#1 Jose Ferrer
Young’uns might not be familiar with José Ferrer’s acting résumé, but the Academy Award winner was a big deal when producers were casting the original Batman (1966) TV series. Ferrer was reportedly up for the role of the Joker, but Cesar Romero edged Ferrer out, even though Romero refused to shave his trademark mustache. Despite Ferrer missing the part, his son Miguel went on to voice a slew of famous DC Comics characters, including Martian Manhunter, Weather Wizard, and Aquaman.

#2 Frank Sinatra
Adam West’s campy Batman attracted some huge Hollywood stars as important villains, including Eartha Kitt, Burgess Meredith, and Frank Gorshin. Frank Sinatra wanted in on the Joker action, but arrived after Cesar Romero had already signed on, upsetting the hopeful Sinatra. While a crooning Joker certainly would have changed the tone of the clown’s elaborate cruelties for the weirder, Sinatra posthumously scored his Joker connection in Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham Knight game, where his rendition of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” plays a vital role in a Joker-related scene.

#3 Tim Curry
No stranger to playing monsters and creepy clowns, Tim Curry missed out on the role of the Joker in two separate productions. Many familiar actors were up for the role in Tim Burton’s iconic 1989 film, but the eternally-creepy Jack Nicholson won the role over Curry. Curry then went on to record multiple episodes of Batman: The Animated Series as the Joker before being replaced by Mark Hamill. Curry’s Joker reportedly sounded too similar to other roles he currently had, and was a bit too terrifying for the kiddie demographic. He did, however, lend his voice to a robot clown later in the series. Close enough.

#4 Robin Williams
One of the greatest Batman tragedies of all time is the fact that Robin Williams never had a chance to play the Joker. A true comic nerd, Williams was thrilled when he was offered the villainous role in Batman (1989) after Nicholson first declined the part…until Nicholson changed his mind. Williams had a second chance at the franchise as the Riddler in Batman Forever (1995), but again, the role was yanked out from under him in favor of Jim Carrey. Williams also tried to get into Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, but was passed over for Heath Ledger. No actor had ever wanted it so badly.

#5 John Lithgow
John Lithgow was yet another awesome potential casting choice for Tim Burton’s Joker, but Lithgow declined the role, stating that the character didn’t seem appropriate for his particular set of skills. Many years later, Lithgow would play an incredible, viciously memorable serial killer on Dexter, proving that the depths of Lithgow-ian evil would have been excellent against Michael Keaton’s Batman. Instead, Lithgow wasted his 1989 on a made-for-TV movie.

#6 Willem Dafoe
When you look like the Joker before you even hoist yourself into the makeup chair, you’re an easy casting decision. Willem Dafoe was another actor who was briefly considered for the 1989 film role, simply because he looked the part naturally. Ol’ Fold Face later landed the role of the Green Goblin in Spider-Man (2002), another cackling supervillain who is pretty much Marvel’s answer to the Joker anyhow.

#7 Sam Rockwell
Peek through Sam Rockwell’s acting history and you’ll see that he can do just about anything. He’s rarely failed a role, even as the nameless punk ringleader in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990). Rockwell was considered by Christopher Nolan for The Dark Knight (2008), but producers ultimately went with Heath Ledger instead. Check him out in Gentlemen Broncos (2009) if you really want to see the extent of Rockwell’s madness.

#8 Adrien Brody
Another Dark Knight contender, Brody has publicly expressed an interest in playing the Joker in the future, after being up for the role previously. Rumors arose regarding Brody making a Joker cameo in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), but Jared Leto ultimately took over the role for the entirety of Zack Snyder’s incarnation of the DC cinematic universe, beginning with Suicide Squad (2016). Brody has stated that no one ever approaches him for comic book roles, but there’s truly no better role to fill with completely offbeat casting.

#9 Ryan Gosling
All movie casting, no matter how twisted the character, has officially gone the way of the hunk. Suicide Squad’s director David Ayers was aiming for Ryan Gosling to play the Clown Prince of Crime, but got Rapunzel-tressed Jared Leto instead, which is kind of like going into the fridge for a popsicle, but finding a suitcase full of untraceable cash. Gosling’s pretty-boy Joker would have been a bizarre contrast to the twisted Jokers of years past, but it’s hard to get the ever-changing Joker totally wrong. It’s the Joker’s paradox: the more wrong you make him, the better he gets.

