8 Amazing Casting Choices In DC TV Shows

People often go on about the great casting choices in superhero movies (your Hugh Jackmans, Heath Ledgers and Robert Downey Jrs.) but not so routinely celebrated are their small screen cousins. In many ways, the stars of superhero TV shows have the harder job, as they have to consistently convince as a comic book character with decades of history behind them week after week. If the casting decision was poor to start with, this would become very apparent very quickly. Think Adrienne Palicki’s casting in the 2011 Wonder Woman pilot that never got a series. With apologies to great superhero show stars like Grant Gustin, Tom Welling, Carlos Valdes, Robin Lord Taylor and Lynda Carter who didn’t quite make the cut, here are our picks for eight of the most amazing casting choices in DC TV shows. If any of your favorites are missing, sound off about it in the comments section below. 8) Adam West - Batman He’s not how we think of the Dark Knight now, but Adam West has to be given credit for defining Batman for decades with his highly camp but well-pitched performance. What West realized was that, while he did ridiculous things, Batman had to be played entirely straight, to contrast with the kookiness of the villains and the overall tone of the show. The actor never sends up the series, but rather plays every escape from a ridiculous trap or pun-filled line completely straight. If West was less committed, the show would not be as watchable as it is today, instead becoming as tiresome as something like Batman & Robin. Even fifty years later, Adam West - and his distinctive, buttery voice – are more closely associated with the character than any other actor. Fans may not be able to decide on who's the best modern interpretation of Batman, but in our eyes, there's only one classic Batman. 7) Matt Ryan – John Constantine Not all great casting choices are attached to successful shows. After Keanu Reeves turned out to be completely wrong for the British anti-hero in the 2005 movie, Matt Ryan definitely proved himself when he starred in 2014’s Constantine TV series. Sadly, the cult following the show built up was not enough to save it and it went straight to the afterlife after only one 13-part season. Nevertheless, Ryan was still the perfect choice for the lead. Though certain parts of the character - like his chain smoking and bisexuality - were either toned down or removed completely, the core traits of the occult detective were present and correct. He also looked like he had stepped right off of the page, with his blond hair and trench coat. So good is Ryan that even the cancellation of the series hasn’t stopped him from playing the role. He reprised Constantine on an episode of Arrow’s fourth season and will do so again in the upcoming Justice League Dark animated movie. 6) Tom Cavanagh – Harrison Wells Within just one season, The Flash became one of the most popular DC shows of all-time. Obviously, a lot of the plaudits should be given to the fun tone, the good scripts and Grant Gustin’s winning lead performance. However, it also helped that it had a bloody good villain. Unusually, it was almost immediately clear to the audience that the Reverse-Flash was actually Harrison Wells, Barry’s mentor. This allowed Tom Cavanagh to give two very different, but equally compelling, performances – evil Eobard Thawne and Thawne playing the genial Wells. Thankfully, the production team knew the show couldn’t continue without him and brought Cavanagh back for the second season, playing an alternate version of Wells. It’s a testament to Cavanagh that, despite playing so many variations of the character, he gives a consistently great performance. As such, we look forward to seeing what unexpected turn the character will take next in the upcoming season 3. 5) David Mazouz – Bruce Wayne It’s funny that, despite Gotham ostensibly being about Jim Gordon and his fight to clear up Gotham before the Dark Knight is around, the boy who would become Batman is possibly the most impressive thing about it. As it follows a teenage Bruce Wayne in the wake of his parents’ death, David Mazouz is regularly required to do some serious acting for a performer of his young years. Thankfully, he’s got the brooding, the loneliness and the charm of the young Master Wayne down. Like Smallville’s Tom Welling before him (though Welling was considerably older), Mazouz also had the hard task of getting fans interested in a version of their hero who does not don the signature outfit. Though, of course, there is hope that the show will run long enough for him to eventually wear the cowl. Even if it doesn’t though, Mazouz has no doubt got a good career ahead of him. 4) Stephen Amell – Green Arrow Even Arrow’s most ardent fans have to admit that it is not the most consistent of shows. While the first year was a very stripped-back superhero show (with a big debt owed to the Dark Knight films), the show increasingly added in more overt comic book elements until it lost its way. The one constant of the series, though, is Stephen Amell. Thanks to Amell, the great swerves in tone and content the show takes every year are made palatable because his Oliver Queen is so believably played. Sure, his Green Arrow (formerly the Vigilante, the Hood and Arrow) is not the generally quip-happy hero he is in the comics and is more of a brooding Batman type than usual, but Amell sells the show’s unique version of the character. 3) Michael Rosenbaum – Lex Luthor If you were a DC fan in the first half of the 2000s, it's a fair bet that you were a big fan of Michael Rosenbaum. The actor starred in not just one, but two of that period’s biggest DC shows – the Justice League animated series and live-action Superman prequel Smallville. While his fast-talking Wally West AKA The Flash provided welcome comic relief in Justice League, it is his turn as Lex Luthor in Smallville that provided his best, and most acclaimed, performance. A very different Luthor to the usual depiction, Rosenbaum’s versions begins as the best friend of Clark Kent, a fundamentally good man who is trying to get out from under the thumb of his demanding father, Lionel. Across several seasons, viewers got to see Lex descend into darkness, ultimately positioning him as the supervillain we love to hate - and Rosenbaum was never less than compelling in the part. 2) Melissa Benoist - Supergirl With a much grittier version of her cousin on the big screen and the failure of 1984’s Supergirl to endear the character to the general public, a Supergirl TV series was an unexpected move. While the show put some people off for being the lightest in tone of the current crop of DC TV series, it can’t be denied that Melissa Benoist was a perfect choice for the lead. As Kara Danvers, Benoist is winningly perky and likeable, brilliantly embodying a character as brave and pure of heart as the Last Daughter of Krypton. The actress can absolutely pull off the darker material when needed as well – e.g. when Kara is turned evil by Red Kryptonite. On the whole, Benoist pitches her performance perfectly to match the tone of the show. When Supergirl flies over to The CW this fall, she will be a welcome addition to the network’s band of caped crusaders. 1) Kevin Conroy And Mark Hamill – Batman/The Joker It might be a slight cheat for these two to share the top spot, but it's so difficult to put one of these heavyweights over the other. Their history with their characters is just too interlinked. Acclaimed 90s show Batman: The Animated Series struck gold when it cast Kevin Conroy as Batman/Bruce Wayne, someone with enough vocal gifts to portray both a gruff, fearsome Batman and a more human, vulnerable Bruce Wayne. For The Joker, after turning down Tim Curry for being too scary, they went with Mark Hamill, who ended up defining the Clown Prince of Crime for many, many fans. For our money, no one nails the Joker laugh as well as Hamill. What gets Conroy and Hamill the top spot here is that they've never stopped playing their roles, even two and a half decades later. How’s that for a great casting choice?