After Chris Pratt’s galactic triumph, which other sitcom stars should become heroes?
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Version 0 of 1. It’s official: Guardians of the Galaxy is a hit, with critics particularly charmed by Chris Pratt of Parks and Recreation’s turn as mixtape-obsessed space rascal Star-Lord. Such a tangible Hollywood success will likely send rival studios, and perhaps even Marvel themselves, scurrying to try and repeat the formula of “beloved sitcom star + second-string comicbook property = $$$”. With the right attitude, it might even work. Here are five comic actors familiar from the small screen who could help some overlooked comics heroes go big. The star: Louis CK from Louie The hero: Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern The outpouring of love for Guardians of the Galaxy must particularly irk Warner Bros, who recently launched a human wiseass into a colourful space adventure with 2011’s Green Lantern to almost complete audience indifference. The original Green Lantern has no cosmic connection: Alan Scott was a 1940s crimefighter armed only with a disco collar and a supernatural magic ring. Until 2011, he was the doughty grandpa of DC Comics, behaving like a caped John McEnroe on the seniors tour by mentoring/berating younger talent and occasionally suiting up for action. Louis CK would be a perfect fit for the role of an admired but cranky superhero painfully aware of being past his prime, and could get a lot of comic mileage out of Scott’s rather prosaic Kryptonite: contact with wood messes up his Green Lantern powers. The star: Zooey Deschanel from New Girl The hero: She-Hulk The Hulk got some of the biggest laughs in Avengers Assemble but Bruce Banner is essentially a tragic figure, a man who cannot control the monster inside him. Jennifer Walters, who became She-Hulk after receiving a life-saving transfusion of Banner’s gamma-irradiated blood, occupies a more light-hearted place in the Marvel universe, juggling a chaotic personal life and being a part-time Avenger with her career as a lawyer (it helps that, unlike Banner, she retains her own personality when she turns big and green). The courtroom drama/workplace comedy has yet to be explored in comicbook movies, and Deschanel has the chops to lead an ensemble cast. Throw in a buzz-making Mark Ruffalo cameo and a jokey tagline: “Meet the other justice league.” The star: Russell Tovey from Him and Her The hero: Captain Britain Affable slob Steve from Him and Her feels like the closest UK equivalent to Parks and Recreation’s Andy: perhaps audiences would similarly enjoy Russell Tovey muscling up like Chris Pratt? Marvel’s slightly tokenistic Captain Britain is Brian Braddock, an upstanding man of science forced to accept that magic exists when Merlin – yes, that Merlin – transforms him into the protector of our sceptred isle. Both Tovey and Braddock were born in Essex, and the exceptionally versatile actor could do something interesting with the gimmick that Captain Britain’s power level is based on his self-confidence. The star: Rob McElhenney from It’s Always Sunny in Philadephia The hero: Booster Gold First appearing in DC Comics in the greed-is-good 1980s, Booster Gold is a failed sports star turned petty criminal from the 25th century who time-travels to the present-day to use his (stolen) power suit and foreknowledge of world events entirely for personal gain. It seems almost too perfect a fit for Rob McElhenney, who – as self-involved beefcake Mac – comes up with similarly outlandish and amoral plans in every single episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. As a bonus, cast McElhenney’s Sunny co-star Glenn Howerton as the voice of Booster’s persnickety drone companion Skeets. (Booster Gold does eventually become a more traditional hero, but you could leave that until later in the trilogy.) The star: Brendan O’Carroll from Mrs Brown’s Boys The “hero”: Granny Goodness Guardians of the Galaxy successfully recycles characters and elements dusted off from Marvel’s cosmic titles of the 1980s. Similarly, Warner Bros should mine the Fourth World, a mindbending space opera devised in the 1970s by legendary artist Jack Kirby and dominated by DC Comics mega-baddie Darkseid. On the ruined planet of Apokolips, maternal monster Granny Goodness trains up Darkseid’s shock troops in a twisted, brainwashing version of an orphanage – it’s like Full Metal Jacket meets Tracy Beaker. This would be a chance for O’Carroll to take his drag act into another dimension, and turn his considerable comic talents toward something even more horrifying. And if there are studio fears that Granny Goodness can’t carry an entire film, just call it Darkseid D’Movie and watch the cash roll in. Which sitcom star would you like to see pull on some superhero tights? Let us know in the comments below. |