Top 10 Breakout Roles That Almost Weren't

Strange enough, for some actors' there most popular roles were never originally intended for them. And not only were they popular, but they basically MADE their careers.


10. Abe Sapien (Hellboy series)
Actor: Doug Jones
Originally cast: David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce did in fact voice the character in the first Hellboy. He was brought in to add a bigger name to the cast list, but Pierce denied credit citing Doug Jones as the real talent behind Abe even basing his voice patterns on Jones' real voice. Jones got a chance to voice Abe in both Hellboy 2 and DVD cartoons. He is now Guillerme Del Toro's go to monster man.


9. Patrick Bateman (American Psycho)
Actor: Christian Bale
Originally cast: Leonardo DiCaprio
Bale almost definitely got his job as Batman because of this movie. Bateman! Batman! Coincidence? In American Psycho, Bale plays a yuppie rich dude who during the day acts like your average playboy, but at night has a terrible dark persona. It is almost interchangeable except Bateman is a hero, and Bateman is a blood thirsty serial killer.


8. Vivian Ward (Pretty Woman)
Actor: Julia Roberts
Originally cast: Molly Ringwald, as well as everyone else at that time
Julia shot to fame, Molly went into obscurity.


7. Randy "The Ram" Robinson (The Wrestler)
Actor: Mickey Rourke
Originally cast: Nicholas Cage
Cage as a wrestler is just laughable. Instead we got the ultimate comeback role with Rourke welcomed with open arms (where were you before Hollywood douchebags) and has upcoming projects lined up around the corner.


6. Aragorn (Lord of the Ring series)
Actor: Viggo Mortensen
Originally cast: Stuart Townshend
Both are pretty good, but Stuart looked significantly younger, which is why he got booted. Viggo has gotten steady work in damn good flicks. He has kept low key than most big shots, but he has become a fan favorite nonetheless.


5. Indiana Jones
Actor: Harrison Ford
Originally cast: Tom Selleck
Lucas was afraid of Harrison Ford becoming his "Deniro" since Ford was in both Star Wars and American Graffiti, but thank god for Spielberg who pushed for Ford. Ford didnt just play Indy, he made Indy. Even Ford's trademark chin scar become a part of Indy's story- he got it during his first attempt with his whip.


4. Rocky Balboa
Actor: Sylvester Stallone
Orignally cast: Ryan O'Neal, among others.
Ryan Who? Yeah, that's right. Ryan was a young actor who had actually done golden gloves boxing. You can now see him on the tv series "Bones" as Brennan's father, Max. Stallone on the other hand is now one of the biggest action stars Hollywood has ever seen. I mean, come on, he wrote the damn script, he had to get the role.


3. John McLane
Actor: Bruce Willis
Originally cast: Arnold Shwartzanegger, Sylvester Stallone, Richard Gere, Burt Reynolds, in the order.
Bruce made McLane like Ford made Indy. It was his own Jersey-bred sarcasm that added an extra likeable level to McLane and the mostly dead serious thriller Die Hard once was. Now how good Willis is? Well, I used Jersey and likeable in the same sentence, so that should give you an idea.


2. Wolverine (X-Men)
Actor: Hugh Jackman
Originally cast: Dougary Scott
Scott got stuck on post-work on Mission: Impossible 2 and Hugh stepped in. Now Hugh is easily one of Hollywood's go to guys, one of the more charismatic people in showbusiness, and seems usually appreciative of praise, fans, and fame.


1. Terminator (Terminator series)
Actor: Arnold Shwartzanegger
Originally cast: Lance Henrickson
Everyone knows about OJ Simpson's rumor, but Henrickson made it to negotiations. He ended up plays a cop, and Arnold got to move up from Kyle Reese to the Terminator creating a truly iconic character. A character to appear both on AFI's Top 100 Heroes and Villains twice, once as a hero, and once as a villain.

Review- X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Going back to the past, the famous X-Men, Wolverine, journeys from childhood to the loner amnesiac the audience met in the first X-Men movie. Along the journey, Wolverine falls in love and becomes entangled in the Weapon X Program, a military outfit composed of mutants and mutant-hating scientists.

This review might be a little less hard on the movie than most since I saw it after seeing the really horrible reviews, but the movie was entertaining. It was a fun popcorn flick and sparked enough interest for me to want to see more. It is still a huge disappointment. It had all the pieces: Hugh proves to know a lot of the character, a young upcoming indie director, Ryan Reynolds in a long awaited role, Gambit in a long awaited appearance, and some really inspired casting decisions, yet the pieces just didn't come together. At least not perfectly.

