It is a tale as old as time: a young heartthrob receives the chance to break out from his rom-com stardom and into the big leagues by accepting a role in an upcoming comic book movie. Such is the case for Noah Centineo, who, in addition to being as cast as He-Man, was more recently tapped to play Atom Smasher in Black Adam, alongside Dwayne Johnson as the title character. As much as we can say that we are proud to see him taking a big step like this in his career with a DC Comics adaptation, we still cannot help but wonder what the Marvel movies could have used him for.
To be perfectly fair, the 24-year-old star of countless Netflix exclusive teen dramas, including both installments of the To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before franchise, has landed a most excellent gig with his Black Adam role - an on-and-off-again friend of the off-and-on-again Shazam villain and modern day member of the much overlooked Justice Society of America. However, lest we forget how many beloved Marvel characters still remain strangers to the Marvel Cinematic Universe continuity, or at least have no one to play them yet. Not to mention, for a good chunk of these unsung heroes (or villains), Noah Centineo fits the bill quite appropriately.
While the chances for the Atom Smasher actor to co-exist within two shared cinematic universes is a bit of a stretch (but, hey, anything can happen), we figured that there is really no harm in using our imaginations. The following are our top six choices of intriguing personalities ripped from the pages of Marvel Comics whom Noah Centineo would be a great candidate to breathe life into on the big (or even the small) screen.
Namor
The DC Extended Universe already has its own Aquaman with Jason Momoa, Drew Van Acker took the role of the Atlantean warrior king’s young protege Aqualad for the live action Titans series, and Chase Crawford plays a creepy parody of him on The Boys. Therefore, if Noah Centineo were ever interested in playing a vigilante with close ties to the deep blue sea, the best choice to go with would be Namor, whose MCU debut has been the subject of many rumors over the years, but to no avail as of yet. An alpha-level mutant with impressive aquatic and amphibious physiology, but quick-tempered among surface dwellers, the Sub-Mariner is role that could prove challenging for Centineo, but that is just what an actor of his pedigree and age should be chasing.
Hyperion
While Namor is often assumed to be Marvel’s answer to Aquaman, the DC character actually first appeared two years after the Sub-Mariner’s 1939 debut. However, the character commonly referred to as “Marvel’s Superman” (due to his extraterrestrial origin, near identical abilities, and vulnerability to “argonite radiation” as opposed to Kryptonite)” has nothing on the true Man of Steel, who was introduced more than three decades prior to the first iteration of Hyperion - initially a villain called Zhib-Ran. In fact, I believe it might be more fun to bring the original Zhib-Ran (a.k.a. “Mr. Kant”) into the MCU and just use as many opportunities as possible to poke fun at his similarities to Kal-El, which Noah Centineo’s comedic experience may lend to perfectly.
American Eagle
Not many people may know this (save the actor’s more obsessively committed fans, perhaps), but among Noah Centineo’s vastly diverse ethnic background is “a little bit of Native American” according to his episode of GQ’s “Actually Me.” Learning that got me thinking about how little representation there is of Native Americans in the MCU at the moment despite the surprising amount of characters written as such in the comics, including Jason Strongbow - a Navajo who gained superhuman abilities from exposure to radiation and became a vigilante called American Eagle. He is also a part-time Agent of Wakanda, which means his ties to the MCU continuity have pretty much been written already and casting Centineo could be a great help in making that a reality.
Morlun
For those who are excited to see Jared Leto’s take on Marvel’s “living vampire” in the upcoming Morbius, I have some information that may interest you: he is not the only creature of the night whom Spider-Man has taken on. In fact, there is a chance that a bloodsucker known as Morlun could become a part of Sony’s developing web of Spidey spin-offs if Cindy Moon happens to be the title character of Olivia Wilde’s supposed upcoming Spider-Woman movie, as a major comic book arc sees him chasing after her. Even if plans for a Silk (Cindy’ official alias) movie is never resurrected, bringing in Morlun (leader of bloodthirsty half-human, half-animal hunters the Inheritors) would make for one epic and refreshingly original film that Noah Centineo would undoubtedly have fun playing the bad guy for.
The Beyonder
On the other hand, if a rich complexity would be an especially important trait to convince Noah Centineo to play a villain, he should look no further than the Beyonder, who even bears a slight resemblance to the actor. Most may cite Galactus as the natural successor to Thanos as the MCU’s next big bad, but I would argue a more interesting and surprising choice would be this being, who happens to be the [sentient manifestation of an entire reality](https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Beyonder_(Earth-616). Not only is this the kind of high-concept sci-fi we do not see enough of in comic book movies, but who could refuse playing god-like tyrant whose fascinating with the worth of humans inspires him to see what they are really made of in gladiator-style death matches?
Moon Knight
One of the more eagerly demanded characters by Marvel fans to see adapted for live action is Moon Knight, who has actually been compared to Batman for his billionaire playboy guise, but with more supernatural abilities and even worse mental health at that. The alter ego of mercenary Marc Spector, who gained magical abilities powered by the moon after a vengeful Egyptian god brought him back from the dead, will join the MCU continuity in his own Disney+ exclusive series, but has yet to be cast. Despite the many in support of having Daniel Radcliffe play the lead, I would imagine Noah Centineo would not only be the more visually accurate choice, but might even be more willing to play a character with magic powers as Radcliffe has already spent most of his life doing that.
What do you think? Should Noah Centineo go ahead and ditch his Black Adam role and beg Kevin Feige to play any of the aforementioned heroes, or would you wager that the He-Man reboot is more likely his best bet at this point? Let us know in the comments and be sure to check back for additional information and updates on the up-and-coming action star in the making, as well as even more hypothetical comic book movie casting calls, here on CinemaBlend.
