It's been quite the past week or so as a nerd. Jack Kirby's birthday was a week or so ago, Inhumans IMAX release came out (and bombed hard), but most importantly, we had some very exciting casting announcements, and even some casting speculations for upcoming DC projects, two in particular: the long awaited Titans live action series, and SHAZAM! the movie.
Now when it comes down to Titans, there has been a LOT of build up. This show has gone through some serious production hell, first finding its home on TNT and subsequently being dropped shortly thereafter. Now the show is set to release on WB's new network that will be dedicated to its DC properties, and with that preproduction. Since their resurgence to popularity in the 2000's thanks to the very successful Teen Titans show that aired on Cartoon Network: Toonami, people have been getting really hyped about the prospects of a live action Titans, and in fact there have been several fan casting lists. However, we officially have the main members of this Titans iteration cast, so let's take a look.
Starting off we have Teagan Croft playing everyone's favorite super powered emo: Raven. Sporting a wardrobe that looks like something straight from a Hot Topic catalog, and having a dark mystic power that is the only thing holding back her evil, demonic father: Trigon from possessing her body, and opening a portal so that he may lay waste to existence, Raven won are hearts in the Teen Titans show for her snark, her back and forth with the fun loving Beast Boy, but most of all the fact that despite her cold exterior, she actually cared the most in the team and had to keep all her emotion in check at all times to prevent the aforementioned evil dad at bay. Teagan Croft is a relative no name with very little experience, but that has not really been something to hold back a super hero brand. In fact, if anything it allows for people to come to see her as the character better because she is a no name, and if there is anything to be said of this cast, it's that none of them, so far, have been big names.
Second we have Anna Diop cast as fan favorite Starfire. While in the comics Starfire is a bit promiscuous, I hope they drop that and instead lean toward the more perky and fun version of the character that we saw in Teen Titans back in the day. They took a female character that essentially was little more than eye candy in the original concept, and turned her into the heart and soul of the team. However, I realize that many purists will see this casting and there will be an IMMEDIATE complaint and gripe with the cast: "STARFIRE ISN'T BLACK!" Well folks, she's not exactly white either being that she is an orange humanoid from another planet that hurls energy disks, has super strength, and flies around. Something tells me that, like Marvel did for Gamora in Guardians, they will paint her orange. I also laud the choice because, very similar to not having an American play Wonder Woman, I feel that casting Anna Diop (who's from Senegal) will add an aspect of culture that can be directly applied to her portrayal. Diop has had some small screen experience, namely in the 24 reboot series, but otherwise she is a no name as well.
Last but not least of these announcements for Titans is Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson. Now firstly, it is still unclear whether Brenton will be playing a Robin on his way to become Nightwing, or just a Nightwing right off the bat. Personally I would be fine with either. Dick Grayson is easily my favorite Bat Family character, and I think that getting to see him as Robin for a little bit could make for some very interesting character growth into Nightwing, however, Nightwing is able to sell himself for a reason. The biggest thing that people have been worried about is kinda sad actually, and that is: Does Brenton Thwaites have a nice enough ass to play Dick Grayson. From what I have read on forums and the like, the consensus is generally positive. I realize that to those of you who are reading this and are not exactly immersed in comic book lore there are two very distinct features about Dick Grayson: 1. is that he is pretty boy, and 2. is that he has a pseudo legendary ass. He has been named the sexiest comic character multiple times and is a male sex icon in comics for those reasons. Brenton Thwaites is probably the biggest name in this list, having had his breakthrough performance in the most recent chapter of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. While he certainly is a pretty boy, I hope he is able to do the original Boy Wonder justice in the show.
The announcements made about SHAZAM! are both a mix of actual news and a little bit of hearsay. The first big news comes straight from the horse's mouth itself. David F Sandberg, director of the film, said in an interview that the film will be a fun movie filled with "superhero antics," but most importantly that there will be two actors for the titular character: a child (not a teen, a child) to play Billy Batson, and an adult to play Captain Marvel. This is GREAT news. While there has certainly been some rather impressive CG miracles that have happened over the past few years, this role needs to have two different actors. The second bit of news is that evidently John Cena is a frontrunner for the role.Now I don't have an issue with John Cena at all, in fact I think he would do a really good job in that role. He has a strong booming voice, but also (having recently watched the trailer for the new animated feature of Ferdinand the Bull) he has the ability to act almost childlike, and as I said in my hopes and expectations article, that's the most important aspect of this character: Billy Batson is the kid. That being said he is not my first pick. Granted my first pick will never happened because he is attached to a stupid movie that's been in production hell for a few years that is a Marvel property and he has genuine loyalty to playing the character for some reason (DAMMIT CHANNING TATUM JUST LEAVE GAMBIT PLEASE). That being said, if John Cena is cast, I will be happy and on top of that I would really look forward to see Cena and the Rock work side by side on the big screen (flash backs to WWE promos of those two triggered). However, there is a person that has not been talked about that I would quickly like to throw my bid in for, and that is for Gaten Matarazzo to play Billy Batson.
Now last year Netflix debuted the show Stranger Things on Netflix, and if you haven't watched it, please do, it's great. It feels like if Stephen King wrote his own version of an ET script. Anyways, point is there were a lot of young stars that made a name of themselves in it, and one in particular has been talked about by fans for the role: Finn Wolfhard. Finn plays the main character of the series and it's really no surprise why people would pick him, he does an awesome job and his character shows adult-like bravery and determination. I understand exactly why people would want him, however, I think that there is a better choice to be found, and he plays another character in the show and that is Gaten Matarazzo, or rather Dustin from Stranger Things. Dustin I feel kinda gets overlooked a lot, but he is my favorite character in Stranger things. I kinda feel like he's what would happen if you took Chunk and Mouth from The Goonies and fused them together. He's got a smart mouth on him that gets him into trouble, but he's got a genuinely good heart and just wants to fit in really. I honestly feel like it makes him even more suited to play Billy in that regard. In the original concept, Billy was orphaned and abandoned by his uncle, he feels like an outcast, and Gaten did such a good job at portraying that in Stranger Things. My next point on this is about his body type. Gaten isn't fat, but he's not in great shape either. I feel that having a kid who is "weak" have this great strength passed onto him would be a far more humbling experience. Most importantly though is that Gaten is a GENUINE comic book nerd, he loves reading comics and would eat up any Shazam book you gave him in research. He would appreciate the character and its legacy better than most child actors would.Well this has been another edition of Comic Relief! I hope you enjoyed and we will see you again soon!
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