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Post by Calidore on Jul 23, 2022 17:48:18 GMT -5
Just a couple of random thoughts I had, and now I'm wondering if this idea can carry a thread.
Since the Kyle Baker Elseworlds story that got the 80-Page Giant print run pulped was finally printed in the TPB, it would be nice if DC finally published Rick Veitch's original ending to his Swamp Thing time travel story.
My only real problem with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is that he's a tall, lanky guy, while the comic Wolverine naturally resembled his namesake--small and tough as nails. With the success of Tom Holland as Spider-Man, it would be nice if Marvel cast a closer physical match as the next Wolverine. There's plenty of little guys with big presence and charisma out there.
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Post by badwolf on Jul 23, 2022 17:51:46 GMT -5
There was ways of making average size people look taller or smaller in films (look at LOTR or Harry Potter) but I guess they didn't consider it a crucial aspect of his character.
There was a Warren Ellis Hellblazer story that was withdrawn from the originally scheduled run that eventually saw print in a special, I think.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 23, 2022 18:06:56 GMT -5
Just a couple of random thoughts I had, and now I'm wondering if this idea can carry a thread.
Since the Kyle Baker Elseworlds story that got the 80-Page Giant print run pulped was finally printed in the TPB, it would be nice if DC finally published Rick Veitch's original ending to his Swamp Thing time travel story.
My only real problem with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is that he's a tall, lanky guy, while the comic Wolverine naturally resembled his namesake--small and tough as nails. With the success of Tom Holland as Spider-Man, it would be nice if Marvel cast a closer physical match as the next Wolverine. There's plenty of little guys with big presence and charisma out there.
If memory serves, the original art, or part of it, was stolen from DC's offices. So, that would have to be redone. Joe Pesci would have been perfect for Wolverine, apart from the accent (but, at least his wasn't Australian, like on Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends and Pryde of the X-Men). Would have had to change the rating, though. Eugene Levy would have been a real Canadian and he had a huge mane of hair, for a chunk of his career. Here's his audition piece...
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Post by berkley on Jul 23, 2022 21:55:33 GMT -5
Just a couple of random thoughts I had, and now I'm wondering if this idea can carry a thread.
Since the Kyle Baker Elseworlds story that got the 80-Page Giant print run pulped was finally printed in the TPB, it would be nice if DC finally published Rick Veitch's original ending to his Swamp Thing time travel story.
My only real problem with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine is that he's a tall, lanky guy, while the comic Wolverine naturally resembled his namesake--small and tough as nails. With the success of Tom Holland as Spider-Man, it would be nice if Marvel cast a closer physical match as the next Wolverine. There's plenty of little guys with big presence and charisma out there.
Maybe Jackman and Tom Cruise should have exchanged roles: the tall Jackman would play Reacher and Cruise would be Wolverine.
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jul 24, 2022 8:19:01 GMT -5
Since the Kyle Baker Elseworlds story that got the 80-Page Giant print run pulped was finally printed in the TPB, it would be nice if DC finally published Rick Veitch's original ending to his Swamp Thing time travel story. For anyone who hasn't seen them, here's a link to Veitch's script to Swamp Thing #89 and Michael Zulli's unpublished artwork. linkApparently Veitch intended to write up to #91, so it would be nice if they could produce those issues as well. Neil Gaiman said he co-plotted a "Gifts of the Magi" issue with Veitch. link
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Post by Calidore on Jul 24, 2022 13:53:27 GMT -5
If memory serves, the original art, or part of it, was stolen from DC's offices. So, that would have to be redone. Hadn't heard about that art theft. That sucks. Maybe Jackman and Tom Cruise should have exchanged roles: the tall Jackman would play Reacher and Cruise would be Wolverine. Cruise would be a better fit size-wise, but tough as nails? There was a pro wrestler back in the day named Dean Malenko who had the right physicality and look.
Anyone else got wishes?
