushed too far and uses his powers against others.

Female Lead played by Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence has always defied my expectations when it comes to new, young actresses. She's displayed in The Hunger Games that she can have the physicality of a fight and although she wasn't the shining star of X-Men: First Class, I'm confident in her ability to hold her own with the likes of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford in an iconic film series.

Emma Stone in some kind of a supporting role

She's just a great actress who has played both serious and silly characters alike. Though I wouldn't cast her in the leading role, she could definitely bring something to the table, especially as a conscience to the lead female or even something of a sidekick role.

So who would you like to see in the new series? Would you like us to flesh out our ideas in fan fiction format? Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the comments below!