One giant flaw is the horrible green screen. I am not sure how such a high-profile summer blockbuster ended up with such shoddy green screen. Other than that, the effects were passable at their worst. The claws were iffy; both metal and bone. It didn't seem like they ever used actual claw props and they were always CGI. Non-essential CGI is one of my biggest pet peeves.

The progression of the plot went pretty well, but the tone got worse as the movie went on, especially during the boxing scene. I always appreciate a well-place humorous moment in a popcorn action flick, but this one killed the tension. There were a few cringe-worthy lines, as any action flick might have, but they handled the dialogue better than it deserved. There is just no way that someone could write the lines and think they were good.

The movie was well cast. For a rapper, Will.i.am was surprisingly passable. Durand would have made a good Blob in any other movie, except he felt out of place in this one, mostly due to the boxing scene, and looked questionable. The fat suit just was not that great. Daniel Henney as Agent Zero, Danny Huston as Stryker, and Lynn Collins as Silver Fox were solid. Not amazing, but far from horrible. Liev Schreiber was incredible as Sabertooth, and Ryan Reynolds was really great in his small role. Both stole the show and I really wish the 2 of them had more screentime. Kitsch was a mediocre Gambit. A lot of people were mad at his lack of Cajun accent, but I never expected to strong an accent for anyone who played him unless they naturally had one. It left me wishing the movie was actually X-Men Origins: Weapon X rathen than Wolverine because the strike team was easily one of the better parts.

Now, I am a gigantic fan of Deadpool. Always liked him until Cable and Deadpool title where he became my favorite. You'll here a lot of people say they "ruined him," but it is pretty much hyperbole. He is easily one of the less faithful adaptations, but he filled a role and did well. I mean a number of the changes had some sort of parallel (2 blades, healing factor, teleportation), but the laser eyes really made me mad. Because 1) Cyclops' eyes don't burn and 2) Deadpool never had anything like that. No mask because he was fresh off the operating table. And as for the "merc without a mouth" references, what would you do to a mouthy soldier that you were about to do horrible things to on a surgical table? They would have been better off using stitches rather than a skin graff so that Deadpool could cut it open and start quipping again. The same goes for the cyborg/computer-upload. Obviously they were using Stryker's son's serum from the second film to control Deadpool so they should have just continued with that. It hasn't left a lot of faith in the quality of the Deadpool spin-off, except for the casting of Ryan Reynolds, but I am still optimistic.

There was a number of mutants forced into the movie. If they were just visual cameos like Boy with Red Glasses and Diamond Blonde than they would be easy to overlook, but the characters were much more involved than they really should have been.

6/10 Not the best of the franchise, but entertaining and still has potential for great sequels. I reccommend checking it out on cable and save your money.

Top 10 Best Comic Movie Castings

Casting a comic movie tends to be the most essential element. Not only is their the performance/personality portion, but also a physical resemblance from years of illustration. Although in my opinion, fanboys hold the resemblance part in higher importance (Triple H for Thor? Really?).
10. Heath Ledger as The Joker
The most inspired casting on the list. No one thought the pretty-boy-cowboy-lover would make an impressive Joker. I, frankly, was excited to see what was going to happen, but was having a hard time visualizing it. I am still surprised at what we got, and it is a role that is a testament to his chameleon like performances in other not so well-known movies, a la Brothers Grim and Lords of Dogtown.
9. Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool
Surprise! I haven't even seen the movie yet, but no casting as had me more excited about a part. Deadpool is my favorite character, and I think Reynolds is far superior an actor than most give him credit for. I am not too worried about the obvious changes to the character since they have some kind of parallel. But those damn lazer eyes piss me off to no end.

8. Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier
From the beginning, this was probably the easiest character to cast. Who's bald and a strong leader. Patrick Stewart. It almost seems unfair at how obvious it is, but he captured the character with grace.

7. Kelsey Grammar as Beast
I didn't think at his age that Kelsey could pull off an action role. The role of Beast has always made me a little uneasy considering that while strong and agile, he had a very old soul, and an older actor would need to be cast. Grammar was damn near perfect. As perfect as I could guess.

6. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent
Probably the greatest performance in The Dark Knight and a far more deserving supporting performance than Heath's. Eckhart held the entire story on his shoulders, but he was overshadowed by Joker's theatrical nature.

5. Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man
Who better to play a savvy, charismatic substance abuser than an actual savvy, charismatic substance abuser. I never believed Downey was having a comeback since all he always had a string of solid if not relatively unknown performances coupled with a run in with the law and a random Oscar nom. In the end, this put him on the map, or back on the map, or whatever.

4. Sir Ian McKellan as Magneto
The idea behind the X-Men was to be a metaphor for minority's civil rights laced with science fiction action. Sir McKellan being both gay and Jewish knew full well the extent of being a popularly discriminated minority (far to weird of a phrase but you get what I am saying). Ian has a certain distinguished screen presence that helped depict Magneto as the classic dictator-esque world-takeover-type of villain.

