Seth Rogen: From Superbad to Super Hero

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on November 29, 2007

MTV has talked to Seth Rogen about an upcoming film and bit of casting that makes, on the surface, no sense at all. The interview revolves around Seth Rogen’s upcoming starring role in the radio-movie-tv-comic-adaptation The Green Hornet. Britt Reid was a newsman by day and masked vigilante crime fighter by night. Seth Rogen is a slightly overweight funny man who becomes winded easily.

Now, don’t get me wrong – Seth Rogen is hilarious. Superbad was the funniest movie I’ve seen in theaters, possibly ever. But I don’t see many comedies in theaters. Rogen is co-writing with Evan Goldberg on the script, which has currently stalled out a touch due to the writers strike. Pencils down means pencils down, people. . .

The duo express that they vascillate between two versions of the script – one more comedic and the other more serious. Now the obvious choice for this team up would be more comedic, but if there are any fans of the The Green Hornet out there, I’m sure they’d want something a little more serious.

The Green Hornet has been a fixture of the media circuit for some time and has a fairly large fan base in a slightly older generation that what Hollywood normally aims for. This may serve the film better, however, as there are fewer people to become outraged over the handling of the film. You can’t fuck with Spider-Man but fudge The Green Hornet a little bit and fewer people call for your head on a plate. That’s not to say there haven’t been outraged fans over the casting of the currently doughy Rogen, who has vowed to shed at least a few pounds. Although I don’t think he’ll be rivaling LL Cool J in the abs department or Jason Statham in the “I will beat the shit out of you” department.

All in all, The Green Hornet is still some ways off and the tone and script of the film are yet to be decided. Stay tuned for upcoming news.1

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Steven

Not a fan of The Green Hornet, but I am somewhat familiar with the character. This indeed seems like an odd bit of casting, but Seth Rogan has had a string of successful (and good) movies, so I am hopeful they will find a way to make this work.

HornetSting

There is no way to make this work. Period. If it's done as a serious action flick, even though the mask and hat may hide quite a bit (except the nose, the teeth, the wirey hair, and the underbite) when he is the Hornet, no one will ever buy Rogen as the suave, handsome, and just plain Bond or Stark-esque cool that is Britt Reid. If it's done as a send-up a la Starsky and Hutch, it will utterly destroy a classic piece of the very DNA of the action hero/anti-hero as we know it.

Disregarding (and ultimately alienating) the perceived small audience of older hardcore fans and trying to create a larger, younger new one seems to be the modus operandi. In this case as well as S&H mentioned above, I think Sony is playing with fire. Rogen should take a page from his pal Kevin's journal and bow gracefully out of this project, as his attempt to fearlessly cash in on this classic character may only turn his and Sony's green to red.

Here's a tip though, why not consider the Blue Falcon instead? That's another primary colored character that could surely benefit from Rogen's accomplished comedic background. In fact, I'd promise here and now to see it if he did. I most assuredly won't pay to see him butchering my beloved Green Hornet, grand nephew of my equally long cherished Lone Ranger.

Seth Rogen: From Superbad to Super Hero

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