“What if … the Marvel Universe had been cast during Golden Age Hollywood?”

“What if … the Marvel Universe had been cast during Golden Age Hollywood?”

“What if … the Marvel Universe had been cast during Golden Age Hollywood?”

Marvel comics used to have a very fun little set of short stories, called “What if …?” where parallel universes were explored, what might have happened if certain circumstances were different, like “What if the Fantastic Four got different powers?” or “What if someone else besides Spider-Man had been bitten by the radioactive spider?” or “What if Dr. Doom had become a hero?”

Well here at the Nugent bullpen, today we’re going to examine:

What if … the Marvel Universe had been cast during Golden Age Hollywood?”

 

The Avengers

cap-burt

Captain America – the superhumanly graceful agility, all-American broad-shoudered looks and calm-voiced leadership of Burt Lancaster.

 

iron-man-and-pepper

Iron Man – the insouciant charm and bravado of Errol Flynn (and for maximum electricity we’ll have the wonderful Olivia de Havilland as Pepper Potts) – can’t you imagine Flynn and Lancaster arguing?

 

wasp-audreyWasp – the petite uptown elegance of feisty Audrey Hepburn.

 

hulk-4The Hulk – utilizing two sides of the Method coin, the sweaty nervous intelligence of Montgomery Clift for Bruce Banner and the glorious id of Marlon Brando for the Hulk!

 

hawkeye-laddHawkeye – the heavy past and small man’s bolshiness of Alan Ladd.

 

thor-hestonThor – the blood-and-thunder muscles and imperious self-regard of Charlton Heston.

 

widow-bacallBlack Widow – the smoky bad-news mystery of Lauren Bacall.

 

panther-sidney

Black Panther – the kingly gentleness and revolutionary zeal of Sidney Poitier.

 

witch-bergman

Scarlet Witch – the shy, hurt yet forceful majesty of Ingrid Bergman.

 

fury-bogie

Nick Fury – the snarling experienced weariness of Humphrey Bogart (wouldn’t he look great in an eye-patch?)

 

capmarvel-lombard

Captain Marvel – the devil-may-care ballsy confidence of Carole Lombard.

 

medusa-rita

Medusa – the no-nonsense spiritedness (and terrific hair) of Rita Hayworth.

 

skull-enchantress

For villains, we’ll have the German mania of Peter Lorre as Red Skull; for the Enchantress, the slow-motion shallow gorgeousness of Veronica Lake

loki-thanos

… and delighted to be playing a villain, the undeniable old-world charm and fun of Cary Grant as Loki! And since we’ll probably need Thanos, the otherworldly voice and brutal danger of Anthony Quinn.

 

The Fantastic Four

reed-fonda

Reed Richards – the cool thoughtful gaze, careful voice and patrician looks of Henry Fonda.

 

suestorm-kelly

Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman – the airily mysterious beauty of Grace Kelly.

 

torch-redford

Human Torch – the hothead urgency yet integrity of a young Robert Redford.

 

thing-spence

The Thing/Ben Grimm – the grouchy urban charm of Spencer Tracy.

 

doom-galactus

For villains, Doctor Doom – the rage and ambition barely bound down by intelligence and manners of Basil Rathbone, and the godly might of Orson Welles is the only man for Galactus.

 

namor-mitchum

And for additional fun, let’s throw in Namor – with the husky manliness and rotten temper of Robert Mitchum.

 

The X-Men

 

xavier-yul

Professor X – the inscrutable distance (and gorgeous baldness) of Yul Brynner.

 

wolvie-burton

Wolverine – the barely repressed boozy anger of Richard Burton.

 

cyclops-jean

Cyclops and Jean Grey – the schoolboy diligence and good soul of Paul Newman (sorry to hide those blue eyes) and the edgy womanly smarts of Katherine Hepburn.

 

storm-dandridge

Storm – the hard-won respect and queenly power of Dorothy Dandridge.

 

rogue-viv

Rogue – the uneasy mind (and excellent Southern accent) of Vivien Leigh.

 

kitty-wood

Kitty Pryde – the bullish immaturity and air of doom of Natalie Wood.

 

magneto-olivier

Magneto – the majestic performative arrogance of Laurence Olivier. (Just think of Olivier twisting Burton into knots!)

 

mystique-crawford

Mystique – the terrifying glare and high-necked militance of Joan Crawford.

 

And riding solo around Manhattan:

 

strange-gable

Doctor Strange – the worldly amusement and relaxed manliness of Clark Gable.

 

daredevil-peck

Daredevil – the integrous guilt and man-about-town elegance (and top-notch lawyering) of Gregory Peck, plus:

 

elektra-bullseye-kingpin

the aristocratic fierceness and lush seductiveness of Elizabeth Taylor as Elektra, the snarling danger of a young Clint Eastwood as Bullseye, and for the The Kingpin, the villanous fat-man string-pulling of Sydney Greenstreet

 

foggy-rooney-karen-hayward

… and we’ll throw in the jaunty clumsiness of Mickey Rooney as Foggy Nelson and the brittle attractiveness of Susan Hayward as Karen Page.

 

spidey-jd

Spider-Man – me!!! (I did say it was a parallel universe … and I’d be such great casting for Peter Parker) … oh, allright, the deep-twisted worry and snappy wit of James Dean.

 

With:

spidey-gals

Mary-Jane – the fresh-talking scarlet gorgeousness of Maureen O’Hara; Gwen Stacy – the spotless innocence of Sandra Dee; and The Black Cat – the voluptuous mischief and dangerous neediness of Marilyn Monroe.

 

goblin-cagney

The Green Goblin – the very New York maniacal energy of Jimmy Cagney.

 

aunt-may-tandy

And finally, a slight cheat but perfection in casting: Aunt May – the prim knowingness of Jessica Tandy.

Excelsior!

About the Author

2 Comments

  • Kevin May 3, 2019 at 12:53 pm

    Great article. Would love to see it expanded now that Avengers Endgame has capped off the first big block of the MCU.
    I’d posit the following adds/adjusts:
    Better for Elektra would’ve been Sophia Loren… thinking Mae West for Black Cat. That frees Liz Taylor to play Peggy Carter and Monroe to be Jane Foster. Also left out Bucky, who I’d cast with Mickey Rooney.

    • pnuge Author May 8, 2019 at 2:20 pm

      Thanks Kevin — those are some great suggestions. Rooney is the perfect Bucky, while Sophia Loren definitely a more suitable Euro-exotic choice than Liz Taylor for Elektra, good spot! … Yes, might be a few to add now that Endgame is done: all the Guardians, Nebula, Falcon, War Machine … hmmm!

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