#10 Check out the video

Thanks For Visiting

Fun Of Politics

Please Follow Us On Twitter

Follow @Funofpolitics

Or Like Us On Facebook

movies

Avengers: Infinity War may possibly turn out to be the most anticipated superhero movie in years. Uniting all corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the movie is expected to be the conclusion to the storyline that started in 2008 with Iron Man, which opened the door for an amazing world of superheroes and villains.

One of the complaints the MCU receives the most is their penchant to kill their villains. While it can be argued that most of them weren't very memorable, one antagonist in particular that stood out to me was Hugo Weaving's Red Skull from Captain America: The First Avenger. Since his first appearance, fans have been theorizing on whether he could make his triumphant return in Infinity War thanks to Thanos.

After actor Hugo Weaving made some unsavory remarks about his role in the MCU, fans believed they wouldn't get to see Captain America's biggest pain in the neck return, at least not portrayed by Weaving. However, the actor has seemingly changed his mind about his role, making people hopeful once more about seeing Red Skull face Captain America again, if not in Infinity War, then in a future movie down the line. My question is, should he?

Red Skull's History With Captain America In The MCU

In The First Avenger, Dr. Erskine tells Steve Rogers about Johann Schmidt and his failed use of the Super Soldier serum, immediately establishing a connection between the two. Yes, each had different outcomes but they are cut from the same piece of cloth.

Rogers and Red Skull met when the young hero infiltrated one of Hydra's bases to free his fellow soldiers, including his best friend, Bucky Barnes, who was secretly brainwashed to become a Hydra agent. After this, years of battle followed in which Captain America tarnished every Hydra and Nazi operation possible.

However, despite him being an enormous threat to the terrorist organization, Red Skull and Cap didn't meet again until the third act of the film. This is when the Hydra scientist tried to send a bomb to prominent cities to destroy them.

During their final battle, they had a back-and-forth into what the future of the world is: Will there be an era ruled by just one man like the Red Skull or will it go on as people like Captain America fight for people's freedom? Eventually, Red Skull succumbed before the power of the Tesseract and was transported into what I'm assuming is space. If that sounded like a short relationship, it's because it was:

Is He Really Such An Important Part Of Captain America's Life To Guarantee An Impactful Return To The MCU?

Red Skull symbolizes everything Captain America is not: A cruel, sadistic man who will crush anyone to get what he wants. Steve despised him for being an individual who encouraged hatred and murder. However, does their relationship grant an impactful appearance from Red Skull in the future?

In Age of Ultron, Cap hadn't completely shaken off his trauma of being ripped apart from his time. Red Skull is the man behind everything bad in his life: Cap had to sacrifice himself by crash-landing an aircraft the villain was planning to use to kill millions of people and that took years away from the life he knew.

That right there is a very strong foundation to use in a story.

The problem is that it would be a very one-sided relationship. Captain America has every right to hate Red Skull's weird guts, but as an audience we only got 20 minutes or less of them interacting. Therefore we don't know the character well enough to feel the same hate as Steve Rogers does.

If we were to see Red Skull again on the big screen, whoever is in charge of the project would have to work from Steve's angle of losing everything he knew, as we didn't get a relationship between them that would make such a plot point flow smoothly.

Another thing to consider is that Red Skull was his antagonist for only one movie. Yes, he was the reason Steve spent so much time as a Capsicle (Thank you Tony Stark) but we could also say that was for the better. In Civil War (almost) everything got better for him: He got Bucky back, got closure with Peggy, found love with Sharon Carter and has formed his own underground Avengers.

Steve Rogers has been in four movies, all set decades after the events of The First Avenger. He's no longer the shy kid out of time from Brooklyn who doesn't have a place in the world and doesn't understand what the Internet is. He's found a family, a place where he belongs, and is well aware of the times he lives in.

So, would Red Skull make a big impact on him by reappearing after Cap has built a life for himself throughout the years? As I said, it all depends on how the filmmakers (who maybe will be in charge of this imaginary project) handle his relationship with Cap.

Then, if he were to return, should it happen? Yes. Hugo Weaving is an incredible actor that plays a pretty good bad guy. And ultimately, whether he comes back in Infinity War or elsewhere, it's a movie. Its plot can be taken care of and developed to give us a believable "enemies" dynamic between him and Steve Rogers regardless of how little we saw of them interacting.

Do you think Red Skull should return? If he were to return, do you think he has the power to cause an impact in Cap's life?