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Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jul 24, 2022 17:14:49 GMT -5
As a comic reader of X-Men starting in the late 80’s and X-Men TAS in the 90’s I honestly dont think even Marvel portrayed Logan’s height accurately. He was always the butt of height jokes but all it ever seemed to be/matter was against opponents like Sabertooth or Juggernaut who used to love to poke fun at him in battle banter. Otherwise it seemed irrelevant. Especially visually by artists.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 24, 2022 17:17:24 GMT -5
If memory serves, the original art, or part of it, was stolen from DC's offices. So, that would have to be redone. Hadn't heard about that art theft. That sucks. Maybe Jackman and Tom Cruise should have exchanged roles: the tall Jackman would play Reacher and Cruise would be Wolverine. Cruise would be a better fit size-wise, but tough as nails? There was a pro wrestler back in the day named Dean Malenko who had the right physicality and look.
Anyone else got wishes?
Dean Malenko? With that Russian accent of his? I'd have thought Chris Benoit...... Except for.....well.....you know.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 24, 2022 18:01:51 GMT -5
ps Dean Malenko was born Dean Simon. He is the son of Larry Simon, aka Professor Boris Malenko, aka The Great Malenko, a pro wrestler who was supposed to be from the USSR. In actuality, Larry Simon was Jewish and came from Newark, NJ. He was a legit wrestler, competing in amateur matches, via the YMCA system, before becoming a pro. He started out under his own name, then became Crusher Duggan, in Texas, before portraying a Nazi wrestler, in the AWA, as Otto Von Krupp, where he held the AWA World Tag titles, along with Bob Geigel (who was later the promoter in Kansas City and a president of the National Wrestling Alliance, in the mid-80s). He then began wrestling in Florida, as The Great Malenko and/or Prof Boris Malenko, from the USSR. He would do a pseudo-Russian accent and often did a lazy eye schtick in his promos, especially when he transitioned from an active wrestler to a manager. You can see him here, against Houston promoter and retired wrestler Paul Boesch (who had the most cauliflowered ears I ever saw; and, if you watch the beginning of the clip, before my marker, you can see Boesch using them for a sponsor of his tv show, a Houston jeweler)
Boris was a bit of a rebel and was part of the group that broke away from the Knoxville, TN promotion of Ron Fuller and tried to run an opposition promotion (which included Knoxville star Ronnie Garvin, the future Hands of Stone Ron Garvin, who briefly won the the NWA World title, from Ric Flair, former Olympic wrestler Bob Roop and Cowboy Bob Orton Jr, to father of WWE star Randy Orton). The war between the two groups largely killed business in Knoxville and it never really recovered, despite later attempts by a few groups to run the area, including Ric Flair and Blackjack Mulligan, Ron Fuller, again, and Jim Cornette's Smokey Mountain Wrestling. Simon later started an opposition promotion in Florida, Sunbelt Wrestling, which still failed to unseat the established Eddie Graham promotion., in the early 80s. He ran a wrestling school, which trained guys like Al Perez and Sean waltman (aka the Lightning Kid, aka The 1-2-3 Kid, aka 6-Pac, aka X-Pac, aka the guy with Chyna in her sex tape) and sons Joe and Dean Malenko.
Joe Malenko worked in Japan, for the shoot-style group, the Universal Wrestling Federation, before going to All-Japan, where he held their junior heavyweight title. Dean later joined him, as a tag-team and even wrestled his brother for the title. Dean actually created the Jackhammer finishing move that Bill Goldberg used, except he did it off the top rope!
I think the only time anyone tried to portray Joe and Dean as Russians was at Clash of Champions XIX, when they were part of the NWA World Tag-Team Championship tournament, losing to Nikita Koloff and Ricky Steamboat. (Koloff was another fake Russian, Scott Simpson, who was from Robbinsdale, MN, and went to school with Curt Hennig, Barry Darsow, Ric Rude and Tom Zenk).
