Alright, so here's my second fan cast on here and I'm pretty excited about it. This is only a fan cast for the first movie, so other characters like Typhoid Mary and Bullseye were not cast.
Anyways, let’s start with the basic plot shall we?
After chasing down the Enforcers, Daredevil bears witness to a murder he could have prevented. After this, Matt Murdock goes into self-exile in Japan, until his old mentor, Stick finds him. Stick convinces Murdock that Hell’s Kitchen has become a desolate, crime filled area. Murdock reluctantly agrees to head back to New York. After re-training Murdock, he returns to Hell's Kitchen to take on the Kingpin of Crime. However his war against crime is put to the ultimate test when the Kingpin unleashes the psychopathic mob boss, the Owl onto Hell’s Kitchen.
Now for the players...
Jeffrey Donovan is one of my favorite actors today. I've seen this as a choice before, and I fully endorse it. Donovan can play that wry, sarcastic wit with ease, as well as having the intensity of a hurricane.
He has been in Hitch and stars in Burn Notice.
Michael C. Hall is also a HUGE fan favorite, and I honestly agree with it as well. His role in Dexter has proven time and time again that he can completely immerse himself into a role and become this entity that is a force to be reckoned with.
He has been in Gamer and stars in Dexter.
How I imagine the film going is that Matt Murdock will have been Daredevil for about 2 years when the film begins. He wears his yellow and black suit and is cocky, a real swashbuckler, just like in his old-old stories. After the death from the Enforcers, Murdock becomes the dark, blood red suit wearing vigilante from the Frank Miller era.
Timothy Spall is a very talented actor. You may recognize him as Peter Pettigrew from the Harry Potter movies. Spall can play creepy in the snap of a finger. He goes from zero to sixty like that.
I see the Owl being this crime boss who's dying of a disease. He is one of the few competitors against the Kingpin, however Fisk holds a supposed cure. He goes to the Kingpin and Fisk gives him experimental drugs that, instead of killing Owlsley (like they're supposed to) they begin to mutate him and turn him into a deranged, psychotic, mutating killer. The Owl then goes on his own blood-crusade, killing not only soldiers of Fisk’s, but innocent men and women as well, drawing the attention of Daredevil.
Might be an unusual choice, but I believe in Sarah Chalke. She’s been in the TV shows Scrubs and How I Met Your Mother. Despite being sit-coms, Chalke was able to bring a good amount of dramatic skills to the role. I think, if given the range, Sarah Chalke will own the role of Karen Page.
For this movie, Karen will have been Murdock and Foggy’s legal assistant for awhile, even before Murdock went to his exile. I see Karen always having a puppy-dog crush on Murdock, like a school girl, but when he returns, their relationship becomes more mature. She will have an active role in helping solve legal cases with Foggy and help Murdock uncover the Owl.
For the Kingpin of Crime himself, I have cast John Goodman. I don’t quite recall who first suggested Goodman, but I think it’s a stroke of brilliance. Goodman is a powerful force, whether playing the loud Walter Sobchak in The Big Lebowski, or the corrupt Congressman Long in Evan Almighty. He would be perfect for Fisk.
In my version, Wilson Fisk doesn’t quite yet control all of the crime in New York. He is quite powerful, owning most of the mob families in New York, however, there are a few that he does not have yet, including Owlsley and Killgrave.
For Murdock’s best friend I cast Christopher Carley. Wait... who?! Yeah, he played Father Janovich in the Clint Eastwood vehicle, Gran Torino. He has also been on numerous television shows, such as House. Carley is a great actor and added the perfect degree of gravity to Gran Torino. He’s got the boyish look to him, but can be tough when he needs to be.
Foggy in this version will be pretty much the same as in the comics. He’ll be Murdock’s best friend and law partner, with an undying allegiance to Matt. When Murdock returns to New York, he finds Foggy in the middle of a court battle. Foggy notices Murdock and welcomes him back to the practice.
Another unusual choice, but I think Christopher Plummer will be able to have good chemistry with either Donovan or Hall. Plummer is a bit old, which might be a deal-breaker for some, but I think that just adds to the character.
Stick will have been responsible for training Murdock when he was a young boy (as seen in flashbacks), and also takes on the responsibility of retraining him. He genuinely cares about Murdock and considers him one of his greatest protégés.
I’m quite proud of this pick. Timothy Olyphant has been in films like Hitman and Live Free or Die Hard. He is also starring in the TV series Justified. I think Olyphant has the ability to pull off the determined reporter, someone willing to bypass rules to get the story.
Urich, I imagine, would be Daredevil’s main source of information. He’s a good reporter, a damn fine one, and is able to almost always get the story. However, several of his reports are squashed by the influence of the Kingpin. He believes in Daredevil and what he stands for.
Ah, the Enforcers. For Ox, I chose Robert Malliet, whom you may remember from Sherlock Holmes. Truth be told, I cast him based on size, but after watching Sherlock Holmes again, I realized he has a very simple, subtle humor that I think suits Ox.
I cast Woody Harrelson as the lasso-tossing mercenary Montana. Harrelson can have a goofy spin, as seen in Zombieland, or a more serious, dramatic role, as seen in the Messenger.
Casey Affleck is my choice for Fancy Dan. Affleck has intensity about him that is rarely matched, and for the slightly off-center Enforcer, he’d be perfect. He’s been in movies such as the Ocean’s series, and Gone, Baby, Gone.
The Enforcers really set this whole thing off. Working for the Kingpin, they kill a woman while Daredevil is helpless to save her. This has him go off to Japan for his self-exile. They are still working for Fisk when Daredevil returns, and he quickly takes them out (much like how Batman took out Falcone’s thugs in Batman Begins).
I chose Flanery based on his level of acting in the Boondock Saints, where I thought he particularly was remarkable. I think he'll do fine as this mob leader.
I imagine Killgrave will be a small role, just as an opposing mob family to Fisk's control. He'll be like Dr. Connors in the Spider-Man movies, saved for a future film where he'll become Purple Man.
Okay, this might be a bit of typecasting, but I really like this choice. Holt McCallany plays a down and out boxer on the television show Lights Out. He is a remarkable, underrated actor, though, and I didn’t just choose him because of his current role. He has had a role in films like Fight Club and the Losers.
I see Battlin’ Jack Murdock appearing in flashbacks or dreams that Murdock has. He will appear as he did in the comics, a washed out prize fighter on his comeback trail who dies when he refuses to throw a fight.
Well, here it is. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to all your comments!