3. Mickey Rourke as Marv
Mickey Rourke oozes cool and as Tarantino noted, Marv is like what would happen if Rourke and Frank Miller, the creator of Sin City, had a baby and I have to agree. No one is better for the Cro-Magnum trenchcoat wearing bar brawler than Mickey Rourke, a movie tough guy turned boxer turned movie tough guy. I think I speak for everyone else when I say welcome back Mr. Rourke.

2. Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
Who thought a 6 foot something Aussie would perfect as the 5 nothing Canuck, Wolvie? Turns out he'd be damn good. He captured the intensity of Wolvie that grasped the fanboys interest, but added a certain level of heart and likability that many thought Wolvie was lacking.

1. Ron Perlman as Hellboy
Perlman is one of those actors who never got his just dessert. He is one of the finest actors today. Charismatic. Screen presence a plenty. Theres no beating the guy in innate ability. And despite having plenty of roles before and after Hellboy that proves his mettle, I think old HB will be remembered as his most likable and memorable.

Comic Creator Dream Projects

Here are some comic writers and projects I wish they were working on

Grant Morrison-Aquaman
Morrison loves his mythology. His JLA resembling the classic Greek pantheon. The trippy deconstruction of Batman's origins. The high-concept Seven Soldiers, which you should have read already. If Morrison got his hands on Aquaman pre-52 mutation and alternate A.C. bullshit, he would have invigorated it. Just to see what he could do with the Aruthurian legend homages, the magical possibilities of the water bearer hand, and the sword and sandal but underwater tone would be worth him taking it on.

Geoff Johns- Justice League of America
The teams of DC have been struggling for a long time now. Crisis shake-ups stop the teams from staying consistent. McKeever, who's run I have enjoyed, is getting Teen Titans on a good path, and already 2 issues in and this new Outsiders is much better than the Outsiders have ever been. JLA still needs tons of work. Johns handles the Green Lantern mythos with grace and added upon it making it much grander. Although Johns also has far too much love for the characters he grew up with rather than where they evolved up to this point. In other words: buh-bye Wally, Welcome back, Barry! (Sorry Barry fans, Wally will always be the best)

Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost- Deadpool
As shown in their X-Force and New X-Men runs, Yost and Kyle like killing and action. They are like the Michael Bay of comic writing. They keep it interesting enough to sell, but fluffy enough to not make an impact on any other level but pure popcorn entertainment value. Their knack for violence and their sick sense of humor would actually be welcomed in Deadpool, as long as the hard work put into making him an impressive character during his time in Cable and Deadpool is not undone by their style.

Dan Slott- Teen Titans
I got a lot of love for McKeever's Titans run, but there needs some more direction. Slott's ability to write cool young characters in a learning environment (a la Avengers: Initiative) is obviously the strongest case for him to write Titans, but he also has a great balance of humor and adventure seen through his work on Spiderman and Mighty Avengers (2 issues in and already better than everything Bendis has done with Avengers)

Ed Brubaker- The Question II
Montoya as the Question is an interesting concept. I miss Vic especially after a reimergence thanks to Bruce Timm and Co., but Montoya has a lot of potential. She has yet to reach that, appearing in mediocre titles, at best. Brubaker's pension for crime action and drama, and high concept storylines with endings that do not dissapoint could put this new faceless detective ahead of the cruve.

Mark Millar- X-Force
I like the concept of X-Force. X-Men wetworks team. It's one of the greatest portrayals of Wolverine, strong, confident, aggressive, but pensive on his own actions and his teammates keeping them in check. Add some more Weapon X-ers a la Deadpool and Fantomex and the team could really excel. Millar's Ultimates had a great sense of maturity but wasn't afraid to pull punches when necessary. That's the kind of thing X-Force needs; a little more relevancy, rather than being a random action title.


Thats it for now. More to come later..............................maybe.

This Week in Movies

Bret Ratner signs on to Youngblood adaptation. No one cares.

Thanks to newest CGI, Arnold's original Terminator appearance might appear in Terminator: Salvation.

Aaron Eckhart signs on to The Rum Diary, another Hunter S. Thompson adaptation with Johnny Depp in the lead. I'm just excited it's finally happening. Eckhart is a cherry on top.

Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, David Spade, Kevin James and Rob Schneider team up for the first time together as actors since Saturday Night Live in a new movie. I'm on the fence.

Josh Brolin continues a director hot streak landing a role in another Woody Allen movie.

Bret Ratner promises to an R-rating if he actually gets Beverly Hills Cop off the ground.

Full Inglourious Basterds trailer hits. It looks fantastic.



Christopher Nolan's next project is Inception at WB. Don't expect the next Batman for at least 2 years.