Chris Benoit was originally known as The Pegasus Kid and Wild Pegasus, while wrestling under a mask, in Japan (before losing to Jushin Liger and unmasking), and under his own name, for Stampede, in Canada. he began working for ECW, where he was named The Crippler, after dumping Sabu on his head and breaking his neck. He then went to WCW, where he was called the Canadian Crippler and the Rabid Wolverine, as he was often compared, due to his size, to a wolverine. Dean Malenko is about 5ft 6 in (Joe was about 5ft 8 or 5ft 9) and Benoit was somewhere between 5ft 7 and 5 ft 9, though he was billed as 5 ft 11.
OHOTMU listed Wolverine's height as 5ft 3 in. The closest in size to that, for a major wrestler, would be Rey Mysterio, who was a legit 5ft 4 in and billed as 5ft 6 in.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 24, 2022 18:13:33 GMT -5
pps The only legit Russian wrestlers, of note, were Salman Hashimikov and Victor Zangiev, who worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling. They were both top Soviet free style amateurs, though not Olympic wrestlers. NJPW promoter Antoni Inoki recruited them to train in the New Japan Dojo, to learn to do worked pro wrestling and become rivals for himself and others. Inoki liked to use experienced wrestlers and martial artists to give an air of legitimacy to New Japan, compared to the more theatrical American style and the All-Japan style, which mixed technical wrestling and traditional brawling, influenced by the Funks and other American who came to work Japan in the 60s and 70s.
Hashimikov was the more successful of the two, winning the IWGP Championship from Big Van Vader (ex-NFL player Leon White, who started wrestling for the AWA, as Leon "The Baby Bull" White, and also wrestled in Germany, as Bull Power, before doing the Vader gimmick, in Japan and then WCW and WWE)
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Post by berkley on Jul 24, 2022 18:25:21 GMT -5
Maybe Jackman and Tom Cruise should have exchanged roles: the tall Jackman would play Reacher and Cruise would be Wolverine. Cruise would be a better fit size-wise, but tough as nails? There was a pro wrestler back in the day named Dean Malenko who had the right physicality and look. Anyone else got wishes?
I always found the "tough as nails" part of the Wolverine character so overplayed that it started to feel like a self-parody very early on. So Cruise might be good for comic effect. But actually, to give him his due, he does usually get in good shape for his action roles so I'm sure he'd have been able to bulk up for the part. And playing the ever-scowling Wolverine would have the beneficial side-effect of not having to see his annoying smirk.
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Post by commond on Jul 24, 2022 18:38:13 GMT -5
pps The only legit Russian wrestlers, of note, were Salman Hashimikov and Victor Zangiev, who worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling. They were both top Soviet free style amateurs, though not Olympic wrestlers. NJPW promoter Antoni Inoki recruited them to train in the New Japan Dojo, to learn to do worked pro wrestling and become rivals for himself and others. Inoki liked to use experienced wrestlers and martial artists to give an air of legitimacy to New Japan, compared to the more theatrical American style and the All-Japan style, which mixed technical wrestling and traditional brawling, influenced by the Funks and other American who came to work Japan in the 60s and 70s. Hashimikov was the more successful of the two, winning the IWGP Championship from Big Van Vader (ex-NFL player Leon White, who started wrestling for the AWA, as Leon "The Baby Bull" White, and also wrestled in Germany, as Bull Power, before doing the Vader gimmick, in Japan and then WCW and WWE) You're forgetting about Volk Han. There were other Russians in RINGS too such as Andrei Kopylov, Nikolai Zuyev and Mikhail Ilyukhin. EDIT: In the UK, there was also Yuri Borienko and Josef Zaranoff.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 24, 2022 19:58:48 GMT -5
