Jonathan Kent cast for James Gunn’s “Superman”

[Metallo]

www.darkhorizons.com/gunns-superman-casts-jonathan-kent/

Gunn’s “Superman” Casts Its Jonathan Kent

By Garth Franklin
Tuesday, April 16th 2024 3:07 pm

Veteran character actor Pruitt Taylor Vince has been cast as Clark Kent/Superman’s adopted father Jonathan Kent in James Gunn’s currently filming “Superman” movie at Warner Bros. Pictures according to The Wrap.

Jonathan and his wife Martha find the superhero when he first arrived on Earth as an infant in a Kryptonian space ship in the fields of Kansas.

The pair raised him in the town of Smallville, serving as a moral compass for the young man growing up. Clark’s father is often killed off at some point in the narrative.

Numerous actors have portrayed the role over the years from Glenn Ford in 1978’s “Superman,” Kevin Costner in 2013’s “Man of Steel,” Eddie Jones in “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” and John Schneider in “Smallville”.

Vince has been around on film and television for decades with roles in films like “JFK,” “Mississippi Burning,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Jacob’s Ladder,” “The Cell,” “Identity,” “Constantine,” “Monster,” “Drive Angry,” “Bird Box” and series like “Murder One,” “Deadwood,” “The Mentalist,” “The X-Files,” “The Walking Dead,” “Touching Evil,” “Stranger Things,” “Agents of SHIELD,” and “The Blacklist”.

He joins a cast that includes David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Skyler Gisondo, Wendell Pierce, Isabela Merced, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, and Anthony Carrigan. Filming is slated to continue through late Summer ahead of a July 2025 release.

[crazy_asian_man]

The photos I see on the net seem to look more like the Kingpin than what's normally associated with pa kent.... again.... headscratching on the choices...

[Metallo]

Apr 16, 2024 21:44:36 GMT -5 crazy_asian_man said:

The photos I see on the net seem to look more like the Kingpin than what's normally associated with pa kent.... again.... headscratching on the choices...

What are you talking about? Pa Kent has physically portrayed a lot of different ways in comics and on screen. I’ve never seen a set idea until very recently with Smallville thru Man of Steel. If anything this guy reminds me a lot of Eddie Jones from Lois & Clark.

[dejan]

Thanks for the info Metallo.

I had to look up Taylor Vince on IMDB and when I did ......I remembered him as a young delinquent in the excellent Mississippi Burning from 1988.
He shares several scenes with Hackman and Defoe.
Also on view are Brad Dourif and Michael Rooker.

In the modern "fantasy" scene.......you could say it's a cross universe mash up of STM,Lord Of The Rings,Raimi's Spiderman and Guardians Of The Galaxy........and the newest Supe's movie.......lol!

Taylor Vince is the kid with the baseball cap:



And a reminder of some of the other players from that Mississippi Burning scene in contemporary science fiction stuff :

Michael Rooker(Yondu Udonta)


Brad Dourif(Grima Wormtoung):



Always cool to see how actors from different generations cross reference and overlap with eachother's careers.
That scene is actually a great example of Hackman's dramatic range......that was something STM was blessed with(in terms of an ensemble of the creme dela creme of gifted performers-Brando,Ford,Phaxter,Beatty,Perrine,Stamp ect ect).

Personally, not so familiar with Vince Taylor's overall movie output......will be interesting to see his interpretation of Pa kent

[Metallo]

Apr 19, 2024 1:07:36 GMT -5 dejan said:

Thanks for the info Metallo.

I had to look up Taylor Vince on IMDB and when I did ......I remembered him as a young delinquent in the excellent Mississippi Burning from 1988.
He shares several scenes with Hackman and Defoe.
Also on view are Brad Dourif and Michael Rooker.

In the modern "fantasy" scene.......you could say it's a cross universe mash up of STM,Lord Of The Rings,Raimi's Spiderman and Guardians Of The Galaxy........and the newest Supe's movie.......lol!

Taylor Vince is the kid with the baseball cap:



And a reminder of some of the other players from that Mississippi Burning scene in contemporary science fiction stuff :

Michael Rooker(Yondu Udonta)


Brad Dourif(Grima Wormtoung):



Always cool to see how actors from different generations cross reference and overlap with eachother's careers.
That scene is actually a great example of Hackman's dramatic range......that was something STM was blessed with(in terms of an ensemble of the creme dela creme of gifted performers-Brando,Ford,Phaxter,Beatty,Perrine,Stamp ect ect).

Personally, not so familiar with Vince Taylor's overall movie output......will be interesting to see his interpretation of Pa kent

He’s a good actor who has been working or a long time. I immediately thought of Mississippi Burning (which is loaded with talent) when he was cast but he was really good in the movie Identity. He’s done a ton of television. Everything from The X-Files to Highlander to The Walking Dead. Casting someone like this is actually reassuring to me because it tells me Gunn is going over good dependable actors and not just flashy names.

[atp]

Glenn Ford was the only Jonathan Kent to get it perfectly right.

I really had high hopes for Kevin Costner in MoS, but he turned out to be crap.Really surprising that such a good actor would be so poor in a role that he seemed perfect for.

[Metallo]

Apr 20, 2024 3:24:05 GMT -5 atp said:

Glenn Ford was the only Jonathan Kent to get it perfectly right.

I really had high hopes for Kevin Costner in MoS, but he turned out to be crap.Really surprising that such a good actor would be so poor in a role that he seemed perfect for.

That’s because Snyder went with big names not people who were necessarily right for their roles. Adams is a great actress but she was obviously miscast as Lois Lane.

