AICN claims John Cusack is cast as the Nite-Owl in the hopefully forthcoming Watchmen. Cusack is a quality actor that I’m glad to see attached to this project. But as the Nite-Owl? Isn’t he a bit young and skinny? The Nite-Owl really should be played by an older actor, or by someone who’s gone a bit more to seed. Tom Hulce?
Category: Comics
But how is he on Friendster?
Spanish scientists deduce that the Kevin Bacon of Marvel Comics — i.e. the center of the superheroes’ social network — is none other than Captain America. (Via LinkMachineGo.) Well, take that Red Skull…I wonder if Rick Jones has anything to do with this.
Dark Designs.
Fresh after making his pitch for the Sox, Seth Stevenson tries to wrap his mind around manga. “As for the animated porn I did watch in hopes of gleaning some insight into the Japanese id? I have this to say: Go away, Japanese id! You are scary! I am scared of you!“
Evil Marge.
Will Frances McDormand play the villain in Halle Berry’s Catwoman? This sounded like another classic Warner Brothers screw-up of a DC franchise, but it might be fun to watch McDormand chew the scenery. Perhaps I’ll watch it on cable.
Fables and Reflections.
The Village Voice checks in with Neil Gaiman. “I remember once ranting [about the state of the comics industry] to Dave Sim, who did Cerebus, and he said, ‘So what are you doing about it?'” Well, Dave, to Gaiman‘s credit, at least he didn’t go flat-out bonkers.
Empire of the Knight.
The word has come down from director Chris Nolan: Christian Bale will be Batman. Of the possible contenders, I’d say that’s definitely the right choice. Now for everyone else…I’ve been hearing Aaron Eckhart as Commissioner Gordon for years, and still think that’s spot-on Year One casting. As for the villain(s)…it sounds like they’re leaning toward Ras Al Ghul and the Scarecrow. (Cillian Murphy, Raz?) Those are two of the creepier denizens of Batman’s Rogue’s Gallery, and if done right this film could be great fanboy fun, a la X2. I think they could just have easily used a young, whip-thin, and terminally insane Joker, particularly if they are trying to reboot the Batman mythos as intended, but oh well. If nothing else, it’ll be interesting to see what the director of Memento does with Arkham Asylum.
Rotting Aardvark.
Via LinkMachineGo, Warren Ellis laments the madness of Dave Sim. I picked up the most recent inscrutable issue of Cerebus at Another Universe the other day and I gotta say, I never, ever expected it all to end this way…How Mostholy has fallen.
Four-Color Casting Call.
Eager to catch up with Marvel in the summer blockbuster dept., Warner Brothers and DC plan to screentest a bevy of young stars for Christopher (Memento) Nolan’s new Batman film. (Of these choices, I’d go with Christian Bale.) Also is comic casting news, it turns out cut-rate chanteuse/Newlywed Jessica Simpson will be playing the lead in Mort the Dead Teenager. Normally, this’d be a non-story, but she had been rumored to play Sue Storm (Invisible Girl) in the upcoming Fantastic Four flick, which — if true — would have instantly erased any interest I might have in the project. Now, Naomi Watts, on the other hand…
Orlando and Gabriel.
Will Tilda Swinton sign on for Constantine? She and Rachel Weisz should add a touch of class to the proceedings, but I still think Keanu in the title role is a deal-killer. South London, not SoCal…
Good Namor Hunting.
Matt Damon as the Sub-Mariner? No, no, no…that’s just plain goofy.