pps The only legit Russian wrestlers, of note, were Salman Hashimikov and Victor Zangiev, who worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling. They were both top Soviet free style amateurs, though not Olympic wrestlers. NJPW promoter Antoni Inoki recruited them to train in the New Japan Dojo, to learn to do worked pro wrestling and become rivals for himself and others. Inoki liked to use experienced wrestlers and martial artists to give an air of legitimacy to New Japan, compared to the more theatrical American style and the All-Japan style, which mixed technical wrestling and traditional brawling, influenced by the Funks and other American who came to work Japan in the 60s and 70s. Hashimikov was the more successful of the two, winning the IWGP Championship from Big Van Vader (ex-NFL player Leon White, who started wrestling for the AWA, as Leon "The Baby Bull" White, and also wrestled in Germany, as Bull Power, before doing the Vader gimmick, in Japan and then WCW and WWE) You're forgetting about Volk Han. There were other Russians in RINGS too such as Andrei Kopylov, Nikolai Zuyev and Mikhail Ilyukhin. EDIT: In the UK, there was also Yuri Borienko and Josef Zaranoff. No, I was talking about regular pro wrestling; which I never really considered RINGS or UWFI, even though they were worked. UWFI's style was a bit closer to the New Japan Strong Style, but RINGS had a greater martial arts emphasis and Volk Han was a sambo fighter, though he started in freestyle, before the Army. The UK was also a bit different, so I wasn't really counting them, either, as they had fewer gimmicks, until later. Yuri Borienko would count, except he was better known for his tv and movie work, like On Her Majesty's Secret Service. I had never heard of Zaranoff; but, the description on the Wrestling Heritage site sounds like he wasn't exactly a star as much as a mid-card kind of guy. Both weren't really portrayed as gimmicks (based on descriptions), compared to the phony Russians. Hashimikov and Zangiev weren't portrayed as "evil Russians;" but, then again, they were in Japan and Inoki spent more time giving Americans gimmicks, like the Ortons as the masked Gaspers (based on a manga, or something). Hashimikov and Zangiev sort of got the gimmick treatment in the WCW Pat O'Connor memorial International Tag-Team Tournament, when they were brought in as a Russian team, to represent the USSR. That was the same tournament that had a British team who hadn't lived there in nearly ten years, with Chris Adams and Norman Smiley (Smiley had lived in the US since he was a child and Adams came over in 1981 and stayed, until his death, in 2001). Anyway, my favorite phony wrestling Russian was actually from an episode of Quantum Leap. Sam leaps into a pro wrestler, in the 50s/60s, who is in a tag team, with his brother, as a pair of Soviet Russians. Sam has to prevent the brother from dying of a heart attack, in the ring. The brothers are depicted as Americans, doing a gimmick, yet, they still act like the match, itself, is a shoot. Might have had something to do with having Terry Funk to advise the wrestling stunts and act as one of the opposing team, in the climactic match. It was just weird to see the gimmick portrayed as such, but they kept kayfabe with the match. Scott Bakula actually looked pretty good, as a wrestler, in that episode. Could have been a great pro, especially with that name. Could have been Count Bakula!
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Post by Calidore on Jul 25, 2022 18:43:02 GMT -5
I could always easily see him with Wolverine hair and sideburns. He just has the look, as well as the glower.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 25, 2022 21:48:23 GMT -5
I could always easily see him with Wolverine hair and sideburns. He just has the look, as well as the glower.
My only real problem is that he never really showed that much personality. From what I've heard, he was a fun guy, in the locker room; but, could never translate it in the ring, much like Brad Armstrong. However, he got used well, thanks to the Cruiserweights doing the heavy lifting for WCW. He still had more than Joe did, though. Dean at least had facial expressions. Neither was quite up to Boris' standards. Kind of like the Armstrongs; they all got a bit of Bullet Bob, but none of them had the complete package that he did. Road Dogg got the promos, Brad got the work (actually, he was better, in the ring), Steve got the size and Scott got the head for business. I still say it should have been Mike Score..... ...of Flock of Seagulls. Of course, then, Old Man Logan would look like this.....
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