Thanks For Visiting

Fun Of Politics

Please Follow Us On Twitter

Follow @Funofpolitics

Or Like Us On Facebook

movies

Batman: Year One has long been a favorite of DC comics fans. The comic explains the origins of Batman in a much more interesting way than we have thus far seen in movies such as Batman Begins. We have already been introduced to an older Batman in the DCEU, and so it would not be out of the question for someone to create a solo Batman movie with a much younger cast. In fact, I think that this could be an interesting direction for a potential film. It would be fun to see two different actors play the caped crusader at the same time, and such a film could steer the DCEU in a different direction, especially after Ben Affleck's solo movie. Here are my top picks for who should be cast.

Batman — Armie Hammer

Not only has Armie Hammer been cast as Batman before (in the cancelled film Justice League Mortal), but he is only 29 years old, so he is young enough to be believed as a Batman who is just starting his career. At a whopping 6'5" he has the height to match up with Ben Affleck and the suave, broody demeanor that we have already seen in this Batman. I would believe that Armie Hammer could evolve into the seasoned hero that Ben Affleck is, and it would be amazing to see how Armie Hammer would actually do in the role of Batman.

Jim Gordon — Matthew McConaughey

J.K. Simmons is playing Gordon in the DCEU, and with a 15-year difference between this possible film and the current films (Ben Affleck is 43 and Armie Hammer is 29, so that creates a 15-year difference), I could believe that McConaughey would age into the likes of the current Gordon. Matthew has the same body type as Simmons, and we've already seen how good of a detective he can play in True Detective. He could easily be the star vehicle of this film, and with this story focusing on Gordon as much as Batman, he would have plenty of time to show off his skills as the future commissioner.

Alfred — Christopher Eccleston

The former Doctor Who actor has quite a few years on him, and could easily evolve into Jeremy Irons in a span of 15 years. Eccleston is not only British and looks the part, but he has played badass roles as well, and everyone knows that Alfred is secretly a badass. Christopher Eccleston could be the perfect mentor to a young Bruce Wayne, and I believe that he is the best choice for a younger Alfred.

Catwoman — Ashley Greene

With Catwoman not being cast in the DCEU yet, Ashley Greene could perfectly set the tone for who should be Batman's love interest in one of his solo movies. Imagining Greene with a shaved head, she looks very much like Selina Kyle in the Year One novel, and she has the acting prowess to play the "catty" criminal. An up-and-coming actress like Greene could perfectly fill out ensemble of this film, and cause her to truly break into the Hollywood elite.

Commissioner Loeb — Powers Boothe

We saw how well Powers Boothe played an industrious, power-hungry douchebag in Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, and he could transfer the exact same method into the corrupt Commissioner Loeb. This character is completely on the level when he needs to be, but he turns right around into the most evil man on the planet, and that's the type of role Powers Boothe excels at. His range makes him perfect for the role of Loeb, and he has the look of the character to match his excellent acting skills.

Carmine Falcone — Viggo Mortensen

While Viggo Mortensen isn't accustomed to playing mobsters (though he did pull it off in Eastern Promises), I think that he could excel in a role like this. Imagining Mortensen with his hair slicked back and a pencil mustache would give him the look of this younger mafioso perfectly, and he has the intimidating screen presence to challenge Batman. Falcone has always been a wise gangster that cares more about himsel and his family than the petty squabbles of the criminal underworld, and I think that Mortensen is an excellent match to that description.

Detective Essen — Eliza Taylor

Detective Essen was the younger woman with whom Jim Gordon cheated on his wife, and a young up-and-comer like Taylor could excel in a smaller role like this. She's much younger than McConaughey, which explains why Gordon would cheat with her, and she could bring the attractive and authoritative nature of this character to life perfectly. Taylor is making her mark on Hollywood with hit TV shows like The 100, and a role in a Batman movie could only further her success.

Harvey Dent — Til Schweiger

While Harvey Dent only has a menial role in this story, introducing him here could still be an interesting way to bring him to the DCEU, and could open up options for the character. Schweiger has experience playing darker characters, but I believe that he could also play the early, benevolent Dent as well. Til could play the character into the DCEU as well, or they could recast with an older actor, but either way, he exudes the dashing and squeaky-clean demeanor of Harvey Dent, and has the dark acting talents for Two-Face.

