Cast Denzel Washington in a Comic Book Film, Cowards

The Tragedy of Macbeth | Official Trailer HD | A24 — YouTube *

Look, I don’t know who I’m accusing of cowardice, but that’s beside the point.

Are we ever going to get a comic book movie with Oscar nominee and The Tragedy of Macbeth star The Denzel Washington as part of the cast?

There are, at least four (if not five) generations of moviegoers that still need it. I’m an older millennial who grew up watching everything he ever made, just like everyone I know in my generation (and the one before us, and the one before them).

Does anyone besides me, and the people who I never let forget it, remember that time Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe were doing press for American Gangster?

Denzel expressed a desire to do a comic book movie (whether serious or in jest, I always believed he meant it), and Russell made light of the idea saying Denzel didn’t want to be running around in tights.

No, I don’t think Russell made Denzel swear off starring, co-starring, or having a cameo role in a film adapted from a comic book. That’d be absurd. He was joking with his friend.

But I do think the sentiment at the core of Russell’s joke was one shared by many in the industry at the time; comic book films were beneath certain actors, Denzel Washington undoubtedly among them. I’m reminded of the time Charlize Theron said action movies and blockbusters were a lot of fun to make, but industry professionals felt she was wasting her talent because she’s considered a serious actor.

I think this perception was, and still is, true of Washington.

The notion, while it may have been true at one time, misses Washington’s ability to move smoothly and efficiently between genres, serious and blockbuster films alike. For kids in my generation, Denzel and Wesley and Eddie (and many others) were action heroes and actors. They contained multitudes and showed us that we did too.

I think times have changed.

Younger generation actors can seamlessly flow between serious projects, comedies, action pictures, horror, and comic book films. Young Black actors like Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya are free to seamlessly move between films like Alice and Judas and the Black Messiah and whatever is happening in the frightfully good time Jordan Peele has cooked up in Nope (it’s aliens, y’all).

They stand on the shoulders of Denzel Washington, of the late giants Cicely Tyson and Sidney Poitier, of their late contemporary Chadwick Boseman, who we lost too soon, and so many more whose careers were defined by iconic and important roles alike.

If it were solely the younger generations of actors who had the freedom to move between serious works and genre pictures, Denzel’s absence in the vast landscape (or wasteland) of comic book films might make more sense to me.

But even casual fans of comic book movies will note comic book adaptations have a deep roster of A-list stars, character actors, fresh faces, and yes, screen legends alike. Studio casting choices over the past 23 years of films and series adapted from comic books evidence this.

Ian McKellen wholly embodied the complexity, menace, humanity, and the powerhouse that is Magneto. He did it with a style and grace that could not be replicated.

Viola Davis masterfully brought to life a bureaucratic, cold, and ruthless Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad. I never fully enjoyed that film, but I fully enjoyed her performance among a handful of others. The best representations of Amanda Waller outside of the comic books until then had been, for me, the iconic and indominable C.C.H. Pounder, Penny Johnson Jerald, and Vanessa Williams. (I admit I never faithfully watched Smallville and missed Pam Grier’s turn as the character, and that I will slander Green Lantern but not Angela Bassett.)

Jeff Bridges’ turn as Obadiah Stane and Tony Stark’s foil in Iron Man was great cinematic betrayal long before the studio and/or producers, in an act of creative expediency (or bankruptcy), turned his role into the mold for future villains across several films.

Rosemary Harris’ OG Aunt May is the greatest Aunt May to grace the screen, the soul of the original Spider-Man trilogy, and represented a parental balance of compassion and pragmatism that was lost for a time in more recent Spider-Man films. Yeah, I said it. Fight me.

Laurence Fishburne’s Perry White in Man of Steel (and in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) is funny, understated, and human. Watch the scene where Superman tanks the world engine — part of what makes the sequence so moving are the humans Supes is fighting to save.

Kris Kristofferson’s Whistler is Blade’s only real family, and their bond is integral to Blade’s journey, a light that shines through Wesley’s dark, ice-cold, and badass portrayal.

Kevin Costner’s Pa Kent is unsure of whether his son should save anyone, but he’s nevertheless a down-to-earth and loving anchor for a confused and scared Clark. Costner aced the role despite my undying hatred for the writing choices that led to his character’s death. (This is one of the few major gripes I still have with Man of Steel which otherwise holds up well after nearly a decade.)

