In a recent interview promoting his new film Fast & Furious, muscle-man Vin Diesel spoke about which comic book characters he would like to play if he ever gets the chance. It’s no secret that Diesel is a bit higher on the geek-o-meter than you might think just by looking at him – for instance, it is publicly known he is a big Dungeons & Dragons fan (the board game, mind you… not the movie).
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He already had his eye on Daredevil at one point, but we obviously know Ben Affleck landed the role instead. In the interview, Diesel has given some thoughts on which types of comic book characters he would like to play. Which are those? Well, namely Sub-Mariner and Doctor Doom.
He didn’t explicitly say he would like to play Doctor Doom, but a character much like him:
“I would be [more] apt to play a villain,” Diesel revealed to MTV News. “[I'd like to play] the protagonist of a story that is also like a Marvel villain – like Doctor Doom or something.”
But going more specific, Diesel expressed interest in pursuing the idea of playing Sub-Mariner:
“I have some superhero favorites,” Diesel admitted. “I talked to ['The Surrogates' director] Jonathan Mostow about ‘Sub-Mariner,’ which could be interesting because of its World War II-New York connection.”
On a related note, over the years there has been some whispers about the Transporter himself Jason Statham possibly playing Sub-Mariner, as well as Daredevil (which comes full circle to Diesel wanting to play that character, too).
Maybe if the rumors about the Fantastic Four franchise is being rebooted come true, then Diesel might have a shot at playing Doctor Doom. I don’t know nearly enough about the character from the original comics to say whether he would play a good Doctor Doom or not, but I’m sure there would be a big debate amongst fans about that one.
If you’re not that familiar with the character you may find it interesting and rather surprising to find out that he is one of the oldest superhero characters (created in 1939), and thus still respected and rather popular amongst readers. The Sub-Mariner is the ruler of the undersea kingdom of Atlantis – regal and egotistical to the extreme.
By the way, a Sub-Mariner movie is already on its way with Surrogates director Jonathan Mastow rumored to be directing.
I’m not particularly a fan of Diesel – sure, he’s entertaining in the right roles (I enjoyed watching him as Riddick, even if the second movie sucked), but he’s no thespian. It’s strange to have not seen him playing a comic book character long before now – is it just me or does it seem like he was born and bred for that sort of thing?
So do you think Diesel would play a good Sub-Mariner or Doctor Doom? Or should he never be allowed to play any sort comic book role?
Source: MTV Splash Page
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57 Comments
Would Diesel be worse than the bloke who got to play Doom?
Oh, really like the idea of him as Bane though.
Or how about Killer Croc?
It always sucks when an actor starts out with soem promising minor roles but then completely blows everything when the pressure is on and they are the star. Vin was good in both Saving Private Ryan and Boiler Room, and he was great as Riddick in Pitch Black, but after that his career just went south. It’s like he was born to be a charater actor but somewhere along the way the hype machine got a hold of him and tried to make him a star, despite his lack of ability to carry an entire film.
@Jago & Longshanks…I remember rumblings awhile back about a film on The Suffering! The entire plot was great with the history of the prison, dating back to the civil war days, I’m surprised it has not been greenlit for production! You guys are right, Diesel is the perfect guy for Torque, what are these producers waiting for? You got a really good videogame/movie here, there is no way they can screw The Suffering up, even with their own input!
Also, Longshanks, honsetly I thought The Rock–er, excuse me, D.J. as he likes to refer to himself these days, was waaaaayyyy more funnier in The Nation! All the jabs he took at Triple H & Chyna, on DX, even on Farooq…actually Farooq/Simmons was really jokes in The Natio, especially when he went up against Ahmed Johnson. “Ahmed, you can sandblast yo ass 20 times but the fact is that yo ass is as black as ours!” HAHA, that is still great.
As for Namor, you need an Olympic/Swimmer’s body and Statham’s is a good reference as a starting point. Not to play Namor but interms of body-type. High Dive swimmers is the Namor body type. As for Statham as Daredevil, noooooo…save Horn Head for later on because if done right at this moment, major comparisons to Batman by the commoners. My pick for DD, Michael C. Hall!
