Dwayne Johnson confirms DC film role

[jwyblejr]

I'm more than likely alone on this but I'd go with Seth MacFarlane.

[torgospizza]

Brandon Molale...

Man, that's just dead-on. Good call, Hector!

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[Random Axe]

Molale is the best look alike walking the Earth. However if you look at his resume his parts do not indicate he can perform at any level. I was noticing that every other entry/film credit he either plays some kind of guard or as a number after the profession. He was police officer #2 in Wrong Turn. Upon further review he did appear in the short lived Huntress series. Of course he played casino guard. I only ask to see him have more than two lines in a two hour movie to have some kind of baseline to go by. He sure would look cool on a movie poster, they might just have to let him be a mute superhero.

[madmarva]

^The dude looks the part.

[Hector]

Brandon Molale...

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6' 4", ex college football player, turn actor...

[Random Axe]

Please god, no to Cena, please god, no to Cena, please god, no to Cena....

Part of me agrees with you and another part thinks this would work. I can't decide whether it would be in the film's best interest to cast a well known wrestler or just go full Reeve and get someone nobody knows who fits the part like no other. Johnson can carry a film alone if needed. I'm conflicted on this one. It doesn't seem like there is a right or wrong solution, just a bunch of guessing and conjecture.

[Hector]

Please god, no to Cena, please god, no to Cena, please god, no to Cena....

[toys2cool]

He'll be great

[hedrap]

Again, I know the wrestlers have the look and even the charisma, but I still question the acting. Johnson is so much better on screen after working as an actor for several years than he was when he first started. Anyone see Scorpion King?

Which is why I think this is an old commitment. Where's the upside for Rock that when he finally takes on a superhero role, it's as a 2nd class villain? All the talk about him being a huge fan...of what? Shazam had a gawdawful cartoon, the book always stank until Ordway saved it and if it wasn't for Kingdom Come, Shazam would still be more punchline than hero. So when Shazam got interesting he was neck deep in WWE.

Personally, I think he wanted in on BvS as Jon Stewart, Aquaman or Manhunter, but New Line - which technically doesn't even exist anymore - called in the contract. At that point, they have to move forward on some type of film or he can walk away. That would explain why they announced him and a writer but no Shazam or director.

It would have been easy to assume his New Line deal was transferrable since WB absorbed them, but the Shazam producers don't have any financial interest in a JLA movie. That would also explain why this is seen as outside the BvS universe; if it was apart, it would put them under control of several WB people who would then just transfer Rock to JLA as another guarantee for Avenger's box office range. Huge missed opportunity.

[madmarva]

Hedrap, I got that you were talking about Batista for Black Adam, and it might have worked, but Johnson took the Black Adam part. The point I was trying to make is Batista was really good in Guardians, but it wasn't a lead role. Likewise, another wrestler might be great in a limited role, but not ready to be a lead.

Christopher Reeve was an unknown for films, but he wasn't a novice actor. He was classically trained at Juilliard, worked off broadway and in summer stock in plays for a number of years and had a role on a soap.

Again, I know the wrestlers have the look and even the charisma, but I still question the acting. Johnson is so much better on screen after working as an actor for several years than he was when he first started. Anyone see Scorpion King?

I honestly would have to google Cena to know who he is. That's my ignorance. I just don't keep up with wrestling anymore, but for him or any other actor to pull off Captain Marvel would be asking him to pull off a performance even more difficult, imo, than Tom Hanks' in Big.

Captain Marvel calls for a certain innocence, but also the wisdom of Solomon. That's a tough role to me.

I may be dead wrong, but it might be easier to take an actor and bulk him up like Cavil or lean him up like Pratt rather than casting the body and hoping he can act.

Brendan Fraiser or Jerry O'Connel might have been good for the role 5 or 10 years ago.

But, if they go with Cena more power to them. I hope he's great.

But I still think New Line or the WB was shortsighted casting Rock as Black Adam if they didn't already have a solid choice for Captain Marvel on the hook.

Oh, and I know the Rock is big at the box office right now, but it's a serious slap to Hackman and Nicholson to even mention him with them in terms of acting.

[RobTMego]

My pick for Shazam would be Manu Bennett!!

[Random Axe]

^^^THis and more this. Cena is and will be a far better actor than anythone thinks. He's great at improv on the mic at shows, he's already locked into the children's demographic and their psyche and he absolutely looks the part. He's on the Fuity Pebbles box too. Just check out that childlike innocent smirk he sports on that. The only way this does work is the boy in a superhero body storyline. WWE would cross promote the hell out of this. Imagine Cena coming to ringside with a Shazam t-shirt. The character wouldn't have had that kind of exposure since 1978 on Saturday mornings.

[torgospizza]

Brandon Routh - In a twist of fate or irony or whatever you call it, DC and WB does the right thing and brings him back. I'm sorry, but he was PERFECT to be this generation's Superman before Singer destroyed him. Now he can have a little bit of redemption and have a franchise all his own.

I wish they'd used Routh for the reboot and Cavill for Shazam, honestly. There was absolutely nothing wrong with Routh's performance and he was about as close to Chris Reeve as possible. I kind of feel sorry for the guy, really--under different circumstances, he would be viewed very differently now.

[hedrap]

Mad - I was saying Batista looks identical to Black Adam, not Shazam. That would be a scary-arse Shazam.

Chris - Cena could do it. People are going to be surprised by how good he comes out in the Apatow and Fey comedies. His problem would be the opposite; he can't do a Nolan-level of seriousness and that's ironic to me, cause he looks like a Kirby drawing of Cap come to life but the character is too subdued. He's most comparable to Hemsworth, but he couldn't play Thor, Namor or any character that wasn't American in tone. And he looked perfect for Aquman, but again, too serious. So Shazam is perfect. He could also sell He-Man.

EDIT - Batsita from several years ago, when this project originally started.

[madmarva]

Casting the Rock who has been acting and improving as an actor for at least a decade is one thing, but just grabbing a rassler because he somewhat looks the part as the lead of multi-million-dollar film is something else.

Yeah, Bautista did a surprisingly fine job in Guardians in an extremely limited, supporting role, but that's a far cry from being the lead.

Again, it does matter if the Billy role is the dominant part as on the TV show or like David Banner on the Hilk TV show or if the Captain Marvel part is dominant or an equal to Billy. Finding the right actors to make the child/teen and the hero dynamic work is going to be tough, particularly if the part iswritten as a child/teen's innocence and inexperience in control of the body and powers of the world's mightiest mortal.

Done right, it could be wondrful, but pulling it off, to me, will be far trickier than Wonder Woman or superman or Batman or Aquaman.