It's a great week for comic book fans with Iron Man 3 finally released on Thursday in the UK, and Thor: The Dark World getting its first trailer yesterday and being met with positive reception. Quite frankly, we didn't think this week could get any more awesome... well that was until Nathan Fillion got us thinking about a fantasy casting we could see in the future. And it's a doozy! A fan recently tweeted the Castle and former Firefly actor asking the speculative question that he was to be cast in a Marvel movie, then what role would he like to play? Now, Nathan has been a fan favourite for many comic book movies for a while now. Fans have wanted him as everything from The Green Lantern to Star Lord to Mysterio, and this vocal support even got him to voice Hal Jordan in the animated movie Green Lantern: Emerald Knights. However Fillion's response to his fan was actually somewhat surprising. He responded with a character that up until now, I could never see Nathan Fillion playing. He responded with The Scorpion....
Now a little bit about The Scorpion if you are not a dedicated Spider Man fan. Mac Gargan was a private detective who Daily Bugle editor J.Jonah Jameson hired to spy on Peter Parker to see how he gets such great Spider Man pictures. However the wall crawler's spider sense warned him of the investigator and he easily managed to evade him. Eventually he was put under an experiment to become a super-powered being that could defeat Spider Man. Combined with the strength and speed of a scorpion, he took on a masked identity and went after the web head himself to try and unmask him. The Scorpion successfully defeated Spider Man twice, proving to be an agile and formidable foe. It wasn't long after this the mutation severely managed to affect his mind and eventually drove him to insanity. He then found that he could not remove the Scorpion suit from his body, and in a rage, went after J Jonah Jameson, blaming him for ruining his life. He was eventually defeated by Spider Man and has eventually returned to cause trouble for the webslinger.
Now, is it just me, or does that sound like the perfect type of sympathetic villain? This is one that could be both visually impressive, could put up a fight with Spider Man, and could be a great way to include J Jonah Jameson in Marc Webb's Spider Man universe. Paul Giamatti said two years ago he would love to play The Rhino, and what do you know, two years later he got the part and is in the currently shooting sequel. The Scorpion already appeared in The Amazing Spider Man video game as an experiment of cross species genetics, but I think this should be ignored and if The Scorpion is used in a movie, focus on his origin story, as it is one of the best from a supervillain I have ever seen. Nathan Fillion was originally my runner up choice for Mysterio, with Benedict Cumberbatch being my first choice. Now, the more I think about it, the more I think Nathan Fillion would just be awesome as the Scorpion. Like Jamie Foxx, who will light things up as Electro next year, the actor has never played a comic book character. And if he wants this role, then why not give it to him? The Scorpion is a well respected Spider Man villain who could be perfect for a movie; a scorpion is the natural predator of the spider, so it could be some really interesting stuff.
Adding Scorpion into the Marc Webb universe also adds to the possibility of a Sinister Six forming, as in the Spider Man animated series he was a member of the similarly named Insidious Six. He is a great character and deserves to be played by a great actor. So what do you guys think? Do you like The Scorpion? Do you think Fillion is a good choice for the role? And if not, what character would you like to see him play in a comic book movie? Let me know below.