Comic Book Casting: THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN Television Series

groupEvery Monday here at iFanboy, we look at comics’ greatest characters and stories and try to imagine what they’d be like in film or television. From the story concept to the people in charge and all the way down to who’d play who, we do it and we call it Comic Book Casting.

A esteemed government agent scours the world to bring together that era’s greatest heroes to combat an evil no one of them could fight alone. No, it’s not the Avengers. It’s Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill’s The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. And it’s not superheroes, it’s the original heroes of 19th and early 20th century literature.

Created in 1999 and expanded upon in a series of excellent mini-series at Wildstorm, DC Comics, and now Top Shelf, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is a thinking man’s superhero team. In 2003 Hollywood did a movie rendition that paled in comparison to the source material, and now here in 2013 television producers are attempting it once more.

iFanboy readers, they need our help. Here’s how I’d recommend it be done.

The Concept:

Moore and O’Neill’s miniseries would work rather neatly as the basis for different seasons of a League of Extraordinary Gentlemen television show, starting with the original first volume and the formation of the League to recover an anti-gravity mineral called cavorite from the clutches of the evil Fu Manchu. No Tom Sawyer here, instead we’d lean more towards Moore’s original story and deep into classic literature.

The Showrunner:

He made his name bringing Boardwalk Empire to life, so imagine if Terence Winter were to take that ear for dialogue and period-piece chops to something more adventurous like The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? He’s written rompy-style action before with episodes of Xena, Warrior Princess, and earned his stripes as a major name in the TV business with a stint on Sopranos.

The Cast:

Mina Murray – Maria Bello: Although she was overlooked in the movie, Mina Harker (nee Murray) is in many ways the heart of the LoEG team and I think someone like Maria Bello could carry that weight and carve out a memorable character for it. No, she’s not British — but a speech coach could help her tweak her voice to take on that aspect of the character.

Allan Quatermain – Sam Neill: The original Indiana Jones, but rough around the edges and slightly on in years. To take on Quatermain in television I’d choose Jurassic Park‘s Sam Neill, recently of TV’s Alcatraz, to take on this role. While he might not be known as an action star, I think Neill would be a great Quatermain to offer insight into events.

Captain Nemo – Naveen Andrews: Seeing Andrews drop off the map after Lost is one of my biggest shocks coming out of that series’ end, and I think the former Sayid could get back in the spotlight and steal scenes playing the original anti-hero of fiction, Captain Nemo.

Hawley Griffin / The Invisible Man – Campbell Scott: Comics fans know him best as Peter Parker’s father from the recent Spider-Man flick, but he’s made his biggest impression on me with his television work in Damages and Six Degrees. He’s a well-known documentary narrator as well, ans I think could project that voice to make this character work despite not getting his face on screen.

Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde – Kirk Acevedo: Known for his break-out role on HBO’s Oz and then later on the same network’s Band of Brother‘s and Fox’s Fringe, Acevado excels at playing complex characters full of inner turmoil which is perfect for the classic Jekyll/Hyde dynamic.

Campion Bond – Pierce Brosnan: The man with the plan, the grandfather of James Bond. Who better than former Bond Pierce Brosnan to play this role?

Fu Manchu – Ian Anthony Dale: I had some severe reservations about even including this character in this with the “yellow peril” nature of this storied character, but I see using him in LoEG as a chance to address that and someone like Dale from Hawaii 5-O would be a great person to rehabilitate this character.

Doctor Moriarty – Tim Roth: One of the original arch-nemesis of fiction, and who better to play him than Tim Roth?

 


Comments

  1. Could anyone afford Pierce Brosnan on a TV budget?
    I mean Game of Thrones got Sean Bean but they’re HBO and I’d think he wouldn’t be quite as expensive but I could be wrong.
    Still it’s a cool hypothetical, we’ll have to see how much it matches up with the real TV series in the works.

    • Depends on how bad he needs the money! He was paid $41 million to do four James Bond movies, but the last of those was 2002. I don’t recall seeing him in a big movie or role since.

    • He was in the tv adaptation of Stephen king’s “Bag of Bones” (?). He wasn’t bad and it was on A&E.

  2. Avatar photo PymSlap (@alaska_nebraska) says:

    Thanks for the article! It’s hard to pick a favorite character. The graphic novel’s a real piece of art.

  3. All good ideas. A few thoughts though:

    Quatermain- Hugh Laurie (Hard to get, but probably willing to do it.)
    Mina- Sophie Winkleman (Big Suze from Peep Show for the uninitiated.)
    Griffin- Robert Webb (Jeremy from Peep Show)
    Nemo-Agree with Andrews
    Campion Bond – Brosnan would be great, but if money is an issue, let’s get Laurie to convince Stephen Fry to do the show.
    Agree with all other choices, although I would love to see Mark Dacascos as Fu Man Chu

  4. Gotta be sold on this concept more, the comics are not all that great IMO. I mean the first one’s ok, but not Moore’s best by any standard I’d use. “Tom Strong” would interest me much more.