Lastly, same with Longshanks again, Chronicles of Riddick really is not a trash movie. What Longshanks says is correct, it has GREAT production design, good sfx & visual effects, the Director’s Cut really is the key here. If anything think of Riddick as this, it is a Space-Conan The Barbarian. And when you think of it like that you will enjoy it much more.
Not sure if this was true, but it was rumored a long time ago, when they did the script for King Conan (Conan #3) and Arnold was to still be in it, that Vin was supposed to play Conan’s son Kon. That would’ve been really cool.
I’ll admit that I would never have thought of Vin Diesel for Namor, but as the notion is suggested, I really don’t mind it. I find it oddly intriguing, and I’m not even a big fan of the actor. I don’t know about him playing the part as the main character, mind you. I’d prefer to see this as part of a Fantastic Four movie. That, I could definitely see work.
As for Dr. Doom… I think my only concern is that the filmmakers would feel obligated to make Doom a more physical part then… and that would be totally against the nature of the character.
Diesel should concentrate on getting his Hannibal project off the ground first than think of any superheroes or villains!
Hannibal of Carthage, not Hopkins’.
Get that project to ICON productions and have Mel Gibson direct using those Genesis cameras he used for Apocalypto, now that is the definition of epic!
Vin Diesel as Ms Marvel would rock !!!
I don’t know about Dr. Doom. Sure, he has the deep voice and physique, but Doom should have a slavic accent. I don’t know if Vin can pull that off. Also, I feel that Luke Cage should be played by Michael Jai White; the man was made for that role.
Sub-Mariner? Well, I’ve never seen Vin with much hair. Even in Boiler Room he didn’t have much. Sub-Mariner doesn’t have much hair but more that what i’ve seen Vin with. Of course, in the beginning of Riddick, he had long hair but he looked strange.
Vin Diesel’s perfect role would be Kratos if they ever made a God of War movie. He would be both hero and villian at the same time.
First of all Riddick is a great character and non of the Riddick movies sucked. But if you want someone who has the kinda buff body but not too huge, for a heroes roll Nicolas Cage I think he could be a good hero or villain and I love the idea of Diesel Playin Luke Cage But I like Jason Statham but as daredevil, I don’t think that sounds very appealing. Also I don’t Know which one, but as a villain Hugh Luarie would be a good choice cause he could be funny and i think he could beat some ass so a ass beatin villain with a great sense of humour would be perfect for a Hugh Laurie role.
I gotta stand up for Vin Diesel on one thing: as limited as he is as an actor, he still managed to pull off some good roles in his career. Sure, he’s got plenty of stinkers as a leading man, but I dare anyone to watch Find Me Guilty and still say he’s no thespian. He’s proven both in that and in Saving Private Ryan that he can have some solid chops when it comes to drama. I’d hazard that it’s probably due to working with excellent directors who actually push him to do something more than just grumble cheesy lines, as opposed to most comic book movie directors.
My god, we’re a bunch of comic book nerds.
rather be a comic book nerd than a Hills-follower. Actually, I wouldn’t identify us as ‘comic book nerds’, HATE the term ‘nerd’ and ‘geek’! I would say, ‘comic book experts.’
Hey, the entire Wu-Tang Clang knows about comic books, I wouldn’t dare call them nerds.
“Chronicles of Riddick” / “Pitch Black” were great! I’ll be there for more Riddick!!!
I’ll also get my 360 repaired if they come out with a sequel to the Riddick video game.
“Escape from Butchers Bay” was one of the best Xbox games ever !!!
The rest of Vin’s filmography doesn’t do it for me.
Well,,,Knockaround Guys was ok,,,
now that someone mentioned it. Vin would’ve been good for Venom but that has passed.
Bane in a batman film? I think that could work quite well.
No to Doom & Sub-mariner for him.
