Dream Cast: Marvel - Part II

And we're back for Part II! If you haven't already seen it, you should check out Part I before reading on. Otherwise, here we go...

NIghtcrawler - Alan Cumming


Nightcrawler is a pretty strange character, and one you'd think would be a tough sell. Luckily, he was handled just fine in the X-Men United. Yeah, he's supposed to be a little more lighthearted, but that's after he becomes a regular member of the team. As far as casting goes, Alan Cumming was spot on with every detail, the accent, the physicality. I really couldn't ask for a better adaptation. So... I won't.

Colossus - Daniel Cudmore


After much thought, I decided to leave Bryan Singer's original casting choice of Daniel Cudmore as Colossus well alone. Normally, my process involves finding the right actor to embody the spirit of a character before choosing one based on physicality. But Colossus is a character for whom physicality is a core attribute... and Daniel is 6'8" tall! Yes, you read that right. This guy is six eight, which, strangely enough, places him two inches taller than Colossus actually is (in his normal state, that is, Colossus grows to 7'5" in his metal form in the comics). Daniel also looks a fair bit like him. If it were up to me, I'd get the guy some coaching to develop the Russian accent (also a key element to Colossus) and hope for the best.

Shadowcat - Alexa Davalos


Casting Shadowcat, or Kitty Pryde if you prefer, caused me no small amount of grief. As a character, she's not quite as popular (or as important, some might argue) on her own in the same way characters like Professor X or Jean Grey are. But she is important in relation to a number of the X-Men, which required me to cast her around her potential chemistry with a number of my other choices. Not only does she play a daughter figure of sorts to both Wolverine and Storm, she also becomes a love interest to Colossus.

Ellen Page plays Kitty in X-Men 3, and though passable within the context of the film, I felt that they could have done better. Kitty needs to exude both sweetness and vulnerability (while actually having the range to become a tough fighter later on), and I think the right actress to portray her is Alexa Davalos. If you want an example of how the classic Shadowcat/Wolverine relationship would look on screen, take a look at The Chronicles of Riddick and see for yourself how her character Kyra responds to the gruff, laconic, and seriously people un-friendly Riddick.

Gambit - Shane Taylor


Ah, the character that everyone has an opinion about. Online fans have been batting around names of people to play Gambit ever since the first X-Men film was even rumored. Most notably, Lost star Josh Holloway was rumored to have been heavily pursued for the role, though it's being said that he declined due to the similarities between Gambit and his current character Sawyer. As for who'll actually fill those metal shoes, we'll be seeing Taylor Kitsch playing Remy in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but I'm still skeptical of the choice. Taylor Kitsch strikes me as someone they cast to bring in the teen girl demographic. And let's face it, the real Gambit may be a ladies man, but he's hardly a pretty boy. I firmly believe they need to focus on finding someone with two traits in particular, the range to cover the depths of Gambit's inner complexity beyond his playful front, and the ability to make us believe the accent.

That said, my pick for Gambit was locked up tight when I watched Band of Brothers. In it, Shane Taylor plays a character named Eugene Roe, who's half Cajun. I was surprised to find out later that the guy's English (like practically half of the actors in Band of Brothers), but that doesn't mean that his accent isn't spot on. Every word was like hearing the real Gambit speak. It was stunning. Moreover, the guy's a fantastic actor. He's charming without it feeling forced at all. You feel that there's a weight on his shoulders that he's carrying silently. You want brooding? Shane Taylor can do it. His role didn't call for much by way of lightheartedness, but I'm confident that he'd be able to do justice to Gambit as more than just a two dimensional character.

Rogue - Keri Russell


What would Gambit be without his Rogue? Classic romance. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the Rogue from the films. The last thing I wanted to see was a trilogy of X-Men movies with the weakest and mopiest characterization of Rogue imaginable. And what was with Rogue actually going through with the de-mutation procedure in X-Men 3? And Cyclops dies? And Jean kills the Professor!?! I swear, Brett Ratner killed my inner child with that last film.

Right. Back on topic. The Rogue that I want to see is the Rogue from the X-Men Animated Series... the post-Ms. Marvel Rogue. I want to see flights, fights, and serious power packed neatly into a petite southern belle. And the actress I want for that role? Keri Russell. Keri's got two films that really help sell her ability to play Rogue. You want conflicted romance and the southern charm, watch Waitress. You want a glimpse of the action hero, watch her small part in MI:3. Keep in mind that Rogue's not exactly an amazon. At 5'8" she's just a normal woman with beyond-normal strength. Keri's a little smaller at 5'4", but if anything, I think it'd serve to accentuate the contrast in her favor. If Joss Whedon taught us anything, it's that it's awesome seeing petite women with superpowers kicking all kinds of tail. Buffy did it. River did it. Rogue should most certainly follow in their dainty footsteps.

That wraps it up for this set of five. Check back soon for Part III, covering the five more of the more permanent members of the X-Men: Beast, Psylocke, Iceman, White Queen, and Angel.