On the superhero front, barring his online campaign to play Cable in Deadpool 2 – a role that would ultimately fall into the hands of Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War) – Stephen Lang has yet to make his debut in Hollywood’s hottest genre. And that’s a real shame. Fans have been calling for the actor to appear in numerous roles over the years and there are more than a few characters who come to mind when one thinks of who he could play.
In fact, just the other week Lang voiced his interest in bringing to life a very different version of Nick Fury, while there’s also speculation surrounding him possibly joining either the X-Men or Fantastic Four franchises as both properties are in line for a reboot now that they’re heading to Marvel. It’s the former which is being brought into focus this week though, as some new fan art has surfaced which places Lang in the role of Magneto.
Played by Michael Fassbender and Sir Ian McKellen in the various X-Men movies that’ve already come our way, there hasn’t actually been any confirmation just yet that the iconic villain will be recast, but all signs point to Marvel wiping the slate clean once they get their hands on the mutants. Not to mention that Fassbender seems to be on his way out of the franchise after Dark Phoenix and though Lang is 25 years older than him, if the studio wants a Magneto more in line with the one McKellen played, he’d certainly be a good pick.
As you can see, the art itself isn’t necessarily the most impressive, but it does at least give us some idea of how Lang would look as the character and again, we’d be all for having this happen. The Avatar star is a solid talent that often doesn’t get enough recognition. He’s long overdue for a high profile role like this, too, and it’d be great to see him join the MCU.
Unfortunately, even if Marvel is looking his way, we likely won’t hear anything about it for some time yet. That’s because it’ll probably take another two-to-three years before the Disney-Fox merger falls into place, by which point the studio’s leading creators will gain access to a rich vault of costumed crusaders. It’s an acquisition that has arguably overshadowed the likes of X-Men: Dark Phoenix, but after a full decade of super-powered action and overly satisfying character development spread out across multiple movies, we’re confident in Kevin Feige’s ability to deliver.
