As though there is a limited number of good looking people in Hollywood to play superhero roles, we've already seen two instances of doubling up. First, Ryan Reynolds played Deadpool in Fox's X-Men Origins: Wolverine and now he is playing the Green Lantern for Warner Bros. Next, Chris Evans, who had made his mark on the superhero world as the Human Torch in Fox's Fantastic Four, was cast as the lead in Marvel's Captain America: The First Avenger. While this may end up being confusing for audiences that don't differentiate movies between studios, the casting people have been able to get away with it because the characters have existed in entirely separate universes. Now, it seems, that they are no longer afraid to cross that line.
Total Film caught up with Idris Elba at the Raindance Film Festival, where he's promoting his new film, Legacy, and the actor opened up about his Marvel deal. As many of you may know, Elba will appear next summer in Kenneth Branagh's Thor, playing the Norse God Heimdall, but, according to the actor, that won't be the end of his commitments to the studio. In the interview, Elba revealed that he has a multi-picture deal with Marvel in the same vein as Samuel L. Jackson, but considering a Heimdall solo movie is out of the question, what could be the reasoning? While he couldn't go into details, Elba did express interest in "having a crack at bringing Blade back," but the more interesting comment came afterward, when he said, "But erm, there's a couple of things there that they have... Luke Cage is... very interesting." Could that wry attitude be significant?
When you consider that Heimdall is also known as the "White God," the casting of Elba in the role has always been interesting, but now it seems to take on new significance. Should he be playing Luke Cage, will we see any connection between the two characters once they share the same universe? Whatever the connection may be, will we see it start to play out in Thor? Personally, I would love to see Elba take on the character also known as Power Man. Up until now, the names in the race for Luke Cage have also included Tyrese, Terrence Howard and Isaiah Mustafa, but Elba, in my opinion, would be the best option of the four. Then again, while he didn't mention it, there's also Black Panther, who has been talked about quite a bit. Certainly a curious development.
