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  1. #1
    Fantastic Member Fenaris's Avatar
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    Default If Idris Elba was cast as John Stewart

    How would you feel about him keeping his accent and rewriting the character around that? He could be British and served in the Royal Marines. Do you feel that John Stewart's nationality is important to his character?
    "Batman couldn't make it. Sunshine depresses him." - Tim Drake.

  2. #2
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    Idris does a decent American accent...

  3. #3
    duke's casettetape lemonpeace's Avatar
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    Couple things:
    - I'm pretty sure they are going for a younger John Stewart; Idris is too old for the role
    - making him British isn't a good look. Of all the heroes to be decide to change their nationality, John Stewart the U.S. marine is probably one if the least logical or interesting choices. Also, messing with characters' core characterizations is one if the reasons DC's gotten so much **** so far.

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    duke's casettetape lemonpeace's Avatar
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    [accidental double post]
    Last edited by lemonpeace; 08-05-2018 at 04:34 PM.

  5. #5
    Moderator Frontier's Avatar
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    Also, most people's ideas of John's voice is Phil LaMarr. I'm not sure how they'd respond to a British John .

  6. #6
    Incredible Member docmidnite's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lemonpeace View Post
    - making him British isn't a good look. Of all the heroes to be decide to change their nationality, John Stewart the U.S. marine is probably one if the least logical or interesting choices.
    Ugh. I still hate that Johns retconned Stewart's origin to make him more like the cartoon/JLU version. I much more prefer the square, introspective architect that listened to Barbara Streisand and would rather concentrate on his architectural work than flying through space over the Marine retcon. Now that the 2 different versions have been "smushed together" (for lack of a better term) writers seem to have trouble reconciling the 2 different versions and seem to only focus on one characterization or the other (making the character almost seem to have 2 different personalities at times)

    I also liked that he was the only Earth GL to reach Guardian-hood as the "Master Builder" before they/DC took that all away from John with Emerald Twilight.

  7. #7
    Ultimate Member Ascended's Avatar
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    .....I'm not sure if being American is all that important for John's character, actually.

    The main bullet points of his origin seem to be "marine, architect, angry black man (in the early days)."

    The first two points could be achieved regardless of nationality, since other nations have armies and architects. The third point is cultural, and I don't know enough about British race relations and history to say whether that could be fit into another country or not. In any case, John moved beyond that attitude a long time ago so it's not a huge factor either way. I just believe in keeping to the source.

    Still, John's a military man and we Americans love our soldiers. So I'd probably want to stay away from this particular change with him. Even if you could make the switch without it drastically changing the way John should work, it's probably something that shouldn't be done. Allan Scott on the other hand, is someone I could easily see being British. Educated abroad perhaps, and perhaps living in America at the time of his origin, but born in the UK.
    "We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."

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  8. #8
    Ultimate Member Ascended's Avatar
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    .....I'm not sure if being American is all that important for John's character, actually.

    The main bullet points of his origin seem to be "marine, architect, angry black man (in the early days)."

    The first two points could be achieved regardless of nationality, since other nations have armies and architects. The third point is cultural, and I don't know enough about British race relations and history to say whether that could be fit into another country or not. In any case, John moved beyond that attitude a long time ago so it's not a huge factor either way. I just believe in keeping to the source.

    Still, John's a military man and we Americans love our soldiers. So I'd probably want to stay away from this particular change with him. Even if you could make the switch without it drastically changing the way John should work, it's probably something that shouldn't be done. Allan Scott on the other hand, is someone I could easily see being British. Educated abroad perhaps, and perhaps living in America at the time of his origin, but born in the UK.
    "We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe."

    ~ Black Panther.

  9. #9
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    He's a capable actor and I think he could pull it off very well. I doubt the American accent will prove too difficult for him.

  10. #10
    Black Belt in Bad Ideas Robanker's Avatar
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    Apologies for the double post, lads. