Ryan Phillippe, with his seemingly eternal youthful looks, seems like the kind of guy who should have played at least two superheroes already in his career, like a Chris Evans five years before Chris Evans. Well it looks like Phillippe might finally be getting his chance to shine in the comic book world, as the actor revealed he has met with Marvel about taking on a role in their burgeoning small screen world over at Netflix. Now it just comes down to figuring out what he’ll be playing.
Phillippe appeared on the The Howard Stern Show today and shared this bombshell, although it’s probably important to note that not everything is set in stone – or Iron – just yet. Here’s how he put it.
I’m meeting with…Marvel is interested in talking about, like, Netflix. A series, possibly.
The way in which he distinctly said “a series” makes it sound like they want to give him the lead for a show, rather than just casting him for a bit part. We can obviously rule him out as the titular hero in Daredevil, A.K.A. Jessica Jones or Luke Cage, but it’s definitely possible that he has a shot at Iron Fist’s alter ego Danny Rand. How good are Phillippe’s martial arts skills?
Luke Cage and Iron Fist technically aren’t set to hit Netflix until either 2016 or 2017, depending on how the streaming service sets up its schedule for those shows. But it’s presumed that the companies are trying to make sure that there are some crossover moments, since the latter three shows are more connected to each other than Daredevil. Marvel could be starting the Iron Fist casting process early on to account for some mixing and matching.
Of course, maybe Marvel and Netflix do actually want him to take on a secondary role somewhere, as there are plenty to go around. A.K.A. Jessica Jones could end up featuring a slew of supporting roles for the storylines that Jones gets invested in. And assuming Luke Cage and Iron Fist follow a similar origin-ish story trajectory, they’ll also have a sizeable selection of recurring characters whose shoes Phillippe can fill. But seriously, they probably wouldn’t be seeking to cast smaller roles this far in advance, unless it’s for Daredevil Season 2. Oh, the options!
You can check out a chunk of the Stern interview below.
Phillippe, who was once in the running to play the Star Wars prequels’ Anakin Skywalker and the DC Universe’s Harvey Dent, is currently starring as a suspected killer trying to fight for his innocence on ABC’s Secrets and Lies. But that show’s limited episode count definitely allows for the actor to keep an open schedule, one in which Marvel can easily step in and slip him a costume.