Thanks For Visiting

Fun Of Politics

Please Follow Us On Twitter

Follow @Funofpolitics

Or Like Us On Facebook

movies

Doctor Strange is less than a month away, and promotion for the movie has been kicked off. So when television spots are starting to be released, you would expect them to give some cool visuals but avoid major plot points. That was until the latest TV spot, which possibly contains a link to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe.

We've already known that Doctor Strange will be travelling through dimensions but something else has been confirmed. Time.

Time and Soul

We all know that Thanos is headed towards Earth, and the Vision contains one of the Infinity Stones in his head. But what if there were another Infinity Stone on Earth as well? There are not too many movies left on the docket before Avengers: Infinity War to possibly feature the stones. You would not expect to see the stones factor into Spider-Man: Homecoming. The three likely possibilities have always been: Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

What We Know About Strange's Powers

So far from what we have seen from Doctor Strange, whenever he uses his powers, his symbols are colored orange. But in the TV spot, we see him seemingly rewinding time — and what color is his symbol? Green. Is the green Infinity Stone the Time Stone?

Possibly. But the fact that the whole point of the spot is the focus on time, which has never been touched on before in any other sort of promotional material, heavily suggest that the Time Stone will feature in the movie. All the creative forces behind the movie have said that this movie will play in fields that we have never seen before in the MCU. While that could ostensibly refer to magic, as Doctor Strange is (or will be, considering this is his origin movie) the Sorcerer Supreme. What if they were referring to time travel, as we do see Strange struggling to rewind time to fend off an attack? Manipulation of time is not an ability that he has in the comics.

The Eye of Agamotto

Something unique about the MCU is how they have used the artifacts from the comics to hide Infinity Stones in the movies. The Cosmic Cube was known as the Tesseract in the movies and housed the Space Stone. The gem in Vision's head is typically just a gem that absorbs solar energy, but in the movies it is the Mind Stone. So it seems that this movie is following suit.

The Eye of Agamotto is a key component in the Doctor Strange mythos but there's never been anything too special about it besides the obvious. As shown in the above picture below, it houses a green stone. So it seems that the creative forces are following suit by hiding one of the Infinity Stones in a familiar Marvel Comics object.

A Link To The Greater MCU

This is a great way to link Doctor Strange to the greater threat to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Benedict Cumberbatch, the actor playing Doctor Strange, has told everyone that he will be in Avengers: Infinity War (and more than likely its sequel) so there has to be a link to connect him to characters he does not yet know. This would be it.

As an added benefit, if a genocidal tyrant is out to end most of existing life, it would be useful to have the Sorcerer Supreme helping to take him out.

Doctor Strange will be released on November 4, 2016.

Thanks For Visiting

Fun Of Politics

Please Follow Us On Twitter

Follow @Funofpolitics

Or Like Us On Facebook

movies

A 14-year-old girl in Hampshire, England has been arrested for allegedly stabbing a classmate, The Sun reports. The girl giggled as she led her victim into a remote area, the court heard, and while her schoolmate survived with nothing more than a superficial puncture wound, the details of the case are deeply troubling.

Before the attack, she had sent pictures of her face — which she had cut at the corners of her mouth to look like The Joker — to a friend on Snapchat. The recipient of the pictures told the courtroom that she thought her friend's disturbing messages (see below) were all in jest.

WB

The defendant sent twisted messages to her friend alongside plans to kill classmates:

"I don’t care if they blame it on The Joker of Columbine, they didn’t inspire me, they just motivated me. If this does fail I shall say the voices in my head made me do it."

WB

The friend only "started to panic" that the threats "might have been serious" when the victim and perpetrator were both absent from school together for a suspiciously long time:

"I wasn’t particularly thinking straight... I went behind the science block, where I was slightly reassured there wasn’t any body. I was pretending to take it seriously but was keeping her happy. It would have been uncool to do anything else."

In a heart-rending combination of teenage vulnerability and cold-blooded murderousness, the defendant messaged her friend about wanting to carry out a school shooting "after getting my braces and before the science GCSEs."

The defendant is facing charges of unlawful wounding, carrying a blade on school premises, attempted murder and wounding with intent. Let's hope that justice is served and that all of the girls involved receive the help they need.

