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Multiversity Casting Couch: The Vintage Avengers

By and | February 20th, 2012
Posted in Columns | 2 Comments

The other night, I went to a very fun (and expensive!) dinner with some friends. Throughout the course of the evening, while discussing comic books (as this sort of thing tends to come up when I’m around), I mentioned my love of Winter Soldier and my frequently repeated remark of Butch Guice’s Black Widow looking like one of my favorite actresses, Anna Karina. Soon we were discussing the prospect of what would happen if Marvel had made their 2012 blockbuster fifty years ago, with ideas flying left and right.

Click beyond the cut to see what else we came up with.

Additional credit goes to Dylan Wise and Keri Resendes for debating this with the regular Casting Couch crew.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE BEFORE WE BEGIN: Before you say anything about the improbability of the cast, please understand one thing — we know. We know that, logistically, it doesn’t make sense. We couldn’t conceivably expect two 60’s era actors to be able to act with Errol Flynn (who died in 1959), let alone be directed by a 60’s era director.

We fully understand this, and although we did at one point try to adhere to the laws of time (the final cast was, at one point, a wee bit different), we ultimately decided: naw, this is a fantasy thing. Let’s just go with what we like. Given that the original idea sprung from the mention of Karina as Widow, despite coming up with mostly 40s-50s era actors and actresses we ultimately caved and allowed fantasy to wash over the effort in total.

To that end, we hope you enjoy it all.

Director – Terence Young (circa 1960s)

In 1962, a film entitled Dr. No came out that changed a lot of perceptions about cinema as Sean Connery took to the silver screen to embody Ian Fleming’s classic and influential spy. Behind the camera? Terrence Young.

It was rather difficult coming up with a believable director for the film due to the fact that, at this point, the large scale action film wasn’t a “thing.” There were certainly films with action in them, but those were more along the lines of swashbuckling adventures than they were one-man armies driving fast cars with hot women and explosions. To its credit, the James Bond series of films brought many of the tropes of action films as we know them today with all the staple elements we identify action films as having (see the aforementioned “one man army” remark).

It only makes sense to give the man who helped pioneer the genre the director’s seat, and as the director of the first three Bond films with Sean Connery, we couldn’t be happier to give it to him.

Captain America – Gene Kelly (circa 1950s)

It is inherently debatable who is the classic “all-American boy,” but Gene Kelly is a man who steals our hearts plenty. From his scene stealing performances in On The Town with Sinatra or his directorial debut in Singin’ in the Rain, Kelly exudes classic American ideology, and you need look no further than An American in Paris to see him play this up. Handsome, masculine and a fantastic dancer, Kelly is perfect fit for our classic Captain America.

Although, as a note, a dance number will pretty much have to be placed in the film at some point, but we figure a USO show could be thrown in or something.

Iron Man – Frank Sinatra (circa 1950s)

Charming, smooth, iconic and full of cool at every angle: these words could describe Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr and Frank Sinatra, all at the same time. A “founding” member of what is commonly referred to as Hollywood’s Rat Pack, Sinatra (along with fellow actors Dean Martin and Peter Lawford) are easily associated with many of the familiar playboy tropes of Tony Stark.

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With previous experience acting alongside and playing off of Gene Kelly, Sinatra works quite well for the subtle bromance between Stark and Rogers, and thus takes the role over other possible candidates.

Thor – Errol Flynn (circa late 1930s)

Thor is a difficult character to cast in this era because  you ostensibly need a very muscled actor to take the roles of a god (Harry Hamlin’s (in)famous performance as demigod Perseus, for example, wasn’t until the 1980s). Before action films became a big thing, the most action people saw in films were in war-based movies, or adventures like the Three Musketeers which required cunning as opposed to strength.

Given that we are adhering to this one element of time constraints (if not others), who better to cast than swashbuckling heartthrob Errol Flynn? As Captain Blood, Robin Hood and Geoffrey Thorpe, Flynn is an iconic figure in Hollywood’s history, and is more than capable of picking up a hammer instead of a sword.

Bruce Banner (the Hulk) – James Stewart (circa mid-1950s)

Perhaps one of the easiest characters to cast here, Stewart is famous for his kind and soft-spoken persona, often playing characters who emphasize these qualities yet who are destined for greater things. Stewart’s acting history is astonishing, from numerous roles with Alfred Hitchcock (Rear Window, Vertigo, the Man Who Knew Too Much) to a bevy of equally moving and iconic performances (Harvey, Anatomy of a Murder, Bell Book and Candle, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, It’s a Wonderful Life).

