I'm pretty proud of the cast I've assembled for Ultimates: Superhuman, if only for the fact that I have clear and justified reasons for casting them beyond 'they're talented enough and they look the part'. I did a lot of research too. And by research, I mean waste my time watching DVDs instead of writing papers.
Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD - As President David Palmer on 24, Dennis Haysbert has frequently been called upon to portray a Great Leader faced with moral and ethical conflict. As Nick Fury, Director General of SHIELD, Haysbert would feel at home as a leader whose intentions remain fundamentally good, but his inner beliefs intentionally ambiguous.
Antonio "Tony" Stark/Iron Man - Having cultivated a reputation for likably oafish characters such as Russell Hammond in Almost Famous and Tobey in Trust the Man (opposite David Duchovny's sexually addicted 'straight man'), Billy Crudup would be a logical choice to portray Tony Stark as a man who's apparent goofiness masks the heart of a sharp-minded philanthropist.
Robert Bruce Banner/The Hulk - Sometimes it seems like insecure nerdy types are a stock-in-trade cliche for character actors, but when we're talking about the meek genius with the heart of a raging sociopath, few actors would be a better fit than David Eigenberg. Eigenberg is best known for his role as the chronically insecure Steve Brady. However, he also turned in a memorable guest performance on CSI as Gavin McGill, a self-centered sociopath who murdered his supermodel wife, because he couldn't stand the pressure of being married to her.
Henry "Hank" Pym/Giant-Man - There's no mistaking that Aaron Eckhart has the ability to play the everyman as jerk, especially if you've seen him in Thank You For Smoking. He's also played one of those scientific "i told you so" types in The Core. Meld those two characters together and you've got Henry Pym, a show-boating scientist who lashes out at others when his aspirations exceed his reach.
Janet Van Dyne-Pym/The Wasp - The best person to bring Janet to life is Maggie Q, whose largest role to date was in Mission: Impossible III. However, as vulnerable young girl turned martial artist assassin Charlene Ching in Naked Weapon, Q proves that she can play both faces necessary for the character: the argumentative operative, and the insecure woman stuck in a co-dependent relationship.
Betty Ross, SHIELD Public Relations - If anyone has seen award-winning actress Mary-Louise Parker in The West Wing, then they'll recognize her ability to mix a ball-busting aggressiveness and fiercely uncompromising attitudes with geeky sexuality as Amy Gardner, a role that earned her an Emmy nomination. It's not much of a stretch to tweak the recipe a bit to play Betty Ross, a savage PR specialist and master manipulator of the media with bizarre turn-ons.
Steve Rogers/Captain America - Behind the war hero and the face of superhuman era, Captain America is the vulnerable old soldier who hangs his head low. That role requires a sensitive screen presence combined with an ability to deliver cocksure machismo. Here then belongs the unlikely Mark Wahlberg, who pulled off sensitive uncertainty in I Heart Huckabees as an ecologically concerned fireman and delivered effective toughness in Three Kings, while imbuing his part with a sense of everyman-like low key.
Thorlief Golman/Thor - **** man, I give up.
Notes on how I think: I was initially going to cast Michelle Forbes (Battlestar Galactica, 24: Season Two, Global Frequency) as Betty Ross. She's actually quite close in age with Mary-Louise Parker, but Forbes looks comparatively TOO mature. John C. McGinley of Scrubs (also voiced Ray Palmer, The Atom in JLU) was another choice I had for Henry Pym, but he lends too much of a comical air that contrasts too strongly with the rest of the cast. Jane Adams of Relativity looked the right age to play Janet opposite Eckhart's Hank, and specializes in fragile-looking neurotics, but her career is too dead.
