# Single best casting choice for a comic book character in film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-books-manga\ **Created:** [April 28, 2014, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206 "2014-04-28T19:20:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/61 "2014-04-29T13:45:16Z")
Hopkins as Odin was well done I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/62 "2014-04-29T13:58:22Z")
Lori Petty as Tank Girl was a win. So was Alison Pill as Kim Pine in Scott Pilgrim. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/63 "2014-04-29T14:31:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **epbrown01** : > > I agree about Reeves, but I’d say he never passed as scrawny. He, like a lot of guys that size, could come off as powerful or just a big goof. Yeah, “scrawny” wasn’t quite the right word to use, but you know what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/64 "2014-04-29T14:40:32Z")
I feel like Christian Bale was the perfect **Bruce Wayne** , even above Kevin Conroy, but his **Batman** is just lacking. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/65 "2014-04-29T15:06:42Z")
> [@SirGalahad](#): > > My pick is Jack Earle Haley as Rorschach. I completely forgot about Watchmen – but let’s give a close second place from that film to Jeffrey Dean Morgan. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/66 "2014-04-29T16:42:25Z")
> [@dale sams](#): > > hopkins as odin was well done i thought. I still wonder aloud that if the original choice had been used it could had been even better. [QUOTE=TVTropes interpretation of Brian Blessed] [I was cast as Odin in THE MIGHTY THOR, BUT THEN ANTHONY HOPKINS GOT THE PART INSTEAD. … HOPKIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINS!!!]([SelfDemonstrating / BRIAN BLESSED!!!!! - TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/SelfDemonstrating/Ptitleijqobqvle9an?from=SelfDemonstrating.BrianBlessed)) [/QUOTE] Remembering Flash Gordon, Brian Blessed was perfectly cast as Prince Vultan, the ruler of the Hawkmen in Flash Gordon. “DIIIIVE!” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/67 "2014-04-29T20:27:20Z")
I just have to mention Mark Hamill as the voice of the Joker in _Batman: The Animated Series._ I just love what he did with the character. (And I just can not envision that voice coming out of Hamill’s mouth!) ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/68 "2014-04-29T20:56:52Z")
> [@SirGalahad](#): > > [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/\_4dCqzdKkPHo/TTDLVTtHvLI/AAAAAAAAAM4/k3u7TG0WlTw/s1600/Superman-The-Movie-1-1152x864.jpg](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_4dCqzdKkPHo/TTDLVTtHvLI/AAAAAAAAAM4/k3u7TG0WlTw/s1600/Superman-The-Movie-1-1152x864.jpg) > > [http://www.superman-wallpapers.com/bulkupload/wallpapers/Superman%20Comic/superman-can-do-it.jpg](http://www.superman-wallpapers.com/bulkupload/wallpapers/Superman%20Comic/superman-can-do-it.jpg) > > [DVD-Forum.at: Das Online-Magazin für Cineasten und Gamer](http://www.dvd-forum.at/img/uploaded/superman.jpg) > > [http://www.superman-wallpapers.com/bulkupload/wallpapers/Superman%20Comic/superman-flying.jpg](http://www.superman-wallpapers.com/bulkupload/wallpapers/Superman%20Comic/superman-flying.jpg) Your point being? I said he’s often drawn like a linebacker, so showing him drawn like a linebacker is not a counterargument - you’ve not shown him built like a bodybuilder (you know, large masses of mostly useless muscle). And, of course, he’s not drawn like that any more (by most artists). [This is how he’s drawn now](http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/comics/geoff-johns-john-romita-jr-new-superman-creative-team/88433). Even Ed Benes, who used to seem incapable of drawing men as anything other than a wall of flesh, since he’d draw even Nightwing like that, draws him smaller, now. ---
**Author:** ![SirGalahad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/71c47a/32.png) [@SirGalahad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SirGalahad)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/69 "2014-04-29T21:31:53Z")
> [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Your point being? > > I said he’s often drawn like a linebacker, so showing him drawn like a linebacker is not a counterargument - you’ve not shown him built like a bodybuilder (you know, large masses of mostly useless muscle). And, of course, he’s not drawn like that any more (by most artists). [This is how he’s drawn now](http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/comics/geoff-johns-john-romita-jr-new-superman-creative-team/88433). Even Ed Benes, who used to seem incapable of drawing men as anything other than a wall of flesh, since he’d draw even Nightwing like that, draws him smaller, now. Compare this to your Superman illustration … I think their biceps are about the same size, neck about the same, chest I may have to give to Arnold, but the abs are close. I don’t particularly like that artist, no offense intended to him. [![](https://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/conan-the-barbarian-arnold-schwarzenegger.jpeg) ](https://collider.com/wp-content/uploads/conan-the-barbarian-arnold-schwarzenegger.