“Holy crap, if Vin Diesel is let anywhere near Dr. Doom it will be the biggest miscast in the history of comic book movies.”
Agreed.
I don’t get it…. well two things:
(1) Are their only two people that care about Dr. Doom’s character from a fan perspective? All I hear is ‘accents’ and Diesel is ‘too bulky’.
How about the fact that Doom’s intellect is considered to rival Tony Stark’s and Reed Richards – making him one of the smartest men on the planet. When, has Vin Diesel ever succeeded in portraying that his character has above average intelligence?
The only time I’ve seen his acting work is when he plays a brute. If he could pull off being a cold, calculating, sinisterly intuitive mastermind I would say nominate him for an Oscar.
(2) In the respect of being a fan, what is it with changing the race of a character being acceptable when it is from white to something else? Dr. Doom and Namor are Caucasian in appearance, Diesel is not. From the very onset the character is being done injustice.
I just don’t get it. The majority would be upset if War Machine was made white or if they redo Spawn and make him white but people are excited by the idea of Captain America being played by Will Smith or Wonder Woman by Beyonce (both rumors, thank goodness) and likewise the comic book properties of Doom or Namor being played by Vin Diesel….
I though the Kingpin being black undermined the very foundations of his character and I didn’t see the point, they did nothing with changing his race.
Why? If you’re not comic book fans then I understand why you wouldn’t care but if you are, why do you support changing the very essence of characters from the onset?
Going back to my Captain America example: I always found in meaningful that Steve Rogers had blonde hair and blue eyes because the Nazi’s were being fought by what they considered to be ‘perfect’. I don’t know if that was the intent of the writers but I enjoyed it and to me that gave it more meaning.
Tell you what… let’s write Marvel and ask them to get Tom Cruise to play the Black Panther (my real pick would be Djimon Honshu).
@790, I’ve read that the sequel to COREBB is not that great. I don’t know about to Xbox standards, but to PC standards I heard it wasn’t that great.
Sorry Djimon “Hounsou”… and now people are think he Diesel would have made a “great” Venom…?!
I don’t get it: We can probably agree that Venom/Eddie Brock, one of the most popular comic book villians ever, was horribly miscast in SM3. So now… let’s just do it again? Similarly, if Spider-Man was played by a black or “mixed” actor people would be outraged. Why is it cool to reverse the races one way but not the other? Why can’t we just stick the very basics of comic book characters?
Thanks for the heads up Ken J,,, that’s bummer news. Was that for PC or both?
The first Riddick game was a masterpiece.
I use the 360, but my Elite went south on me, I’m debating sending it in for repair or just buying a Core system.
The 360 version has both the new Riddick game and the “Escape from Butchers Bay” complete with updated graphics.
I’ll prob hold off on this,,,
Yah, both the PC and Xbox have almost identicle games, the graphics are probably better on the PC but the actual game is the same and that’s where the negative reviews come from. They say it doesn’t really offer anything new from EFBB, and in fact, is not as good. EFBB was a great game, one of the best movie based games I’ve played. They say the new one just copies some stuff from EFBB and the stuff they added wasn’t that cool. And they said the redone version of EFBB looks better but there are times when it still looks outdated.
Yeah that’s to bad, I’ll pick it up when its 20 bucks…
I’m more pissed that my 360 Elite overheats after 15min !!! I spent $400 bucks and all I have left is the 120Gb hard-drive…
Booo China! You suck !!!! Cheap parts !!!
I think they should have let Nicolas Cage play the role of Namor when he wanted to the first time. they went as far and taking promo pictures of Cage dressed as Namor before they pulled the plug.
The guy who plays Jin on LOST would be a perfect Namor.
I don’t know if this has been mentioned but I think Vin Should have a chance to play the Master Chief….. If the Halo movie ever takes off….
holy crap! Vin Deisel would be awesome as a Halo movie character, and I dont think he could not play an intelegent role its just that nobody would take him seriously as an intellegent character. cuz the whole time people are watching him “Sound Smart” they will just me thinkin whan will this big fuker knok someone out.
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