JLA Rumors Get Crazy
In an age where it is finally attractive for established big-name talent in Hollywood to play superhero roles in movies, it's getting harder and harder to tell the genuinely possible casting rumors from the blatantly made up casting rumors. In point of fact I did not actually know where to land on the newest JLA casting rumors that began circulating two days ago. You know the ones, that Mel Gibson is signing on to work with Miller again, and that the Gyllenhaal siblings are signing on to dress up the film "Wonder Twin" style.
Considering that this is one of those weird rumors that crops up a few places, all with identical wording in every post (check it out here and here and here,) places that have no real track record of getting reliable scoops is the first sign that something outlandish like this is patently false. Then common sense kicks in and puts the brakes on any emotions one might feel, one way or the other, about the "news."
Now, perhaps there is an outside chance that Gibson and Miller reunite for a movie. Stranger things have happened. Not sure how much cache Gibson's face as an actor has right now post "the incident" but it's still not an impossibility. I'd certainly rather not see Gibson play any comic roles, but at least it wouldn't be as bad if he really had been in "Watchmen," as was rumored to be for what seemed like years. Which seems like an example of this type of rumor right there. Except "Watchmen" turned out to be a small-budget picture, something JLA certainly will not be, and Miller and Gibson do have a history.
I'm very skeptical about the Gyllenhaals being in this movie. They literally have Hollywood at their feet right now and can choose to do whatever they want to do as brilliant, young actors. Not sure that a cameo in a superhero movie is the choice they would make right now. Again, it is in the realm of possibility (they could be huge Wonder Twin fans from childhood, for all I know.)
Oh, and let's not also forget that this same "rumor" has also attached the names of DiCaprio, Johansson, Bruce Willis and Ryan Reynolds to the project. Of which the only one that is even remotely probable is Reynolds, who has been interviewed by legitimate sources and expressed his strong desire to play the character. Johansson is already involved in the production of "The Spirit" so I highly doubt that the logistics could work out for that.
The only hesitation I have about all this reasoning is that JLA could well turn out to be the D.C. version of the X-Men movies, replete with star-studded and expensive cast. In which case it would not be outlandish to see the kind of huge names tossed around in this rumor. For now, I choose to be skeptical.
