3. Tarzan
Background: The brainchild of legendary pulp writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Lord of The Apes first appeared in 1912, and has been a presence throughout pop culture history since. You all know the story- son of an aristocratic British family who are marooned on the African coast by mutineers, the orphaned Tarzan- or John Clayton, Earl of Greystoke- is raised from an infant by a tribe of apes. But once he grows up, he meets the rather lovely Jane Porter, marooned along with her father and, well, thats kind of all you need to know!
Famous Portrayals: Jonny Weissmuller, Christophe Lambert, Casper Van Dien
Last Major Appearance: Chris Buck & Kevin Limas animated Tarzan (1999), with the voice of Tony Goldwyn
Why we need him back: Lets ignore the cinematic outings of another Burroughs creation that hasnt fared well recently, and focus on that romantic idea of a man raised by Apes, and rather than being feral and tragic, is noble and captivating. He is almost as prolific as Dracula or Sherlock Holmes, and there have to be only a handful of people on the plant who are not aware of Me Tarzan, You Jane, vine-swinging or that chest-thumping cry of dominance. Not surprisingly, most adaptations of Tarzan have not follow suit with Burroughs source material, with frankly is rather silly once you get past the basics- the slew of novels include Tarzan going to the earths core, tribes of anthropomorphic creatures, lost civilizations... And because the character is with notable character flaws or traits, one doesnt get bogged down in a complex and deep character that is defined by something. You have the basic outline of a long-haired, muscular apeman. The rest is up to a filmmaker to give their own spin on the character- unlike James Bond, for example, so long as Tarzan looks like Tarzan, you can go anywhere you like with him.
The Future: Kellan Lutz is donning a mo-cap suit to play the Apeman in a dreadful-looking animation by Reinhard Klooss out next year. Craig Brewer of Hustle and Flow fame was working on a trilogy treatment a while ago, only for his script to be screwed over by Warner Bros. in favour of a re-imagining helmed by David Harry Potter Yates, with the likely candidate for the leading role being Alexander Skarsgard. That is expected to arrive in 2015. It has potential- a lot more potential than, and success is less likely for, Klooss version, based in the vile teaser trailer released earlier this year.