Thunderbolts Faith in Monsters
Thunderbolts will not be your typical anti-heroes must find the way to better themselves and band together to save the world. No, this is a film about bastards who kill because they are allowed to and because they want to. A new government agency has become wary of superhumans acting out in society without their ordinance and turn to the only people willing to fight other superheroes; supervillains. The president selects the only man capable of keeping a group of rogues like this under control:
Green Goblin: Richard Jenkins
The Green Goblin may seem an odd choice to lead a group of psychopaths due to his own instability but these are unstable times we live in. Osborn's the face man with his multibillion dollar company and Kennedy-esque family. What the public doesn't know is that he's secretly the Green Goblin: a raving maniacal super soldier who has repeatedly clashed with the people's champion Spider-Man. Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under, the Visitor) is my ideal Norman. It's his ability to be extremely calm and even caring and then fly off the handle in an almost bloodthirsty rage that makes him the Goblin.
Moonstone: Maria Bello
Seeing as the Goblin is tasked with choosing his team of monsters he goes for someone that the public can get attached to. Moonstone is beautiful, her power is stunning and she has a winning personality. It's too bad that behind closed doors she's an even more horrible person than some of her more fearsome teammates. Super strength, flight, and the ability to mentally cripple anyone with a few words: who else is better to lead these *******s? Maria Bello (Thank You for Smoking, A History of Violence) can play many things at once. She's beautiful but also powerful. She'd be despised while loved amongst the rest of the Thunderbolts.
Bullseye: Michael Shannon
After getting someone to lead the band Osborn obviously wants someone who can get the damn job done. This is a violent job and they need the world's most dangerous man: Bullseye. He's wheeled into meetings Hannibal Lector style with his hands bound and his mouth covered. He's injected with nanites to keep him from getting out of hand in the field. And if the team ****s it up he's there to pull the trigger and finish the job. Bullseye doesn't do this for the money or the freedom. Bullseye does the job because he's good at it and he lives for it. Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road, Before the Devil Knows you're Dead) is Bullseye. I mean he'd be perfect as the walking devil that kills people with a paper cut.
Penance: Joe Anderson
Osborn has Penance forced upon him. The kid was a hero before hand who messed up big time and now he wants to make sure no one does the same thing. Penance is all about an eye for an eye; especially when applied to him. He's in a gimp suit filled with over 600 spikes at random points across his body. Frankly he scares the **** out of even his more evil teammates. Penance is quite literally the most troubled out of the Thunderbolts and doesn't agree with most of their methods. In the war to keep the superhumans controlled he'll cross the line though to keep the unlicensed superheroes off the streets. Joe Anderson (Across the Universe, the Crazies) is prone to playing the tortured type. Even his turn from swinging war protestor in Across the Universe was transformed into shattered 'Nam veteran. He'd be the shattered vet the entire film.
Songbird: Maggie Siff
Songbird is another Thunderbolt that Osborn doesn't really like. She was a villain but has turned her back on that in order to help people. When Osborn is assigned to the Thunderbolts everyone loves her story and he's forced to take the "Cinderella of Superheroes" on as team member. She's beautiful and has the voice of an angel so it makes sense that Osborn wouldn't want her amongst the Thunderbolts. She's also going to question every single move made by her teammates meaning someone might have to "accidentally" take her out in the field. Maggie Siff (Mad Men, Sons of Anarchy) plays the character of a woman having to choose between her legitimate medical practice and the rogue that she loves on Sons of Anarchy perfectly. She definitely has the beauty and strength to bring Songbird to life.
Venom: Kevin Durand
Venom's a thug. Osborn knows that Venom is a thug, let alone a successor to the mantle of another thug. Mac Gargan is a pretender to Eddie Brock's original Venom and wants to be infamous. He's clearly the most insane of the Thunderbolts aside from Osborn himself and has been turning into a cannibalistic schizophrenic. Venom's on the team for one reason and one reason only. He's there to kill anyone that gets in his way. Osborn justifies that it's for the well being of the nation so they'll let it slide. Kevin Durand (Smokin' Aces, Wolverine) is one badass mother****er when it comes down to action films. Frankly he plays morons well too which suits Mac. He'd pull off a guy who'll rip your arm off with his teeth and eat it pretty gruesomely.
Radioactive Man: Jet Li
Radioactive Man is something very generic amongst the supervillain community. He's a walking bomb and a representative of a culture that most Americans hate and fear. He has no problems with the superheroes he's just in it for good business. That's the beauty of Radioactive Man. He knows that he's been a bad person and he can't change the past so why lament on it. He does happen to like Songbird though. They both served on the Masters of Evil together and she's truly an example of a villain turned good. He may just side with her if things get too dark for the Thunderbolts. Jet Li (Romeo Must Die, Fearless) is a pretty generic choice as far as Asian actors go. Radioactive Man is a fairly generic villain though. He'd be good as a pastiche for villains that are supposed to fill a stereotype but branch out above that.
Jack Flag: Jared Padalecki
The Thunderbolts first mission is to take down a D-lister named Jack Flag. His story would run concurrent with the Thunderbolts at the beginning to show the family man that he is and the patriot that he is. Then the Thunderbolts will **** his **** up and Bullseye will shove a knife through his back to permanently paralyze him. Jared Padalecki (Supernatural, Friday the 13th) has that perfect all-American look that Jack Flag should have. Plus he would have the grit and panache to play a hero ballsy enough to take on these psychopaths by himself.
Helmut Zemo: Jason Isaacs
The main "antagonist" of the entire film (if you don't count the monsters starring in it) Zemo has been thought dead for years. He was the original badass of super crime. He formed the Masters of Evil and they lived up to their namesakes until most of them were imprisoned or killed off by the superheroes. He comes back to speak to Songbird and offer her a place amongst him again. She turns him down but also doesn't tell her teammates that he's back in the game. The Thunderbolts will eventually discover him and try to kill him only to have him single-handedly taking them all down a notch. Zemo's ambiguous because you don't know who he's fighting for: the angels or the demons. Zemo will tell you he's fighting for himself. Jason Isaacs (the Patriot, Harry Potter) is the ultimate gentleman badass. He's a smooth talker and has eyes that could burn through steel. He'd be the ultimate villain of villain to go up against Osborn's American blow it up mentality. Maybe he'll break out some of the other Masters of Evil along the way to even the odds a bit.
*Though you want to, you can't vote for this entry.
