March 7th, 2012 
Justin Proper 
Under The Gun is continuing our efforts to bring you more original and engaging content with REASONABLE REMAKES. Written by film-nerd Justin Proper, this column aims to highlight Hollywood’s forgotten gems and spark debate.
You see, we’ve grown tired of Hollywood rehashing ideas we’re old enough to remember. Why remake something the majority of the planet still remembers and loves deeply when there are tons of films that deserve a chance to be as great as modern technology and skill can make them? If you agree, this column is for you.
This weeks column marks the return of Boston Examiner Film Critic Ken Murray and he brought the thunder…Thunder….THUNDER(CATS)!!!!!! (Follow him onTwitter)
As a product of the 80’s and 90’s, Hollywood has pretty much stolen from my youth and made horrible movies from some of my beloved toys and cartoons. Michael Bay is the king of this, but besides his Transformers series, we’ve already gotten films for G.I. Joe, The Smurfs and an up coming version of the board game Battleship. So since all of my childhood will be destroyed eventually, let’s throw a few ideas out there. Up first is Thundercats. There’s been a long rumored live action version of the classic cartoon for years now (hell I might have started it myself, I tend to do stuff like that) so who would make a good cast for the human-feline hybrids?
For many years I always thought Jessica Alba would make a great Cheetara, but she hasn’t done any action films and I simply wanted to see her dressed as Cheetara. If you’ve seen Colombiana, the clear cut choice is Zoe Saldana. She can kick some butt and looks great at the same time. She’s already been in the Star Trek reboot and Avatar and a live action Thundercats flick would require a lot of the same technology as the James Cameron film.
Even though the Conan the Barbarian remake was close to awful, Jason Momoa was great in it and with a star turning run in Game of Thrones, Momoa is a man on the rise. His size makes him a great Panthro. Panthro was the do it all mechanic, but was also the first into the fight. Momoa has proven himself in the action world, but the only question is if he’d shave his head for Panthro?
Tygra was the brains of the group having designed Cat’s Lair (their headquarters) and was the advisor of the Thundercats . But Tygra was also ripped and could handle himself in a fight. So we need a smart guy who can fight. Brian White is an Ivy League grad and was in Fighting and is a much underrated (and under used) actor. He also played a detective in The Shield and is in the up coming The Cabin in the Woods. He’s also a former New England Patriot and played professional lacrosse.
The two young Thundercats, Wily Kit and Wily Kat are pretty difficult to cast because young kids aren’t usually that good in action movies, so I’m gonna tweak the characters a bit. I’m gonna age them a little bit older so for Wily Kit (the female twin), I really like Chloe Moretz. Moretz was absolutely fantastic as Hit Girl in Kick-Ass and there’s no doubt she would make an incredible Wily Kit. Moretz was also really good in Hugo and had great chemistry with Asa Butterfield so why not re-unite the two and make him Wily Kat? Works for me.
Mumm-Ra was the bad guy out to stop the Thundercats. He was a weak old man when wrapped as a mummy, but was a total monster when he needed to be. I’ve seen some rumors online suggesting Ron Perlman and that makes sense, but he’s done enough of this type of thing so we need someone new. I really like John Malkovich here. He’s a phenomenal actor who would bring that little extra to Mumm-Ra that others wouldn’t. His performance in the recent Red shows he can still handle some action scenes too.
Last, but not least is Lion-0. I’ve had different thoughts on the Lord of the Thundercats (including Momoa himself), but there was one actor I saw on the big screen last year in a pretty big movie that made me think, wow that dude is a beast. The movie was Thor, the actor was Chris Hemsworth. Hemsworth is jacked and his Thor is probably the closest to Lion-O. Both are hot headed and don’t always think first, both wield a weapon of devastation. With Thor and the up coming The Avengers, Hemsworth is a bona fide action star and could easily carry the burden of a Thundercats franchise. And with Snow White and the Huntsman, Hemsworth already has sword training which he would need to swing the Sword of Omens.
Two directors come to mind for a film of this magnitude. The first is a lesser known that had a huge hit film in 2011 combining live action with CGI. Rupert Wyatt proved last year with Rise of the Planet of the Apes that quality CGI doesn’t have to look out of place mixed with real actors. His use of that technology with Andy Serkis (who would make a great Snarf by the way), made for the best Apes movie since the original.
Director two that would make Thundercats a huge film is Joss Whedon. Whedon has a built in fan base and as the director of The Avengers, the world will realize just how big of a blockbuster he can accomplish. He’s worked with Hemsworth on The Avengers, but he’s also worked with him and Brian White on the previously mentioned The Cabin in the Woods remake. Whedon crossed genres with the greatest cancelled too soon TV show of all time Firefly, I guarantee he would amaze with a live action/CGI Thundercats film.
You know a movie version will come out at some point so what do you think of this cast? Would you go see this film? Do you like Momoa more than Hemsworth for Lion-0? What about Vin Diesel as Panthro?
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