With casting announcements on the horizon for X-Men 3, I decided to make the first casting ideas for Copyright Casting to deal with the new characters rumored to be in the sequel. In other words, original casting ideas will be listed for Gambit, Angel, Beast, Psylocke, and Juggernaut.

I will not cast or recast any other characters until after I have graded the casts for X-Men and X2.

Before I begin, I must note my sentiments on many fan castings that exist on the web - woe is me! People tend to take their favorite actor/actress and cast him/her in an X-Men (or other type of) role without any heed to who would best portray the character - a mistake often made by film makers as well. Word of advice, fellow fans: think through your casting before just saying “Ooh! So and so is great for that role!” Often times, so-and-so is a C-rated choice at best - don’t let your liking for a particular actor cloud the casting process.

Onto the process as I have performed it:

Ian Somerhalder as Gambit/Remy LeBeau

In the Spring release Wizard² from Wizard Entertainment, casting ideas were listed for Iron Man and Sub-Mariner movies, with 26 year-old Ian Somerhalder in the lead role of the latter - Namor the Sub-Mariner. Not only does Somerhalder not look anything like Namor, but he is moreso an ideal fit for Gambit in X3 (hands down). And believe you me, I take casting this role very seriously since Gambit is my favorite character in all of comicdom (his girlfriend Rogue taking second place).

With an Uncanny resemblance (pun on Uncanny X-Men intended) and a charismatic smile, Somerhalder is a shoe-in for the role of the über-popular Cajun member of the X-Men. What’s even more serendipitous is that the heartthrob from the TV show “Lost” is from the New Orleans Metro area!

Complete credit for finding this cast member, however, is not mine, sadly, but is shared with copycaster PUMBAACO. Online acquaintances (female primarily) have backed this idea up fully. Gambit has a way of charming the socks off Rogue and female fans alike. Perhaps, Somerhalder can charm Anna Paquin’s Rogue and female fans alike just by being cast.

I just wish that I could portray Gambit myself, but seeing as that is highly unlikely, Somerhalder will do just fine.

PS - I’ve included a picture of James Bamford, a stunt double for Hugh Jackman that Bryan Singer had supposedly cast as Gambit for X2 before the character was cut. Somerhalder is a much better choice.

PPS - I’ve seen a lot of people choose Olivier Martinez to play Gambit. Give it a rest , people, and think it through - he’s too old (nearly 40) and too French to be Remy. Yes, Cajun is a derivative of French, but it is entirely different. Even I had originally chosen Jean-Claude Van Damme over ten years ago when I was in high school, but too old and too Belgian apply to him comparatively.

IAN SOMERHALDER MUST BE GAMBIT!

Josh Holloway as Angel/Archangel/Warren K. Worthington III

It seems that “Lost” could be a potential treasure trove for X3 casting, for PUMBAACO once again pulled a rabbit from the hat by finding Josh Holloway for the role of Angel, the multi-millionaire who was one of the five original X-Men with Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey (as Marvel Girl), and Iceman. The high-flying savior is another X-Man over whom the lady fans drool, so it’s imperative that the person portraying him be a looker. Holloway fills those shoes nicely - ironically, he appeared on the totally irrelevant “Buffy, the Vampire Slayer” spin-off show “Angel” (all right, not totally irrelevant since "Buffy" creator Joss Whedon writes Astonishing X-Men).

Unfortunately, I do not have as much to comment on Angel as I am not as passionate about the character as I am about Gambit; however, I will add my thoughts on the since-debunked rumor that Angel was going to be female. In New X-Men, there was a female student who also went by the codename Angel - perhaps a rabid fan of hers started the false rumor.

Rhona Mitra as Psylocke/Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock

Psylocke is one of those characters that tends to be very difficult to cast just right. For those of you who don’t know much about the character, I will sum up her various ethnicities. Born a Brit, Betsy was eventually kidnapped by Iron Man’s nemesis the Mandarin, a Chinese warlord - at that point, her body was switched with that of the ninja assassin Revanche/Kwannon so Betsy became Japanese when her original body died. Thus, one must find an Asian (if not specifically Japanese) who either has or can fake a British accent - not an easy feat; however, because Betsy has often been illustrated as a mixed breed (European and Asian), possibilities are opened.