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/70 "2014-04-29T21:40:05Z")
As much as I enjoyed the movies, none of those actors came as close to portraying the Batman of the comic books as [Clark Bartam](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3j7d3lIAkes) did. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/71 "2014-04-29T22:08:06Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Hate on the guy if you must, but Jim Carrey was born to star in _The Mask_. ^^^^ this. And I’m actually not very fond of him and tend to avoid his movies, close enough to “hating on the guy”. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/72 "2014-04-29T22:14:24Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > Tom Hiddleston as Loki knocked it out of the park and into the stratosphere. Seconded. He really has it all. The manic glee in manipulation, the arrogant smugness in victory, the despicable cravenness in defeat, the intimate wounds and hurt that ultimately drive him… All that and he manages to make an \*astoundingly \*silly helmet work, too ! ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/73 "2014-04-29T22:53:07Z")
Topher Grace as Venom. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2014, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/74 "2014-04-29T22:57:40Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > Seconded. He really has it all. The manic glee in manipulation, the arrogant smugness in victory, the despicable cravenness in defeat, the intimate wounds and hurt that ultimately drive him… It helped that Hiddleston could do so much with just a sideways look: his Loki didn’t \*need \*to monologue. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/75 "2014-04-30T00:15:52Z")
Do we get to count Bruce Lee as Kato? Because Bruce Lee as Kato. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/76 "2014-04-30T01:38:30Z")
I think the thing that most impresses me about Hiddleston’s performance is he manages to convey Loki’s disappointment. Even when Loki is apparently winning, you can sense that he wishes things hadn’t gotten to this point. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/77 "2014-04-30T12:12:57Z")
I think there’s really two questions here; what actor has best taken on a role for his own (in which case it’s indisputably Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man) and which best fit into the \*physical and characterization that already existed in the comic books? \* Movie Iron Man is awesome but is not quite the same as comic book Iron Man. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/78 "2014-04-30T14:06:15Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Remembering Flash Gordon, Brian Blessed was perfectly cast as Prince Vultan, the ruler of the Hawkmen in Flash Gordon. > > “DIIIIVE!” Most of the supporting roles in that movie were brilliantly cast. It was just Flash, Dale, and Aura who were disappointing. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/79 "2014-04-30T17:52:12Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Well, keep in mind the comic book artists started modeling Professor X on Stewart partly due to the wild popularity of ST:TNG. I’m gonna call bullshit on that. Professor X predates NextGen by about two decades, and I can’t ever recall his appearance changing all that much (apart from going into and out of a wheelchair). He was always a middle-aged, slender, bald white guy with arched brows. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206/80 "2014-04-30T18:47:27Z")
J. K. Simmons is a great choice. I felt like the writers really got the character, too. I especially loved the scene in the first movie where he lies to Green Goblin and says he doesn’t know who takes the Spider-man pictures. Jameson is a jerk, but he’s a jerk with guts and a moral compass. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/single-best-casting-choice-for-a-comic-book-character-in-film/687206.md?page=5)