Wachowski Brothers tipped for new Superman movie. Hopefully they leave Routh out of the picture.

Malkovich signs on as bad guy in Jonah Hex opposite Josh Brolin as the titular hero.

Miss March red band trailer hits starring 2 of the Whitest Kids You Know. Looks good.

Black Freighter trailer hits. Looks very cool.



New stills of Wolverine solo movie look horribly photoshopped


Scarlet Johanssen has been tipped as Black Widow in Iron Man if Emily Blunt doesn't take it. I think they could do better.

Sabertooth is NOT Dog

For the uninitiated, Sabertooth (left) is Wolverine's rival who has been taunting him most of his adult life especially on his birthday. Dog is Wolverine's earliest rival, way before he even became Wolverine, depicted in the graphic novel Origins and also implied to be his half brother. Many fanboys have been convinced 110% that Dog is in fact Sabertooth. I don't think so.


There's one big reason Dog shouldn't be Sabertooth. It's one of the most cliched things in the world for 2 mortal enemies to turn out to be relatives. Definitely entering soap opera territory with that one. But there are plenty of other hints. Dog had brown hair, Sabes has blonde. Duh! Dog has scratch mark scar on his face left by Wolverine, Sabes has a healing factor that doesn't leave behind scars. You'd think you wouldn't have to be a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out, but most fanboys just continue to say, "things can change! Brown can become blonde. Scars can heal." I don't buy that, because they went out of their way to make them look different for a reason. If you actually read Origins, you'll notice that there is a humble, intelligent mentor and a red-headed love interest. Sound familiar! It should because these characters mirror Pr. X, Jean Grey, and Sabertooth.


This theory gets even more out of hand considering Sabertooth and Wolverine are supposedly being depicted as brothers in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The fanboys just need something to latch on to. I blame Christopher Nolan. Ever since Batman Begins, fans have been continually asking "why?" "Why is he like this/ Why does he have that? etc." I understand the need to know, but the biggest argument towards Sabertooth and Wolverine being siblings is the extra dimension it brings to their rivalry. Can you see it, cause I don't? The argument goes that Wolverine bailing on the Team X and Sabertooth is why Sabertooth has such a grudge against him because even his own brother disowns him thus making Sabertooth angrier. Angrier? If you're depiction of Sabertooth could be more angry and sadistic than your Sabertooth is NOT CORRECT. Nothing is added because their situation is already in such a position that it could not escalate any further.

Frankly I think the idea that Sabertooth, who has embraced his vicious animal side, lashes out at Wolverine for no reason other than to bother Wolverine. I think that adds much more dimension than sibling rivalry. It complements the character much more, and more unique than the soap opera crutch of my nemesis, my brother.

And thank god for X-Men Origins: Sabertooth pretty much solidified that Sabertooth and Wolverine aren't brothers. We were probably pretty close to hearing Wildchild as the second cousin and Sasquatch as the great uncle.

Top 5 Most Anticpated Movies of 2009

5) Monsters vs Aliens- Great cast (Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Stephen Colbert, Keifer Sutherland, Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, and Rainn Wilson) with a really cool and fun concept (its right there in the title)

















4) Public Enemies- Depp vs Bale, two of the more prolific actors today, in a movie about John Dillinger, one of the most infamous American criminals, directed by Michael Mann, one of the better crime directors out there. How could I resist? Also stars the fantastic and beautiful Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard, and set in one of my favorite time periods other than present. I am a sucker for the noirish Prohibition era type stuff (gumshoes and dames).










3) X-Men Origins: Wolverine- The title is a mouthfull, but Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is probably one of my favorite superhero portrayals of all time. Thank god they recasted Tyler Mane with Liev Shreiber. By the trailer alone I am confident in saying he'll make a better Sabertooth, I don't care how much bigger Mane is. Plus, the movie has Deadpool, and I love me some Deadpool. The fact that he is being played by Ryan Reynolds is as perfect a casting as Ron Perlman as Hellboy.











2) Inglourious Basterds- Despite Tarantino's horrible spelling, I have been looking forward to his WWII epic since back when Mickey Rourke was "attached" (way before The Wrestler). The cast is a bit of a let down except for Brad Pitt considering the likes of Michael Madsen, Sylverster Stallone, and Adam Sandler were once in talks for roles. Nevertheless, a WWII epic with a spaghetti western mentality is a fantastic enough concept to keep me interested.











1) Watchmen- Alan Moore might be too stubborn to watch it, but the "unfilmable" comic being directed by a highly visual director and an inspired cast is finally happening and I cannot be any more psyched. I feel that it has odd placement in the market, but the contrversey surrounding it and the intense visuals of the trailers will probably be enough to snag some unintiated viewers.