Legends of cinema normally retire long before they expire but we tend to consider their acting career over when their life is over. That used to be a reasonable expectation, but not anymore with the advancements of CGI that can bring anyone back from the dead and insert them into a scene. In the case of Gladiator, the resurrection was out of necessity, and now the technology is just gaining speed with the latest cameos in The Flash.
Is everyone on board with bringing the dearly departed back to star in movies again? Absolutely not. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Robin Williams wrote into a trust that he left in case of his death that his likeness could not be digitally inserted into a movie until 2039. So, that’s not entirely against the idea but it shows the magnitude of the issue.
After hearing about plans to CGI James Dean into Finding Jack, a film that has yet to be completed, Chris Evans tweeted in 2019, “This is awful. Maybe we can get a computer to paint us a new Picasso. Or write a couple new John Lennon tunes.”
Elija Wood had the same reaction with fewer words when he tweeted, “NOPE. this shouldn’t be a thing.”
Despite the fact that there are celebrities and fans against it, Hollywood has moved forward and is having a lot of fun with it. It was said earlier that the use of CGI in Gladiator was out of necessity, so let’s begin there.
Oliver Reed in Gladiator
Oliver Reed played the role of Proximo in 2000’s Gladiator, a former gladiator himself who was granted his freedom by Marcus Aurelius and turned around and bought General Maximus Decimus Meridius. Unfortunately, the great actor passed away on May 2, 1999 – before filming of the movie was complete. His remaining scenes were finished with the use of a body double with a superimposed computer-generated mapping of Reed’s face.
Laurence Olivier in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
Laurence Olivier doesn’t have a huge role in 2004’s Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Gwyneth Paltrow and Jude Law actually take up most of the screen time, Law being Sky Captain and all. However, having passed away in 1989, Olivier was brought back to life using archival footage of him that they digitally manipulated to serve the scene.
Marlon Brando in Superman Returns
Superman Returns was released in 2006, two years after the death of Marlon Brando, who played Jor-El in the original version of Superman in 1978. In the same way that they brought Laurence Olivier back to life with archival footage, they dug back into the original Superman for footage they could use of Brando to digitally manipulate for the 2006 film.
Paul Walker in Furious 7
Paul Walker hits a little differently on this list. He was the face of the Fast and Furious franchise that Vin Diesel has carried the rest of the way. His death came as a shock when fans learned about the car crash in 2013. Furious 7 was released in 2015 and Paul Walker was still the star. His brothers Caleb and Cody were brought on as stand-ins and Walker’s face was superimposed over their bodies. Some archival footage was also repurposed for certain takes. There was not a dry eye in the house when the curtain dropped.
Peter Cushing in Rogue One
With an absolutely legendary acting career that began in 1939, Peter Cushing eventually became an icon of the Star Wars franchise when he was cast to play Grand Moff Tarkin in the original 1977 Star Wars. Having passed away in 1994, his character was brought back to life in 2016 for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Guy Henry served as the body double that would be superimposed with Peter Cushing’s likeness like a digital body mask wrapped around the actor, who provides the movement and voice work.
Carrie Fisher in Rise of Skywalker
Carrie Fisher was one of the most iconic legends in the Star Wars franchise as she kept reprising her role as Princess Leia. Her death in 2016 came as a shock to the family and fans of the Lucasfilm empire. When The Rise of Skywalker was being filmed, her brother — director and producer Todd Fisher — was determined to keep General Leia in the 2019 film. They accomplished it using archival footage and even though they had difficulty, which resulted in a reduced screen time, they made it work.
Harold Ramis in Ghostbusters: Afterlife
Harold Ramis was a staple of the Ghostbusters franchise since its inception in 1984. When he passed in 2014, that didn’t stop anyone from making sure he was still in Ghostbusters: Afterlife in 2021. The project — that actually started in the early ’90s when Dan Aykroyd wrote the first script — finally made it to the big screen with Ramis posthumously added using archival clips and photos from the original film.
Adam West in The Flash
Of course, there has been plenty of buzz on the internet about the cameo appearances in The Flash, which was just released on June 16, 2023. So, don’t expect any spoilers here but Adam West did make it into the film as DC’s attempt to show off their impressive reach of historical footage.
Christopher Reeve in The Flash
Some of the cameos in The Flash weren’t received very well. There were quite a few tweets on Twitter that called out how sloppy the CGI was and how bringing a beloved part of the DC team such as Christopher Reeve needed to be handled with reverence, which many fans felt the movie fell way short on.
George Reeves in The Flash
Another icon that drew ire from passionate filmgoers in their fanbase, George Reeves’ cameo hit completely different. He was Superman in the ’50s and after the show ended, he had a hard time finding other work because everyone thought of him as Superman, a role he just couldn’t shed. He ended up taking his life because of it and ironically, The Flash was released on the anniversary of his death. That was not a good decision whether they thought of that or not.