Yesterday's Marvel Phase Three announcement event changed both Marvel Cinematic Universe and the general world of movie blockbusters in a big way, giving fans long-awaited new characters being brought to the screen (Inhumans, Black Panther, Doctor Strange and Captain Marvel), a few big sequels (Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy 2), and a mega-movie event in Avengers: Infinity War - Parts 1 & 2.
With so much revealed so fast, the fanbase (including our own perennially typing fingers) have been going nuts trying to unpack and speculate about what the future of the MCU is going to be - even before we get to already scheduled Marvel events in 2015, like Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and new TV series Agent Carter or the Netflix Daredevil series.
In addition to all these new projects, there of course needs to be new casting to help fill them out. Yesterday's announcement event came with the news that actor Chadwick Boseman would be taking on the role of Prince T'Challa in the upcoming Black Panther movie, but there's certainly going to be more casting news coming, as Doc Strange, Captain Marvel, an entire Inhumans clan and the rest of Marvel Netflix's Defenders team (Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones) all need actors to represent them.
One actor/musician/entertainer who has yet to really dip into the comic book movie genre is LL Cool J - but could that be changing? Check out the tweet LL (aka the "GOAT" or "Greatest of all time") sent out, which has Marvel fans in a buzz:
I'm so ready for this role in Marvel movie.— GOAT. (@llcoolj) October 29, 2014
This sort of tease marketing is not a new thing: Vin Diesel famously teased his Marvel movie connections on social media long before he ever signed on the dotted line (we still expect him to play Inhumans leader Black Bolt), and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson was posting Shazam references on the Interwebs for years before finally being confirmed as the villain of that DC superhero movie. Social media is a driving force, and stars who are savvy can definitely use it to their advantage when it comes to gaining attention for possible casting.
The question is, as always, where the line is between studio-orchestrated promotion and a stars personal wishes being expressed in hopes of making something happen. If one reads the actual tweet from LL Cool J, it's really hard to determine which side of the line this situation falls on. Talks could already be happening, and this is just a teaser of an announcement; or LL is simply reacting to the massive Marvel hype currently surging, and is throwing in his bid to join possibly THE biggest Juggernaut in the TV/Film industry right now.
If LL is already working with Marvel, the range of possibilities for casting are hard to predict. The obvious and immediate thought is that the actor has the charisma, street cred, and (let's face it) body type to play someone like Power Man/Luke Cage; but he's also 46, making it hard to see him leading a major Netflix series about the character.
Granted, actors Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo are older than that - and even new addition Chadwick Boseman is 37 - so it's not impossible to have LL (who hardly looks like his physique is lacking at his age) play Cage. However, a gut feeling says that based on his wording - "So ready for this role in [a] Marvel movie" - LL was probably doing more wishful thinking/announcement than anything.
In the case of Vin Diesel (who once teased himself playing The Vision), it seems as though wishful thinking (and massive star power, thanks to Fast & Furious) led to a deal. A similar thing happened when it came to Johnson being cast as Black Adam. So even if LL Cool J is just blowing steam - it's steam that could in fact lead somewhere.
How do you guys feel - would you want to see LL Cool J join the MCU? Would he be a good Luke Cage, or is there a different role you could see him playing? Let us know in the comments!
NEXT: Avengers 2 Extended Trailer
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The Avengers: Age of Ultron releases in theaters on May 1, 2015, followed by Ant-Man on July 17, 2015, Captain America: Civil War on May 6 2016, Doctor Strange on November 4, 2016, Guardians of the Galaxy 2 on May 5 2017, Thor: Ragnarok on July 28, 2017, Black Panther on November 3 2017, Avengers: Infinity War - Part 1 on May 4 2018, Captain Marvel on July 6 2018, Inhumans on November 2 2018 and Avengers: Infinity War - Part 2 on May 3 2019.
Agent Carter hits ABC in January 2015; Daredevil will be on Netflix in May 2015.
Source: Twitter