I could go on. Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Douglas, Alfre Woodard, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, The Willem Dafoe, Robert Redford, and J.K. Simmons are among a host of high-caliber actors who are known for their serious works yet have also co-starred in films and shows adapted from comic books.

Incidentally, Russell Crowe’s since been in Man of Steel, and will be in more adaptations of Marvel books yet.

Russell’s role as Jor-El in Man of Steel brought an intelligence and grit to the role, and a calm toughness to his action sequences as Krypton races toward oblivion — two things we hadn’t seen portrayed on the big screen in a Superman film.

The role of Jor-El was one that Marlon Brando first filled (let’s ignore the drama that ensued), perhaps creating the template for comic book adaptations casting screen legends like himself, Glenn Ford, and Gene Hackman to add gravitas to a picture.

There’s more than enough supporting evidence for the argument; comic book films often cast screen legends.

Importantly, every part of the industry now takes the genre seriously. Comic book adaptations aren’t what they were when Denzel and Russell were doing press for American Gangster.

The industry shifted over the last 23 years. It’s gone through growing pains that include several hits and misses during the post-Superman and post-Batman comic book film resurgence, which most of us feel began with the ’90s animated Marvel and DC series and the live-action hits Blade and The Mask of Zorro in 1998, followed soon after by the X-Men and Spider-Man franchises.

When the pictures brought in critical acclaim, high returns, and maintained a reliable global reach, it’s no mystery why the industry changed.

Times have changed. Denzel is long overdue. I want to see him crush a comic book film role and elevate the picture like only he can.

The Fast and Furious franchise’s veteran cast member Tyrese Gibson recently stated he’d love to see Denzel join an upcoming installment.

The Fast and the Furious series started out as a street racing and heist crime film. A uniquely multi-cultural and global series in a traditionally white and North American landscape, it’s transformed into a wildly over-the-top, globe-trotting, bleeding edge action-espionage series that rivals the Mission Impossible and James Bond franchises, while retaining its familial core.

Since then, it’s metamorphosed into, many believe (myself included), a live-action comic book series. Its characters, and their vehicles, perform absurd, death-defying feats that are superhuman. (It’s worth noting that while there were other fun and absurd action films like Charlie’s Angels and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and The A-Team, they never became the phenomenon with staying power that the Fast and the Furious franchise has. One could argue for The Expendables.)

The juggernaut’s bench includes action stars like Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguiez, The Rock, and Jason Statham right alongside serious actors Helen Mirren and the aforementioned Charlize Theron, with Christopher Nolan among its ardent fans.

The franchise represents additional evidence that the line between what is and isn’t considered an appropriate role for serious actors, especially those in a class of their own such as Mirren and Theron, has blurred. As moviegoers, seeing them in genre pictures is almost always a good time. (For me, the Transformers franchise contains some exceptions to this.)

Regardless of how I might feel as a moviegoer, as actors, they deserve the freedom to be part of any picture, in any genre, without repercussions — an ideal that isn’t always reality.

Denzel Washington is one of the living screen legends whose career is, dare I say, beyond repercussion and reproach. It’s a status he’s earned. Few have.

What role could he take on?

His charm and charisma, intelligence, experience, command of his instrument, and his on-screen presence would make him an excellent choice for a seasoned veteran hero, an alternate-timeline version of a titular hero (or a grizzled future version of one), a compelling, competent and formidable villain, a political kingmaker, an extra-governmental puppet master, an otherworldly being not bound to the laws of our world, an important mentor or father-figure, the moral compass of a team of heroes, or a morally gray antihero.

Given the body of work he’s already produced — which spans 45 years across television, stage, and film — I humbly submit that Mr. Washington could bring any role to life that he chooses, regardless of the original character’s background, and create the kind of cinematic experience we’ve come to know and love from him. He’s that good. Always has been.

Whether Denzel Washington still wants to star, co-star, or have a cameo role in a comic book film is a good question. I don’t know the answer.

What comic book character would you like to see Mr. Washington bring to life? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.

* I haven’t seen The Tragedy of Macbeth yet but look forward to watching it this month or next. I don’t have Apple+ yet.