Put on your casting chaps, and help us pick a new Humongous!
We're well aware of the oft-delayed upcoming fourth Mad Max film, Mad Max: Fury Road, which is set to star Screened's favorite man-crush, Tom Hardy. At the rate of that film's production, however, we assume someone in Hollywood will just up and decide to remake the earlier films, rather than produce a brand-newish sequel--it's just easier.
Our editorial cabal has crafted a series of potential casts so outlandish and ridiculous that we expect to see at least one of them used verbatim in the inevitable remake. And in case you're wondering why we didn't cast the Gyro Captain, it's because there is only one man appropriate for that role, and it's Ewen Bremner. It's inarguable fact.
Andrew's Cast
|
Mad Max: Sam Worthington This character needs a quiet, yet very strong presence and I think Worthington slips right in quite nicely. Sure, not all of his films have been home runs, but in the right role Worthington is actually a pretty capable actor. And what more perfect role for him than the brooding, complex, ass-kicking lead in our remake? For a point a reference look at his turn as Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation... and for even more fun ask Tom his thoughts about that one. |
|
The Feral Kid: Brandon Walters The name might not sound familiar, but this is kid that played the aboriginal boy in Australia. No matter your thoughts on the film, you can't disagree with the fact that this little guy can act. In fact, I thought he stole a bunch of scenes from Jackman and Kidman. He also has an innate charm about him that The Feral Kid had in the original. |
|
Humongous: Terry Crews This was the easiest choice for me. An over-the-top, intense, and completely batshit character? C'mon, who can rock that better that Mr. Crews? Look no further than his Old Spice campaign to prove my point! Seriously, he has the physical presence to go along with the personality a part like this craves. |
|
Wez (Mohawk Guy): Ray Winstone Ray Winstone, because I'd love to see him with a mohawk. And he's an extremely underrated actor who thrives on tough guy roles like this. He makes a great villain opposite anyone and like the most memorable ones can single-handedly overpower a scene. |
Pope's Cast
|
Mad Max: Noomi Rapace Accusations of my over-infatuation with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo star be damned, I think a reimagining of Mad Max with a woman in the lead would be outstanding. And who better to pull off the mysterious, dark Max than Rapace, who is quickly becoming a hot commodity in Hollywood and could be a great draw for the reimagined reboot. She's proven her ability to pull off action sequences with aplomb, all the while bringing depth and sexiness to her roles. |
|
The Feral Kid: Thavakalai Otherwise known as Little Superstar from the Internet. The Feral Kid doesn't have a ton to work with, so why not give him the ability to breakdance? You're welcome. |
|
Humongous: Paul Wight A wrestler is an obvious choice for this role, but The Big Show stands out amongst his peers, not only due to his sheer size, but his charisma as well. He can play menacing right alongside the goofy, and would pose a tremendous visual counterpoint to Rapace's Max. |
|
Wez: Lady Gaga You heard me! Gaga is a total freak, and could visually fit this role to a T. I would gladly, happily, pay admission to see any post-apocalyptic movie where I get to see Lady Gaga dress crazy, act crazy, and get punched in the face repeatedly by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. |
Alex's Cast
|
Mad Max: Guy Pearce I swear I'm not just doing this because he's Australian and rugged--if I were going that route, I'd just pick Russell Crowe. In truth, Pearce is one of those actors whose charisma and prowess as a leading bad ass frequently gets overlooked. Just watch his performance in the outback western The Proposition, and tell me he's not a perfect Max. |
|
The Feral Kid: Kodi Smit-McPhee Not to keep harping on cast members from The Road, but Kodi is the only male kid actor I can see in this role. It might have something to do with my disinterest in hearing him speak words, but I think he looks the part, and I could totally see him with that teased hairdo. |
|
Humongous: Rob Halford He may not have the absurd muscular structure of the original Humongous, but nobody rocks leather like The Metal God himself. He commands a fearsome presence on stage, and he proved in the 2009 video game Brütal Legend that he can do a little acting, when required. |
|
Wez: Michael K. Williams While Williams doesn't exactly scream "manic crazy man in spiked shoulder pads," the scenes from The Wire where he bugged out over the death of his boyfriend and went on a murderous revenge bender instantly reminded me of the moment when Wez's boy-lover got a boomerang to the head in Road Warrior. Give him some chaps, tell him to go batshit, and I think you've got a perfect Wez. |
Tom's Cast
|
Mad Max: Gerard Butler Mad Max Rockatansky’s one of those old school movie tough guys. To properly portray him, you need an actor who looks like he can get his hands dirty. That’s more important than a muscular physique, here. I was one of the few who actually dug Gamer pretty well and part of the reason was that Butler definitely has the eyes of a hard ass who could toss a bad guy a handsaw in the kind of cruel pantomime of mercy we saw in the first Mad Max. |