Many people have chosen Ziyi Zhang in the role, but as other people have pointed out, she doesn’t speak any English - nor does she look like Psylocke, who is more supermodel sexy than adorably hot like Ziyi. I have seen others cast Lucy Liu in the role as well, but she doesn’t look the part either - and who knows if she can do a British accent well enough if at all.

Going with the mixed ethnicity aspect, my first choice for the role (despite my not knowing about the accent end of things) - long before X2 even began casting - was Kelly Hu.

Unfortunately, of course, she was foolishly wasted on the role of Lady Deathstrike. While she was somewhat cool in that role, a mixed beauty (English-Hawaiin-Chinese heritage) such as herself would have suited Psylocke much better than playing the more ugsome role of Deathstrike (who is not meant to be very attractive).

My next choice would have been adult model Sunny Leone, but that left me void of feeling that I had chosen the right person for the role.

A Canadian of Indian descent, she fit the mixed-ethnicity model, but I have seen very little of her acting capability much less have I seen her with a British accent.

Then one day, I happened to watch “Boston Legal,” a show not normally on my watch list. BINGO - Rhona Mitra filled the role gloriously - a beautiful Brit with English-Irish-Indian heritage. And as she was the original Lara Croft model pre-Angelina Jolie, Mitra is up for the action-packed role of Betsy Braddock, aka Psylocke.

Brian Dennehy as The Beast/Henry ‘Hank’ McCoy

Steve Bacic appeared in X2 as Dr. Hank McCoy on a television in the bar scene, but he was not yet the Beast; however, according to certain press, he will not reprise the role in X3. I myself have had a hard time casting someone younger to gel with the current cast, but way before the first X-Men was made, I had my mind made up about who should portray the Beast were age not a factor - Brian Dennehy. His resemblance (as I have demonstrated above with an image of Dennehy that I digitally edited) to the Beast [especially the ‘90’s animated version (not pictured here)] is remarkable. If the Beast were to be more of the brainy type as he is in the comics yet have less physical work in the movie, Dennehy could pull the role off superbly. Yet, with as many changes the Beast has gone through in recent designs, virtually any good actor with big hands/feet and a ken for poetry could fill the role.

Howie Long as The Juggernaut/Cain Marko

"Whosoever touches this gem shall posses the power of the crimson bands of Cyttorak! Henceforth, you who read these words, shall become forevermore a human juggernaut!”

These are the words that Cain Marko read when he was trapped during a conflict in Asia - and became the mammoth Juggernaut. To play a brute like the Juggernaut, acting skill is not as much a necessity as is physical capability; therefore, casting an athlete-turned-actor in the role is a must. My choice would be ex-NFL star and frequent B-movie actor Howie Long. He’s big and can act well enough for this particular role. One may consider age a problem, as he is too young compared to Patrick Stewart (who portrays Charles Xavier, Cain Marko’s younger step-brother), but there is a way around it. Even though a younger person should have been cast as Xavier (I know, rabid fans will attack me for that), the Juggernaut power allows for Cain to remain young in body though his chronological age is older.

NOTE: British actor Vinnie Jones is actually in consideration for the role. While he is a good choice, director Matthew Vaughn should go for an American (like Long), despite Patrick Stewart being British himself. According to Comic Book Movie, Vaughn was quoted having said, "What's interesting about Juggernaut is that he's the brother of Professor X, and that's why I thought it would be interesting having an English thug opposite Patrick Stewart."

That logic goes against whom Stewart is actually portraying - Xavier is American. If Jones does sign on, let‘s hope he can hide his accent as well as guys like Australian Hugh Jackman (who portrays the Canadian Wolverine) - and that Juggernaut‘s origin isn’t warped too much.