The movie was a bit of fun though, for the life of me, I cannot understand WHY, if the comic book series (oops! Sorry -the graphic novelisation,,,or "trade") "fired the imagination" and "inspired" as I read at the time, they literally just said "Feck the book -this is how WE will do it!"?
There were rumours that Alan Moore would not allow his story to be used but as the characters were all Public Domain they could use them. Who knows -one side lies about the other and...it's almost like the EU Exit/Stay argument: never bother with important facts just say and do what you want!
Chris Harkin at moviepilot http://moviepilot.com/posts/3946295 writes this and his piece has more images and a chance to vote on who you think might make one of this new League line up.
Eva Green As Mina Murray
There were rumours that Alan Moore would not allow his story to be used but as the characters were all Public Domain they could use them. Who knows -one side lies about the other and...it's almost like the EU Exit/Stay argument: never bother with important facts just say and do what you want!
Chris Harkin at moviepilot http://moviepilot.com/posts/3946295 writes this and his piece has more images and a chance to vote on who you think might make one of this new League line up.
"Yes,
it's true! 20th Century Fox, after a 2003 adaptation which failed to
launch a franchise, and a 2013 TV pilot which didn't make it to series,
are trying to redeem themselves with another shot at bringing Alan
Moore's popular comic book series to life on the big screen!
If
you haven't a notion who the League are, then use Moore's own
description of the series as "the Justice League of Victorian England"
to get an idea. The original story involved famous literary characters
like Allan Quatermain, Mina Murray (from Dracula), Captain Nemo,
The Invisible Man and Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde teaming up to face common
enemies, such as Professor Moriarty, Fu Manchu, and the aliens from The War of the Worlds. Sound
crazy? It is, but it's also a lot of fun, and many fans were angered by
the lack of similarity to the comic books in the 2003 film, so much so
that the film is now described as being "loosely based" on the series.
With a new film coming, the studio is likely to have learned to not
stray so far from the source material, but the big question is who can
fill the boots of the original cast, which included Sean Connery, Peta
Wilson, Tony Curran and Shane West. Fortunately for 20th Century Fox, I
have a few ideas about that!
John Hurt As Allan Quatermain
Allan Quatermain, the famous British hunter and star of books such as King Solomon's Mines is
the father figure of the team, but is very different in the comics to
the Sean Connery portrayed version from the first film. By the time Mina
finds him, he is living in an opium den in Cairo, and is pretty much a
fallen from grace mess. He isn't the leader of the team, but is an
important part of it, and as such it shouldn't be a massive action star
in the role, as Quatermain is a smaller, thin man, who relies upon his
shooting ability to survive. Hurt is brilliant, and could play the
recovering hero as he joins up with the team, while not taking the focus
off of the real leader of the team, AKA...
Eva Green As Mina Murray
The comic series started a year after the end of the novel Dracula, and
Mina Harker had, in that time, divorced her husband and become Mina
Murray again. She was contacted by Campion Bond of the British Secret
Service and began working for him, leading to her finding the other
members of the league. She became immortal during the course of the
series, but was never, as the film portrayed her, a vampire. Mina is the
real leader of the team, and the role needs a strong, seductive,
kick-ass actress to fill it. Eva Green has the acting chops for this
kind of role, as proved by Penny Dreadful, 300: Rise of an Empire and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For. She could also headline a film like this and draw in the crowds, while remaining faithful to the character.
Timothy Spall As Campion Bond
While
many think that the grandfather of legendary womanizing spy James Bond
should be played by someone more like Bond himself, Campion is actually a
shorter, more devious version of his grandson. Timothy Spall can play
oldtime British guys, such as Winston Churchill in The King's Speech, and can play the traitorous villain like Wormtail in the Harry Potter series.
Christopher Eccleston As Dr Henry Jekyll/Edward Hyde
The
team has it's own personal Hulk, except a darker, scarier, weirder
version. Dr Henry Jekyll is a haunted man, who tried to purge himself of
evil thoughts with his own creation, which unleashed the evil side of
his nature in the form of an ape-like monster. Sort of like the Hulk up
to this point, but then he started killing prostitutes and the whole
thing goes downhill from there. Christopher Eccleston wouldn't have any
trouble playing the haunted doctor (Doctor, get it?) and the Hyde part
is much easier to pull off than it was in 2003. Just look at the changes
they've made to the Hulk since 2003!
Irrfan Khan As Captain Nemo
Captain
Nemo, who provides the transport for the team using a submarine ship he
created called the Nautilus. It's kind of like the eagles from Lord of the Rings, saving
the team whenever they suddenly need to escape. Nemo was portrayed in
the last film as more of a gentleman, but in reality is a bloodthirsty
pirate out for vengeance. Irrfan Khan has starred in films like Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire and Jurassic World, and has shown that he can play eccentric while also getting the shadiness needed to play Nemo accurately.
Mark Strong As Hawley Griffin AKA The Invisible Man
You
would think that it's easy to cast a guy that is always invisible, but
there's another layer to this guy. While the film made him seem like the
team jokester and a mostly good natured fellow, in the comics the team
found him raping students at an all-girl school before Campion bargained
him into joining the team in exchange for immunity from his crimes.
Mark Strong is an actor able to bring the full weight of that sort of
villainy to the screen without being on the screen, his voice alone will
make this character as cold and ruthless as he needs to be without even
being seen.
Ken Watanabe As The Doctor AKA Fu Manchu
While
never mentioned by name in the book for... reasons, Fu Manchu is
essentially a gang leader controlling half of London, which forces the
team into conflict with him as he tries to build an airship capable of
putting him in charge of the entire city. Ken Watanabe needs no
introduction, it's easy to see him playing a role like this after his
performances in Batman Begins and The Last Samurai.
Charles Dance As Professor James Moriarty
There
it is folks! Wouldn't this be a great film to see? That cast could
really bring the story to life, especially if the tone of a hero team-up
is thrown away. Because in all honesty, most of this team are bad
people. Murder, rape, drug abuse and piracy are just a few of the crimes
they've partaken in, so really this isn't the Victorian England Justice
League at all, it is the Victorian England Suicide Squad.
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