Costner is a good actor but you could tell from the promotional tour that he didn’t believe in Snyder as a storyteller. He mostly focused on Snyder’s ability with the technical aspects. Costner is a director himself so he saw where Snyder was lacking before anyone.

It didn’t help that they were all saddled with a crappy script and a director who had no clue how to get the best out of his actors. If Costner was in a better film made by more competent people he probably could have been good but we know how it all turned out.

[atp]

What do you think of presemt-day Harrison Ford in the role?

He's the right age, and IMO has the right look.

[Metallo]

Apr 21, 2024 0:31:44 GMT -5 atp said:

What do you think of presemt-day Harrison Ford in the role?

He's the right age, and IMO has the right look.

I’m surprised you didn’t point out that Harrison FORD also has the right name.



Harrison Ford as Pa Kent though? Nah. Not to me anyway. He’s way too famous. Too identified with other big things. More so than even Costner. Plus he kinda stopped giving an F a long time ago when it comes to certain kinds of films. I imagine Marvel and Disney offered him a stupendous amount of money to sign on to replace William Hurt in Captain America 4. It could go either way as far as which Harrison Ford showed up for work on that one.

[atp]

Apr 21, 2024 7:28:43 GMT -5 Metallo said:

Apr 21, 2024 0:31:44 GMT -5 atp said:

What do you think of presemt-day Harrison Ford in the role?

He's the right age, and IMO has the right look.

I’m surprised you didn’t point out that Harrison FORD also has the right name.



Harrison Ford as Pa Kent though? Nah. Not to me anyway. He’s way too famous. Too identified with other big things. More so than even Costner. Plus he kinda stopped giving an F a long time ago when it comes to certain kinds of films. I imagine Marvel and Disney offered him a stupendous amount of money to sign on to replace William Hurt in Captain America 4. It could go either way as far as which Harrison Ford showed up for work on that one.

Does that make me one of the Ford Only People?

😁

[Metallo]

Apr 21, 2024 9:07:33 GMT -5 atp said:

Does that make me one of the Ford Only People?

😁

[crazy_asian_man]

Apr 21, 2024 7:28:43 GMT -5 Metallo said:

Apr 21, 2024 0:31:44 GMT -5 atp said:

What do you think of presemt-day Harrison Ford in the role?

He's the right age, and IMO has the right look.

I’m surprised you didn’t point out that Harrison FORD also has the right name.



Harrison Ford as Pa Kent though? Nah. Not to me anyway. He’s way too famous. Too identified with other big things. More so than even Costner. Plus he kinda stopped giving an F a long time ago when it comes to certain kinds of films. I imagine Marvel and Disney offered him a stupendous amount of money to sign on to replace William Hurt in Captain America 4. It could go either way as far as which Harrison Ford showed up for work on that one.

I think the failure of Indy 4 and the last Indy probably convinced Ford that if he loved doing movies.... the pickings aren't nearly going to be as great as when he was young. I actually feel like they should have just used another character in the Marvel universe rather than recasting William Hurt.

If they were going to recast- then I would have (though with sadness) recast the Black Panther instead, though there was no perfect outcome with the tragedy of Boseman's death.

Also- Ford always seemed like he had a 'dark' side to him that feels totally wrong for Pa Kent, imo.

[Metallo]

Apr 25, 2024 21:48:53 GMT -5 crazy_asian_man said:

I think the failure of Indy 4 and the last Indy probably convinced Ford that if he loved doing movies.... the pickings aren't nearly going to be as great as when he was young. I actually feel like they should have just used another character in the Marvel universe rather than recasting William Hurt.

If they were going to recast- then I would have (though with sadness) recast the Black Panther instead, though there was no perfect outcome with the tragedy of Boseman's death.

Also- Ford always seemed like he had a 'dark' side to him that feels totally wrong for Pa Kent, imo.

I think Ford could do it but there are better choices out there for Jonathan Kent. And he’s so famous for other things that it would be harder for him to disappear into the role.

I don’t think it was the failure of the last two Indy movies (thought Crystal Skull did very well at the box office) that has Ford taking differing kinds of roles. It’s just one of the unfortunate realities of getting older. The man’s in his 80s now. Hard to believe but it’s true. Even for someone like him there are fewer options for leading man roles whether it’s romantic leads or action leads.

Ford is just going where the jobs and money are. He’s been moving into that next phase in his career for years. That elder statesmen/mentor/authority figure/supporting actor phase. He was doing that even before The Force Awakens or Dial of Destiny.

I do agree that it’s odd that Marvel Studios would recast Thunderbolt Ross but not TChalla. I think they feel more comfortable doing it for a few reasons. First Chadwick Boseman was a lot younger than William Hurt. Both were tragic losses to cancer but it’s much more tragic when it’s someone younger who didn’t even get close to living a full life.

Ross wasn’t as beloved a character as TChalla so they probably figured there would be less resistance and backlash to recasting Ross. Ross was also a supporting character compared to a lead like TChalla so it wouldn’t be in everyone’s face as much when he’s on screen. When stepping back I can sort of see Marvels reasoning for being more willing to recast one character and not the other.

My biggest problem with casting Ford is you’d think they’d want someone younger (maybe even younger than Hurt) because as you get older the chances of someone getting ill or dying increase. Usually the replacement actor is younger not older though there have been exceptions.

Ford is almost a decade older than Hurt was. Not to sound morbid but he’s not getting any younger. I guess they weighed the advantages and disadvantages and figured that casting a bigger star like Ford would garner more interest from audiences.