Commentary Track
The JLA of Friday Night Lights
Posted by Josh Radde (josh@filmschoolrejects.com) on December 3, 2007
This weekend, Superhero Hype! released a tentative cast list for Justice League of America which revealed social-conscious rapper Common as the Green Lantern, Heroes co-star from Season 1 Santiago Cabrera (Isaac Mendez) as Aquaman, and Alpha Dog star Anton Yelchin as the Flash, as opposed to the heavily rumored “O.C.” star Adam Brody.
Where this gets interesting is when you pull up the film on IMDb, Brody is listed as the Flash, alongside a few actors that Hype mentioned as well—namely Armie Hammer as Batman (incredible name, Armie Hammer should be a graphic novel), Megan Gale (a model in her 30’s) as Wonder Woman, and Teresa Palmer as Talia (character that wasn’t in Batman Begins) Al Ghul. What intrigues me is that Hype named D.J. Catrona as Superman, where IMDb listed Scott Porter, Jason Street from NBC’s Friday Night Lights, as Superman.
Scott Porter as Superman? That would be awesome—especially when you think about the fact that Jason Street is paralyzed on the show, and would play Superman, also played by the late paraplegic Christopher Reeves. That would be an interesting “art imitating art imitating life” dynamic that would be fun to talk about on the forums. It’s also interesting, because out of all the names that Hype and IMDb have listed, Porter is the only one I consider a good actor. Actually, this brings about another interesting scenario…
Friday Night Lights is arguably the best show on television. The direction, writing, and cast are amazing and the show is probably going to be cancelled within the next few weeks. I would hate to see this show go off the air, but I would enjoy it if they transplanted the FNL cast to JLA! Tell me you disagree, I dare you!
Superman — Scott Porter
Batman — Taylor Kitsch
Wonder Woman — Minka Kelly
The Flash — Zach Gilford
Green Lantern — Gaius Charles
Aquaman — Jesse Plemons
Talia Al Ghul — Adrianne Palicki
Iris — Aimee Teegarden (hey, why not? I don’t know even know who “Iris” is)
Throw in some roles for television’s best married couple Kyle Chandler and super MILF Connie Britton (Super-MILF would be another fantastic graphic novel) and the transition is SEAMLESS!
Up for Discussion: What do you think of the (real) casting for the Justice League movie so far?
Read more articles by Josh Radde
9 Comments
December 3rd, 2007 at 9:35 pm
You are retarded for liking Friday Night Lights so much. The football scenes are terrible, and the acting is B-List. I only really like that guy from Office Space. He’s good in it.
Other than that Josher you are way off as usual.
December 4th, 2007 at 12:40 am
Anton Yelchin was not in Running With Scissors and Adam Brody was already confirmed as playing The Flash.
December 4th, 2007 at 8:48 am
Correction: Anton Yelchin was in Alpha Dog, but he is still on the docket for Justice League. Brody is only rumored for the part.
December 4th, 2007 at 9:22 am
Anton Yelchin is not a super hero; he’s Kevin Bacon’s punky 17 year old brother. I believe Adam Brody would have been sweet, especially because a lot of people still don’t know who he is. Superman was a decent choice, but in my humble opinion, unless Taylor Kitsch is some sort of wacky code for Christian Bale then I don’t think it’s a good move.
Also, I think Tim’s comment is B-List. Almost every football show/movie has terrible football scenes and outside of that I think they have done a good job with FNL.
December 4th, 2007 at 9:47 am
My bad on the Yelchin thing. Those kids kinda look alike. Albeit that kid from Running with Scissors is way too young.
And Bush’s Lying, Beady Eyes–it’s already been proclaimed that Christian Bale will not be in this movie. It was rumored for awhile that Brandon Routh might have some interest, but that was killed as well.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:32 am
I think the cast will be fine, although I just get the feeling that this will be the JLA version of “A Pup Named Scooby Doo”… A bunch of familiar characters played by youngsters.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Yeah, any way they cast it it’s not going to be good if the do the “Doomsday” plotline with a young Justice League. If they go for Doomsday they’re just saying they don’t have confidence that the cast they put together will be good enough for at least a trilogy of movies. The first movie should be about the League being put together and finding a way to exist, especially with Batman and Superman being such polar opposites. And either way, the cartoon is pretty enjoyable, so they would REALLY need to do some impressive visuals to sell this idea to fans.
December 4th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
I have no idea what’s going on. JLA’s proposed/and supposed castlist doesn’t interest me at all. I haven’t seen a minute of FNL. But I usually trust Mr. Radde when it comes to reviews. Except for Tom Cruise= what? JK. JK.
Or am I?
December 4th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
FSR readers–Please disregard Melanie’s comments for she speaks almost entirely out of her ass.
She’s also my girlfriend and will be punished for making fun of my fav show. And for making fun of Tom Cruise.