Casting rumors are starting to fly fast and furious around Warner Brothers upcoming comic book hero team-up film Justice League, so we figured we would pull them all together into concentrated form for your perusal. Keep in mind that none of these stories have been confirmed by the studio, so take them with an appropriately-sized grain of salt.
Last week, a story hit AintItCool News listing names of numerous young actors who have reportedly tested for parts in the film- Adam Brody, Joseph Cross, Michael Angarano, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Teresa Palmer. According to their source, all the actors were auditioning for one of two parts, the Flash or Wonder Woman.
One person who won’t be joining the cast is Jessica Biel. Although some early stories has linked her to the role of Wonder Woman, Variety reported yesterday that she has joined the cast of the noir To Die For, which will probably go into production around the same time League does.
But the question bigger than “Who will play the Flash?” that is on fans lips is “Which version of the Flash will they use?” The Flash is one DC Comics “legacy characters.” Whereas Superman has always been Clark Kent since his creation in 193-, the Flash was originally Jay Garrick, a radio station owner in Keystone City who had the ability to run really fast. Although popular through the 40s, by the mid-50s he had faded from the funny books. The character was revived a decade later as Barry Allen, a police scientist in Central City. Eventually, the two Flashes met and Garrick served as a friend and sometimes mentor to the younger Allen. When Barry Allen heroically gave his life in a huge, company-wide crossover story called Crisis On Infinite Earths, his sidekick Wally West shed his Kid Flash codename to take on the mantle of The Flash.
It is this sense of fictional history that many fans love, but has led to them questioning which version of the Flash will be in the film. According to a report at UGO by Patrick Sauriol, the script definitely states that the Flash will be the Barry Allen version. This is fitting as, even though Wally West is a currently a League member in the comics as was a member of Cartoon Network’s recent Justice League animated series, it was Barry who was a founding member of the League in the comics. If this is going to be a story of the League’s early days, Barry Allen is the proper character to have here.
Of course the question on everyone’s mind is who will be playing the league’s most recognizable members- Superman and Batman.
To date there has been no rumored word on who will be slipping on Batman’s cowl for the film, but it most certainly not be Christian Bale, the current star of Warner’s Batman franchise. Bale’s contract called for a three picture commitment and it is unlikely that he wishes one of those pictures to be done outside of his collaboration with director Chris Nolan.
As for Superman, the producers of both television’s Smallville and Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns (2006) have stated that their respective Clark Kents – Tom Welling and Brandon Routh – will not be stepping into Superman’s red and blue spandex. Speculation has been running wild as to whom will take on the role of the Man of Steel. Earlier today, Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons reported what he called an “unconfirmed rumor” that Rupert Evans has tested for and gotten the part. Says the anonymous source-
After going through a whole bunch of British actors, I heard today that one of them has been cast as Superman. Anyway, the guy everyone is talking about is called Rupert Evans.
If true, Evans is an interesting choice. I liked his role as a rookie agent in Guillermo Del Toro’s Hellboy (2004). Evans had reportedly auditioned and was one of the final contenders for the role for Singer’s Superman Returns, so presumably he has already done some character research.
Of course all this is speculation, in some cases well informed, in some cases perhaps not so much, and will remain such until as Warner Brothers makes some official announcements.
Who would you cast?
