Dream Casting Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" Movie

Ok, so Watchmen is over now and we can all start looking forward to the next major comic movie release. For all the critical attacks it took, one thing about Watchmen that was consistently mentioned was how it remained faithful to the book (for the most part). Props to Zack!

With Zack Snyder calling his "dream project" a chance to film Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns, I thought it might be fun to consider who could take the central parts.

Bruce Wayne/Batman - Chuck Norris

This one was hard to figure. We're looking for (according the comics) a man in his 50's who is tough as nails and right on the edge of crazy. He has to be someone we believe could easily jump into a fight with the leader of the mutants and take on Superman. The obvious choice is Clint Eastwood, but he's so old now it wouldn't be practical. If this movie had been made 20 years ago though, he'd have been the one. Instead, I went with the obvious choice: The Chuck!

I realize Chuck would have to take some serious acting lessons, but is there any doubt at all he wouldn't kill every freakin' villain in the movie--including the stuntmen and any extras he didn't like? And let's be honest, we all know Chuck could beat Superman right now anyway.

Alfred - John Cleese

While not a pivotal role in the story necessarily, this is a major character in the mythos. He's going to die at the end, so this is a one-shot role (who would really want to see the inferior sequel anyway?). He needs to be British and he needs to be reasonably smarmy. As such, I see John Cleese handling the role beautifully. He has the accent, he has the attitude, and he's the right age. He did a great job with the dramatic role in the recent "The Day the Earth Stood Still" movie, so there's no reason to think he couldn't take this one.

Robin - Dakota Fanning

Ok, so this one wasn't the hardest to cast. It's not that I consider her some amazing starlet or anything, but we're talking about a girl in her early teen's that's not a member of the Disney Channel. "Push" wasn't the greatest movie ever, but it did give us a look at her action chops to an extent, and you can't say she doesn't have the attitude. Keep in mind this movie would be a couple of years down the road, and by that time she might have grown up enough to pull off the sometimes-emotional role.

Joker - Tim Curry
To me, this one is a natural. Tim Curry fits the age range, and he's always had that creepy smile he saves for the bad guy roles he gets pulled into from time to time. This wouldn't be some over-the-top Joker like the cartoon version. This would be a menacing, malevolent mass-murderer out to end his war with Batman once and for all.

His low voice and rolling tones would allow him to have the simmering madness needed to make the role interesting. Heath Ledger may have forever taken the role of the Joker to the next level, but Curry could probably pull off a good older version of the villain.

Superman - Bruce Campbell

First of all, I know he doesn't have the body for this role. He have to do some serious getting in shape to make this happen, but you have to admit he's got the chin. Campbell has been around the geek circles for so many years it's about time he had a shot at a major hero role. Besides, all he has to do in this movie is spend most of his time getting beat up by Batman, so how hard can that be?

Seriously though, Campbell has the voice, the attitude, and the older look that could make the role interesting. I'd say give him a shot.


So that's my choices. Feel free to fire away and disagree!