A couple weeks ago, Warner Brothers and Christopher Nolan announced their cast for the third Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. This was a highly anticipated announcement, as the fantasy casting for this film has been beat to death, dragged out back and kicked around a little more (not just by me... by millions of fanboys and fangirls all over the interwebs). And, the fan choices have be interesting, to say the least.
I've seen fans clamoring to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt play the Riddler, though one bright young soul proclaimed to the blogosphere last month that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be cast as The Joker... figure that out, if you can. In any case, I am willing to bet that the number of names batted around the fandom as "sure things" could number well into the hundreds.
Needless to say, there are not hundreds of celebrities cast in this movie.
**Quick note: I do fantasy casting... not reality casting... regardless of what I know about the industry (very little, admittedly) I blog about who I would like to see do certain parts. I'm never going to be right. I also never insist that I am right. Or that I have the ability to predict casting events far into the future. There's a difference. It's the difference between fun and obstinacy.**
I blogged about my fantasy cast a few months ago- you can go look at it if you would like, but I'll sum it up for you; for Bane I chose a man named Nathan Jones (who was actually a suggestion from my husband, the comic-book-nerd-extraordinaire) and for Catwoman, I chose Megan Fox.
 |
| celebpulp.com |
In case you are unaware of the casting choices made for these two parts, Nolan chose Tom Hardy as Bane and Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Neither of which I could have seen coming, not even from five feet away.
 |
| trailershut.com |
Bane is supposed to be this entirely insurmountable obstacle for Batman. He literally "breaks" Batman- in every way imaginable. He's a juggernaut, an imposing figure. Tom Hardy is 5'9" (and a half!). At least, he is according to IMDb, which means there's a good chance he's actually 5'7".
Not exactly imposing... nor insurmountable.
Here's the thing, though: Nolan is always right. At least when it comes to Batman, he is.
I blogged once before about some surprising choices made in films, and Nolan had a couple of Batman cast members on that list. He cast a Welshman as the American Batman, he put a pretty boy heartthrob as the most sadistic villain of all time, and while we are on the subject, let's mention the fact that he cast Liam Neeson, and Irishman as the Arabic Ra's al Ghul.
He nothing if not unconventional. Wait... is that too many negatives? What I mean is... he's really unconventional.
And it works. In the history of all superhero movies, I cannot find a single other film in which an actor or actress was nominated for an Oscar, besides Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Not only was he nominated, but he won! (spare me the philosophical lectures on posthumous awards- he deserved that award.)
Sure, superhero movies have been nominated for Golden Globes, but those are the "party" awards. Also, they've been nominated for sound/editing/costumes/makeup/cinematography, but they very, very rarely win. No, Nolan stands alone as king of the mountain in the casting and directing of superhero films. He picks unconventional choices, and he brings out the best in them.
So the fact that Tom Hardy seems to be the guy who would be voted Least Likely To Break Batman in high school, I trust Christopher Nolan, and therefore support this choice.
And the fact that Anne Hathaway is very near the bottom of the list of people I would expect to see in skin-tight leather brandishing a whip, I must also concede the brilliance of this choice. She's a brilliant actress and I trust Christopher Nolan.
 |
| horaz.com |
Please post your ideas in the comments- whether you agree with me or not!
