Robert Downey Jr formula for Thor and Cap actors

[chiefchirpa]

Instead of hiring completely unknown young and handsome actor as Tony Stark, Marvel and Jon Favreau hired a relatively known older & "scruffier" actor in Robert Downey Jr. The reason: Iron Man is not a known character to the public so bringing about a known actor may induce people to watch & grown to love the character because of the actor. Almost all critics loved the Iron Man movie because of the acting. So if people ultimately love Iron Man, it's because of RDJ acting who they personify as the real Tony Stark.

So I doubt we'll see "Brandon Routh"s in Thor and Captain America, which are also relatively unknown characters to the mainstream. For Superman and perhaps later Iron Man movies, yes unknown actor will suffice. But for starter franchise, actors like RDJ are needed.

[Odin's Lapdog]

robert had a public history with alcoholism which suited him perfectly for the role...

so unless you have someone who has a history of being frozen in a block of ice of wrestling with frost giants, thor and cap may be harder to choose..

especially cap, he's supposed to be this underwhelming average joe type character that could be anyone really (before his transformation). I would have gone for brad pitt if he wasn't a lil on the old side, he did a decent achilles which is kinda a similar character.

[Ultimate_Superman]

I still say Tom Welling would make the perfect Captain America.

[Vartha]

Well with Thor, if they wait too long on Thor, they may not get who they want to play Thor, (which is STILL unknown) Vaughn said he had his eye on someone in London for the part but, hasn't really said who.

[Tempest19]

Matt Damon seems like a great Captain America. Reason: you need somebody that screams "all American." I hear Matt Damon's voice while reading Cap comics sometimes, just a patriotic sensibility to the guy.

[Red Mask]

Favreau made the wise choice of choosing seasoned actors for mature roles. That is one reason why WB's Fetus in the Jar (Justice League: Mortal) was such a hard sell to fans. Too many fresh faces to play adult roles.

[Rac]

Originally Posted by Tempest19

Matt Damon seems like a great Captain America. Reason: you need somebody that screams "all American."

Though he is of Scottish, Finnish and English descent.

[TheVileOne]

I think the point about Favreau picking "adult" actors instead of young studs is a very strong point.

With Tony Stark, he wanted someone with "experience" who was older. Don Murphy when he was attached to Iron Man wanted LEONARDO DICAPRIO. Why? Because Tony Stark is like Howard Hughes, and DiCaprio played Howard Hughes get it?

However, I think if they go with a more realistic, organic choice for the character like they did with Downey Jr., I think that means that the guy playing Cap will be an American at the very least.

[Red Mask]

Ugh, we dodged a bullet on that one! If studios want younger actors to do this stuff, do it for films like Spy Kids or Sky High.

[chiefchirpa]

Originally Posted by Rac

Though he is of Scottish, Finnish and English descent.

Captain America is Irish, which makes Matthew McConaughey the right candidate if we pick actors by ancestry.

[cerealkiller182]

Hiring RDJ as Iron Man is very similar to hiring Snipes as Blade. A well-known actor for a lesser known character (and vice versa with Maguire and Jackman).

I think the only "formula" that should be followed is best man for the job. Whether it be an unknown or a well-known

[The Agent]

cerealkiller talks a lot of sense.

[The Guard]

Man for the job. Captain America and Thor should be somewhat ageless. Hiring 40 year olds won't cut it in most cases.

[Rac]

Originally Posted by chiefchirpa

Captain America is Irish, which makes Matthew McConaughey the right candidate if we pick actors by ancestry.

Never knew that actually.

[storyteller]

Originally Posted by Rac

Though he is of Scottish, Finnish and English descent.

For the record that would put all white,black,hispanic,asian and anyone not of native american descent in the non american heritage.................

[Franklin Richards]

Originally Posted by The Guard

Man for the job. Captain America and Thor should be somewhat ageless. Hiring 40 year olds won't cut it in most cases.

According to most of the kids around here, 30 somethings are too old too.

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Odin's Lapdog

robert had a public history with alcoholism which suited him perfectly for the role...

so unless you have someone who has a history of being frozen in a block of ice of wrestling with frost giants, thor and cap may be harder to choose..

especially cap, he's supposed to be this underwhelming average joe type character that could be anyone really (before his transformation). I would have gone for brad pitt if he wasn't a lil on the old side, he did a decent achilles which is kinda a similar character.

I think RDJ's checkered history is probably one of the reasons, but his age and especially his acting skill were the reasons that sealed the deal. I think bringing actors with real acting chops often paid off (Bale, Maguire, Downey), whereas actors who just look the part don't always do (Routh, Affleck, Alba).

[captaintass]

Originally Posted by Tempest19

Matt Damon seems like a great Captain America. Reason: you need somebody that screams "all American." I hear Matt Damon's voice while reading Cap comics sometimes, just a patriotic sensibility to the guy.

Cap is over 6 feet tall, man. I think Damon is like 5'9". Besides, he's the face of the Bourn franchise. Give someone else a shot.

