Let me start this post with my apologies regarding my relative level of sobriety during the previous post. My sinus infection saga continues and my dosage decreases, which means my acuity returns and hopefully with it, my comprehensibility.
As I recall, in my medicated stupor, I had foolishly set sail on a voyage to fan cast the entirety of Batman: The Animated Series. In keeping with this endeavor, let's look at episode 2 from season 1 "On Leather Wings". Before we get to the fun part, let me re-lay the ground rules I'm using to cast the parts. I'm going to try and codify these a little more today, then attempt to deviate as little as possible moving forward.
Rule 1: I'll be casting each episode as if it occurs in the universe of The Batman, which means that I won't recast anyone that already has a role in that franchise.
Rule 2: I'm going to cast each episode as though it was a feature length movie, with a commensurate budget. That means that minor tweaks to the story may need to be made in order to ensure that the runtime will be longer than 20ish minutes.
Rule 3: I'm uncultured swine, and as such, I tend to go for bigger named actors, and perhaps more importantly, actors with whom I am familiar. Work in geek-culture movies is going to be a likely through-line in my casting choices. I may mention feasibility in my justification for any given choice, but know, I am operating under the impression that the actors will accept the offer.
Disclaimer: If I manage to contradict myself and cast an actor twice or accidentally recast someone already cast in The Batman, please refer to the first 3 words of rule 3 and accept my humble apologies.
I'm going to start this off by saying, yes, this is a prime opportunity to cast Harvey Dent in this franchise, as he has a minor role in this episode. I'm going to save that opportunity for the first appearance of Two-Face in the show. I'm going to focus on the 3 most prominent characters in the episode here.
Now that the groundwork is down, let's talk about a wizened, jaded, older scientist working at the Gotham Zoo, Dr. March. March is set up early on in the episode as a red herring. His obsession with bats and his remarkably prescient attitude towards Bruce Wayne and moneyed people in general make him a prime suspect in the then-ongoing Man-Bat investigation. Visually speaking, the character is a stooped, grimacing, angular man with a disheveled hairstyle and aged features. It's a solid look that is memorable enough for animation, so I'm going to look for a very distinct actor to fill this spot. I won't necessarily land on a visually similar actor, but a distinct look is a must. I think that the most important aspect of this character to bring across will be whether or not he can be bought as a red herring.
Distinct appearances are an interesting and subjective matter to get into. As I think on the other important factor in this decision, it becomes more and more evident to me that I need to find an older actor to keep in the spirit of the source material, but also need to find an actor who looks like he could hold his own with Robert Pattinson's Wayne. Thankfully, Pattinson is one of the most lithe actors to ever take the role, which means I have a broad pool to pull from. I have been debating with myself whether to try and make a political point with this casting, perhaps casting a black actor so that the concept of stereotyping could come into play, but the longer I think on it, the less I think that my voice is the one to tell that story. That said, I think I found my man.
For the role of Dr. March, I think that the distinctive face and average build of Matt LeBlanc would work. He doesn't seem to be doing much these days, so maybe, with a little studio cash to grease the wheels, Joey could be our March. Hell, I'd even change the character's name to Dr. Joseph March as a nod. The only catch is that he'd be in an interesting predicament. He'd need to give good villain, without actually being a villain.
Next up, Let's talk about the spouse of our big-bad for this episode, Dr. Francine Langstrom. Francine in the series is portrayed as an unfortunately bland blonde with glasses. That gives me a whole world to play with, so you bet your ass I'm going to frolic. The nice thing about casting Francine in our movie is that, because she's something of a blank slate, we have a little creative authority. The whole breadth of Hollywood is at our disposal for this role. Here are the criteria I'm going to use to find our Francine. I want a woman that can believably portray "Yeah, my husband is literally a monster who uses echolocation, but I still love him." energy.
After feeding that criteria into my brain and applying my typical searching techniques (read: Googling with one hand and scratching my nethers with the other) I can really only think of one person I want for this role. I wish I could give more detail about the character and why I think that I've made a good choice, but in my minds eye, this is the name that keeps popping up.
I think that our Dr. Francine Langstrom should be Deborah Ann Woll. She's a powerhouse of an actor, is willing to do franchise work, and is deeply entrenched in the nerd community. Typical of me to have the entire world at my disposal and come back to white blonde woman. Oh well, at least if Daredevil is anything to go by, we know that she's capable of loving monsters who echolocate.
Lastly, let's cast the star of the show, or at least, this episode of the show, Dr. Kirk Langstrom. He's a man driven by his passion for science, a fascination with bats, and claims to be addicted to the serum which turns him into the monster known as Man-Bat. He's blessed with a chiseled jawline and strong cheekbones, and gives an air of sliminess from almost the precise moment he's introduced in the series. The easy joke here is to throw out the name Jared Leto, as he's got the jawline, the cheekbones, and if the utterly terrifying torrent of poor reviews are to be believed, I'm sure he's chomping a the bit to play a scientist with a bat expertise again. That said, as easy as that joke would be, I think I'm going to try an pull someone else for the role.
At first blush, Langstrom has a very similar energy to the Norman Osborne that we got in the contemporary Spider-Man animated series running at the time. I'm not sure that will play a factor in my decision making process, but it is undoubtedly on my mind. Another possibly relevant point to consider is that at 35, I'd like to find an actor within a decade of Robert Pattinson just so that Langstrom could believably pose a threat to Pattinson's Batman. Looking through my shortlist of actors in this age range, and who tick all of my boxes for Kirk Langstrom, I actually found three people that fit the bill. I really like Benedict Cumberbatch for the role, but if we're being honest, I think he'll be tied up with Dr. Strange for a while. I also thought about Tom Hiddleston, staying in the vein of Marvel-stable actors. Either of these two could definitely pull of the role. I have zero doubt in my mind. That said, I am often a slave to my fancies, and one of those fancies is the concept of serendipity. If there is a possibility to make a pattern where otherwise there was not one, I cannot help but to construct that pattern in my mind, even if I am the only one to enjoy it. It is for that reason that I know I've found my Man-Bat.
I believe that our Dr. Kirk Langstrom should be portrayed by Cillian Murphy. Obviously, Murphy has the facial structure on lock. The man is gifted in his bone structure. That said, the part that drew me into this is that, having played Scarecrow in the Nolan-verse Batman franchise, Murphy could be one of the first actors to play two distinct members of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery. I like it.
Here at the end, you may be saying, "Hey, fatso, you spent so much more time on Dr. March than you did on either of the two figurehead characters in this episode. What Gives?".
I don't blame you for having that reaction, but let me puzzle this out really quickly. I think there are layers to this episode that really lend it to having, and I can't believe I'm about to say this, Joey Tribbiani be the most important piece of the puzzle. First off, being a red herring, the character is going to be under scrutiny from both the audience and Batman during the biggest part of the first 2 acts of the film. Am I sure of LeBlanc's ability to deliver on the premise? No, not entirely, but it's worth noting that a red herring always plays their part in tandem with the actual villain of the plot, and as such, LeBlanc would be playing off of Murphy, who is arguably one of the strongest in the business. I think there is also a point to casting Murphy beyond his acting chops that works in our favor when it comes to pulling a fast one on the nerd crowd, and that's that I don't think anyone would expect casting a previous Batman villain in the role of another Batman villain. I don't know, honestly, but I think we're on to something here, so I'll leave you with that.
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