|
The Feral Kid: Chloe Moretz The girl can play dangerous, and she’s already demonstrated a wide enough range between Let Me In, (500) Days of Summer and, of course, Kick Ass that I’m sure she could handle this in a cinch. Hell, she’d probably find an angle to make a performance comprised almost entirely of animal noises into something more than camp. |
|
Humongous: Dwayne Johnson What this role fundamentally breaks down to is a big guy with awesome mic skills. Mr. Dwayne Johnson’s recent return to RAW was undeniable proof of that (as if you really even needed a reminder.) I thought Doom had more redeeming qualities than most people noticed and one such quality was Johnson playing a villain. I think if he worked with a director who actually knew what to do with him, this could actually be a memorable role reinterpretation. |
|
Wez: Tom Hardy Hardy’s actually been cast as Max himself in the unlikely-to-ever-happen fourth flick, Fury Road. While he’d fit into that role just fine, I think he’d better capture the hefty physicality and dangerous, ambiguous sexuality that Vernon Wells brought to the role--something between his work in Bronson and his work in RocknRolla. |
Joey's Cast
|
Mad Max: Liev Schreiber No specific reason for this pick other than he just looks like someone who could walk the wasteland and provide the right amount of apathy needed for Max, without the overacting or the movie star essence that would disconnect me from the heart and soul of the original Road Warrior. |
|
The Feral Kid: Michael Cera This is your chance Cera, show the world what you got. Ugly up, speak in tongues, take your Oscar on the way out. |
|
Humongous: Ving Rhames "Just walk away...mothafucka." No one can lay down a menacingly calm ultimatum like Rhames can. |
|
Wez: Christian Bale Just let him go nuts. Give him the role, hand him a scribbled handwritten script, starve him for a few weeks, keep the DP out of his lights... |
Rorie's Cast
|
Mad Max: Chiwetel Ejiofor Mad Max is a man of few words, obviously, but when he does speak he has to have an impact. Eijofor can threaten with the best of them, is enough of a physical presence to work his way through the crazy car chases, and has those dreamy, soulful eyes that made Mel Gibson so famous. |
|
The Feral Kid: A Six-Year-Old Jodie Foster Foster's a technically impressive actress who went "full retard," so to speak, in Nell. She was also an actress before she was eight years old, and shouldn't find it too hard to mix the two as a feral Australian. Assuming, you know, she could de-age herself 40 years or so. |
|
Humongous: John Travolta This character is almost more voice than body, although you definitely need an impressive figure to run the savage gang. I think I would go the opposite direction, though, and not pick a wrestler for the role; instead, I'd love to see John Travolta pull off one of his crazy-ass, cackling villain roles. He'd never agree to wear a mask for the entire film, so you might have to show a bit more face, but he's proven to be pretty effective in these roles. |
|
Wez: Taylor Lautner An overly-muscular man who's driven to tears by the death of his lover? I actually like Lautner a fair amount, and think he could pull this off rather well if he lets himself get Hulk-level angry. His lover? A cameo from Zac Efron, of course. |
Them's our picks, but what about yours? Hit up the comments, and give us your own version of The Road Warrior!
But how could you guys leave out the Gyro Captain? What the efffff!
In all seriousness though, if we weren't having Hardy, I'd go with Alex's choice of Pearce. That is damn near perfect, I'd say
Helicopter dude: Paul Bettany
Humongous: Vin Diesel. Just for the voice alone, since that's the key factor, but he's certainly got the build to back it up.
Feral Kid: Jonah Hill
YES
Guy Pearce is an inspired choice (and The Proposition should be looked at for induction into The Besties).
Gerard Butler as Mad Max is a great fucking choice.
But goddamn do I love Road Warrior...and the first half of Thunderdome. I've probably seen Road Warrior the most amount of times out of any movie.When I first heard about the remake and Tom Hardy was going to be in it I didn't know what to say. But now after seeing Bronson a year ago I can't wait for this one. Also Inception put my hype meter up further.
I'm also surprised I didn't see Jason Statham as a pick. Seriously, it looks like you guys went "well obviously this guy's gonna put him as Mad Max so I don't wanna copy him".
But anyway here's my list.
Mad Max: Jeremy Renner...since I can't pick Tom Hardy. Can he do an Australian accent? Probably not. But he pretty much already played a desert warrior that was cunning and cool under pressure.
Gyro Captain: Sharito Copley....obviously
Feral Kid: I don't even know where to begin to pick someone for this. The fat kid from Modern Family?
Humongous: Vin Diesel
Wez: Jason Statham, as a leaner and meaner sort of stunt man villain.
That said Christian Bale as Wez and Ving Rhames as Humongous and Russel Crowe as Max. Your done let's film it.