Casting Speculation: The Sixth Gun TV Series

One of the many announcements out of San Diego Comic-Con (and probably my favorite) was that the SyFy network had picked up Cullen Bunn and Brian Hurtt’s The Sixth Gun for the small screen. The Supernatural/Western from Oni Press is skipping the pilot process and going straight to a six-episode miniseries.

If you’re not familiar with The Sixth Gun, it’s the tale of six mystical weapons that when brought together unleash god-like power. In the first story arc we see Drake Sinclair and the Widow Hume in a race to find the sixth pistol, and poor preacher’s daughter Becky gets stuck in the middle. Basically, there’s lots of great action and adventure. I think it’ll be a hell of a show.

Since SyFy hasn’t announced any of its plans for The Sixth Gun, it’s time for one of the internet’s favorite pastimes: Fantasy Casting.

Drake Sinclair – Timothy Olyphant
Drake Sinclair doesn’t have time to be polite or even nice. There’s a crazy dead general after the sixth gun, and it’s his job to get the gun first. While a lot of what Sinclair does falls in morally gray territory, there’s no doubt he’s out for the greater good. It’s not far off from Timothy Olyphant’s current role as Raylan Givens on Justified. Olyphant can do both leading man and Western, and he can do them well.

Becky Montcrief – Rachel McAdams
I know this casting is a stretch for a SyFy original series. I’m sure Ms. McAdams is lined up for a dozen more romantic comedies that will capture your heart this Holiday Season. But she’s the actress I’ve pictured in my head since I picked up the comic. Becky Montcrief gets pulled into a lot of scary stuff in this story, and she has enough will and courage to get her through. But at her core, she’s still innocent and good. It’s a subtle balance of character and I think McAdams has the acting chops to pull it off brilliantly.

Mrs. Hume – Juliet Landau
The “Widow” Hume is evil. Really evil. Like, Lady MacBeth evil. She’s an arrogant and ruthless villain that you just love to hate. One of my all-time favorite love-to-hate villains was Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Drusilla. And Juliet Landau is the reason that character was so enjoyable to watch. She’s already done the supernatural villain thing, and done it brilliantly. I think she’d be a perfect Mrs. Hume.

General Hume – John Glover
Again, we’re looking for pure evil here. From Lionel Luthor to Brice Cummings to the Devil himself, John Glover knows how to do evil well. As a seasoned TV vet, he’d be a great anchor for the show.

Billjohn O’Henry – Donal Logue
Donal Logue is one of my favorite “that guy” actors. Funny, likable, and versatile, Logue has played both leading men and supporting characters. It’s easy to call Billjohn a sidekick, but he offers much more to the story than that. A perfect foil for Sinclair’s cold, shadowy nature, Billjohn adds much needed warmth and humor to the story. He is very much the heart of the mismatched trio.

What would you say? Who’s your dream cast for The Sixth Gun?

Comments

  1. Spot on Ali, especially Olyphant! If Donal Logue doesn’t work out I think Jim Beaver (Deadwood, Supernatural) would be a good Billjohn.

  2. These are all fantastic! Although I don’t want Olyphant to leave Justified. That is one of my favorite shows at the moment.

  3. Holy poop. You NAILED this. You should be in charge of casting for this show.

    Seriously.

  4. I believe this is what they call a perfect casting. Great job, Ali.

  5. This might be the most spot-on fantasy casting on the Internet. Although I do agree that Rachel McAdams is unlikely. Unless she’s finally sick of reading the exact same script over and over again.

  6. John Glover is absolutely BRILLIANT casting

  7. I’d bring back the entire cast of the cancelled show Terriers. Michael Raymond-James as Drake, Donal Logue as O’Henry, and Laura Allen as Becky Montcrief. I thought they all worked well together on Terriers, and would all fit in nicely.

  8. Avatar photo Paul Montgomery (@fuzzytypewriter) says:

    This would be no less than the coolest TV show of all time. How fun would Glover and Landau be together?

  9. Honestly haven’t given much thought to this yet. I think Glover is spot on as the General and I love the idea of Logue or Beaver as Billjohn (big fan of both actors). Not mentioned is the voice of narrator (should they go that route)–I think perfect voice casting would be Tommy Lee Jones (watch the opening of No County…) but I’d also take Trace Adkins. Adkins would also be great as the “War” horseman.

    • I came so close to “casting” the narrator, but didn’t because I wasn’t sure if that element would carry through to the TV series. I would have gone with Sam Elliott (who I was also kinda thinking about for Hume). He’s just got this great drawl and he’s perfect in Westerns. But Tommy Lee Jones is freaking fantastic!

    • And interestingly, they’ve both done voice-over in Coen Bros. films (Jones in No Country… and Elliot in Lebowski). I too once thought about Sam Elliot as the General but I can’t get past his laconic, good-natured drawl.

  10. I dig this cast list! Like Brian, I’d like to hear who should play the horsemen!

  11. With all these TV shows coming out, I think it’s finally time I started reading series like this, Chew, Powers, and finish 100 Bullets that I keep putting off.

  12. I always thought Donald Southerland would make a perfect General Hume.

  13. Prob too young but I think Aubrey Plaza could make for an interesting Mrs.Hume. She has the eyes for the role.