Thanks For Visiting

Fun Of Politics

Please Follow Us On Twitter

Follow @Funofpolitics

Or Like Us On Facebook

movies

In 1986, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created Watchmen — a dark, foreboding superhero series that transformed comics. Zack Snyder gave us a phenomenal film version of the comic in 2009, and Watchmen's influence pervades his work in the DC Extended Universe. Now, though, it seems Watchmen may be about to return — as a TV series!

What Do We Know?

The stars of Watchmen! Image: Warner Bros.

According to Deadline, HBO began discussions about Watchmen months ago. They originally opened these discussions with Zack Snyder, but he's not currently involved in HBO's plans — presumably because his slate is pretty full with Justice League and Man of Steel 2.

The fact that HBO opened these discussions directly with Zack Snyder is telling, though. It suggests that, for all Watchmen will be retelling the story of the film, the original plan was for something with the same style and tone. Snyder's Watchmen is renowned for its dark symbolism and comic book accuracy — it's easily the most accurate comic-to-film superhero movie to date. It would seem HBO are considering using a similar approach.

There's a sense in which TV series are a better fit for a comic-to-film adaptations. Comics are, by their nature, episodic; they break down into short chunks, usually with a cliffhanger ending. This translates quite effectively into an episodic TV series, whereas a film by necessity has to sacrifice some of that structure — and usually a lot of the subplots.

How Could A Watchmen TV Series Be Different to the Film?

As is naturally the case, the film condensed a lot of the plot ofWatchmen — notably, the backstories of the Minutemen were summed up in a stylized credits sequence that was dearly loved by fans. A TV series would have the room to explore those backstories, using those flashbacks to develop character arcs.

Other subplots could actually be developed. Take, for example, Tales of the Black Freighter — a comic-within-a-comic meta-narrative that gaveWatchmen some of its style. That subplot was completely scrapped for the theatrical version of Watchmen, although an animated version was released direct-to-video after the film's box office release.

The film broadly abandoned the political aspects of Watchmen, too. The comic presented a fuller explanation for the public's fear of superheroes, which led to the passing of the Keene Act — an act outlawing costumed vigilantes. The movie barely touched upon this, even though a fake Keene Act video was produced as part of the film's advertizing.

As accurate as Snyder's Watchmen may be, it still changed quite a lot. For example, one key scene for Rorschach was changed quite a bit. In the comics, Rorschach's decision to kill a child molester was a character-defining moment, one that truly transformed him into the psychopathic figure so beloved by comic book fans. In a dark scene, he cuffed the villain to his stove and set his house on fire, leaving him with a choice: hack off his own limb or burn to death. The film removed all sense of nuance from the scene, instead showing Rorschach brutally killing him with a meat cleaver.

A Counter-Cultural Move

DC's "Rebirth" is a response to Watchmen. Image: DC Comics

There's a real irony to the fact that HBO is considering a Watchmen TV series, though. Right now, Watchmen's influence pervades the DC Extended Universe; Snyder's Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice are both strongly shaped by the themes and style ofWatchmen. The critical response to those films was hardly positive, andBatman V Superman's poor reception has led to a great deal of course-correction.

Over in the comics, Geoff Johns headed up "Rebirth" - the tremendously successful relaunch of the franchise was has explicitly attempted to move away from the darkness that has pervaded DC comics since Watchmen. In a nice bit of meta-narrative, the villains of "Rebirth" are actually the characters of Watchmen; somehow, in a way yet to be explained, they have stolen all the life and warmth and love out of the DC comics universe. The heroes are now on a quest to get it back, which will set them up in direct opposition to the Watchmen.

Batman finds a hint of the Watchmen. Image: DC Comics

"Rebirth" has been a tremendous success, with comic book sales breaking a twenty-year record. It's telling that DC Universe - Rebirth #1, which launched the new range, was Geoff Johns's last comic for the foreseeable future. He's been moved on to DC Film, and is likely to exert the same post-Watchmen influence there.

HBO's interest in a Watchmen TV series should be set against this context. It's actually something of a gamble; HBO is betting that there's still a real interest in Watchmen-esque superheroics, and that DC Film's course-corrections will leave a gap in the market.

Still, it's always exciting to see more superhero shows in the works. Whatever your views on darkness and violence in superhero comics,Watchmen is undeniably one of the most important and influential comic books of all time. We could be getting a chance to experience Watchmen in a whole new way, and that's something any comic book fan will celebrate!

Thanks For Visiting

Fun Of Politics

Please Follow Us On Twitter

Follow @Funofpolitics

Or Like Us On Facebook

tv shows