We don’t need to justify his talent. We need but to justify his inclusion, and with that we feel the explanation is fairly minimal: what is Bruce Banner if not a smart and soft-spoken scientist destined for — quite literally — a much greater thing?

We have no idea how he could Hulk out (maybe find someone to be the Lou Ferigno to his Bill Bixby), but we’d love to seem him play Banner regardless.

Hawkeye – Humphrey Bogart (circa 1940s)

We don’t know a lot about the film version of Hawkeye (he was in about a minutes-worth of Thor), but we know a bit about Hawkeye in general. He’s talented, smart, quick to action and, at the end of the day, a real ladies man. When breaking down elements of Hawkeye’s personality, one name came up within seconds: Humphrey Bogart.

As Philip Marlowe, Rick Blaine and Sam Spade (and the inspiration for my favorite Woody Allen character’s behavior), Bogart is a fine choice for the (assumedly) stoic Clint Barton.

Black Widow – Anna Karina (circa 1960s)

The original starting point for the entire discussion, Karina is a true talent. While our experience with her work is admittedly thanks to the Criterion Collection, her roles in films like Pierrot le Fou, Made in USA and Band of Outsiders more than prove she can pick up the roles of the Avenger’s only femme fatale. As Godard’s new wave darling, she defines the sexy/cool style that the Black Widow is supposed to have (and is rather blatantly absent from Johansson’s Iron Man 2 performance). While this role is not traditional for her body of work, we’d love to see her inhabit the role regardless.

Nick Fury – Sidney Poitier (circa 1960s)

In so many ways, Samuel L. Jackson is the definitive black actor of our generation. The actor behind many iconic characters and then some, Jackson’s persona alone is what ultimately resulted in him becoming Nick Fury in the first place.

So, if we’re replacing Jackson, an actor whose performances are incredibly vast and infinitely noteworthy, it only makes sense to find someone who defines his role for a previous generation — and for that we need look no further than the accomplished and brilliant Sidney Poitier.

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Also, we know what you’re thinking — “If you’re going to cast vintage versions of the Avengers, why aren’t you casting the classic white spy Nick Fury over the Ultimate version?” Our goal here was to play off all the elements for Marvel’s 2012 film, meaning our focus needs to be on recasting Samuel L Jackson more than it is adhering to the “original” version of the character. If that’s not a good enough explanation, than the reason is because. (If we were really casting the vintage Avengers, why are we casting Black Widow and Hawkeye?)

Loki – Laurence Olivier (circa 1940s)

This is admittedly the “easy” answer/choice. Thor was a film directed by Kenneth Branagh, an actor/director frequently associated with Shakespearean productions. Tom Hiddleston, the actor currently defining the role, also has his history in theater and will soon portray Henry V in a production of Henry V. Laurence Olivier, amongst a bevy of notable roles, is incredibly well known for his roles as director and lead actor in a few Shakespearean productions of his own.

However, despite being the obvious pick, it doesn’t diminish Olivier’s talent, nor does it make him any less perfect for the role.

Agent Coulson – Henry Fonda (circa 1950s)

Coulson is basically the understated hero of the Avengers franchise. Despite not having a version of the character in the comics, the smooth-talking and talented Coulson has become a fan-favorite character from his various scene stealing roles in Iron Man/2 and Thor, let alone Marvel’s Blu-ray exclusive shorts.

To replace Coulson, we need a man who can take charge of a group of people from his voice alone — and for that role we can think of no man better than the calm and convincing Juror #8, Mr. Henry Fonda.

Maria Hill – Katharine Hepburn (circa 1940s)

Maria Hill was a difficult character to cast, because while we know quite a lot about her from the comics, we have not yet met the film version. For all intents and purposes, the film version of Hill could be an entirely different entity from the comic books (we’re guessing not).

All we know is that we wanted a classic and highly talented actress famous for powerful and moving roles to inhabit Hill’s quite impressive boots, and for that there is no reason to look further than the infinitely talented Katharine Hepburn.


//TAGS | Casting Couch

Jess Graham

Jessica is the secret weapon behind the Multiversity Casting Couches, utilizing her vast knowledge of film and Hollywood gossip to help concoct absurdly brilliant comic book movie scenarios. When she isn't thinking about movies however, she is playing with cats, watching Futurama and pleading with George RR Martin to stop killing everyone she loves in A Song Of Ice And Fire. Feel free to follow her on Tumblr and Twitter for random odds and ends.

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Matthew Meylikhov

Once upon a time, Matthew Meylikhov became the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Multiversity Comics, where he was known for his beard and fondness for cats. Then he became only one of those things. Now, if you listen really carefully at night, you may still hear from whispers on the wind a faint voice saying, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not as bad as everyone says it issss."

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