And this guy looks like Thor:

[AlteredEgo]

Brad Pitt for Caps. Dude can look all-american, blonde hair, blue eyes, and he can act. i think he's old enough. and just the thought of pitt and norton in an avengers movie together along with RDJ makes me geek. ****. if oceans 11 can have 11 fairly well known actors, not just for one movie, but for three, then avengers should be able to pull this off. easy.

[odiin]

According to Vaughn, he DOES want a young unknown for Thor, although Jon favreau said the same thing initially and look how that turned out. I think the important thing to remember is that not every movie is the same, so just because they went one way with Iron Man doesn't mean they'll handle Thor the same way. As for the age factor, Thor is kind of a young man in the script, but not THAT young. I could see the actor they end up getting being well into his 30s, but 40+ is pushing it.

As for Captain America? If you think about it he SHOULD probably be the youngest of the bunch. He was a scrawny kid who wanted to fight in WWII and ended up part of the super soldier program and became Captain America. After the war Captain America ends up frozen on ice until he is found decades later and revived. Now remember that Captain America debuted in 1941 and the War lasted until 1945, that's only 4 years, and to be of draft age Steve Rogers would have had to have been between the ages of 18-25, so at the MOST Captain America would only be around 29. People asking for an older actor there aren't really thinking about that. Again, you go with what works in each movie individually.

On a personal note, I also reject the people calling for actors like Brad Pitt for either role. The whole point, at least to me, of casting Robert Downey Jr. wasn't to cast a well known actor, not only has that been done before it is actually STILL the norm. The POINT was hiring an actor that was well known because they were GOOD, because they can disappear into the role they're playing. People like Brad Pitt are so over-exposed that you have a hard time ever seeing the character rather than the actor. They didn't cast RDJ because he was a big bankable star because he wasn't (until now). Sure he's well known, but he wasn't the kind of guy that would sell a movie (again, until now) he was hired because he was a great actor that fit the role, and that's all there is to it.

[The Guard]

They may well have to go for a young unknown, given the likely cost of THOR.

[Colossal Spoons]

Triple H for Thor

[AlteredEgo]

Originally Posted by odiin

According to Vaughn, he DOES want a young unknown for Thor, although Jon favreau said the same thing initially and look how that turned out. I think the important thing to remember is that not every movie is the same, so just because they went one way with Iron Man doesn't mean they'll handle Thor the same way. As for the age factor, Thor is kind of a young man in the script, but not THAT young. I could see the actor they end up getting being well into his 30s, but 40+ is pushing it.

As for Captain America? If you think about it he SHOULD probably be the youngest of the bunch. He was a scrawny kid who wanted to fight in WWII and ended up part of the super soldier program and became Captain America. After the war Captain America ends up frozen on ice until he is found decades later and revived. Now remember that Captain America debuted in 1941 and the War lasted until 1945, that's only 4 years, and to be of draft age Steve Rogers would have had to have been between the ages of 18-25, so at the MOST Captain America would only be around 29. People asking for an older actor there aren't really thinking about that. Again, you go with what works in each movie individually.

On a personal note, I also reject the people calling for actors like Brad Pitt for either role. The whole point, at least to me, of casting Robert Downey Jr. wasn't to cast a well known actor, not only has that been done before it is actually STILL the norm. The POINT was hiring an actor that was well known because they were GOOD, because they can disappear into the role they're playing. People like Brad Pitt are so over-exposed that you have a hard time ever seeing the character rather than the actor. They didn't cast RDJ because he was a big bankable star because he wasn't (until now). Sure he's well known, but he wasn't the kind of guy that would sell a movie (again, until now) he was hired because he was a great actor that fit the role, and that's all there is to it.

good points although i gotta argue that RDJ pretty much did sell the movie for me. i mean, you get a good actor, regardless of popularity, on a big ticket like that, and it pretty much is like printing money. and someone like brad pitt, who is pretty well known for the characters he plays (think 12 monkeys, fight club, jesse james, achilles, rusty in the oceans movies) could probably "lose himself" to a character like that. but i do see what you mean about the age thing, as well as the audience possibly not being able to see past "oh its brad pitt dressed as captain america".

[odiin]

I'll concede that Brad Pitt potentially COULD sort of lose himself in the role, it's just that I personally haven't really seen that from him, and I think there are better choices out there that you absolutely without a doubt could end up seeing only the character and not the actor with. There's also another important thing that you can't really forget, and that's making sure you hire people that actually care and are passionate about the characters they're playing. This isn't so much of a big deal when it's just one movie that may or may not be eventually getting sequels, but if you're building a big cohesive universe like Marvel is, you can't afford to do like Daredevil and get a big name like Ben Affleck who doesn't actually care about the role. Imagine if RDJ didn't care about Iron Man. Sure, he'd do the first film and that's all right and everything, but what happens when they ask him to do some small cameos in their other films? If he didn't care about the role he would say "Hell no, I'm not wasting my time on some stupid crap like that." and he most certainly probably wouldn't do Avengers, so they would have to either recast or not use the character at all and you would get into a huge mess just like with DC's films.

[NoirMan82]

If Sean Bean was younger, he'd be my Thor in a heartbeat. I can't deny Jason Lewis for Cap, I just can't. I just have faith in him for some reason.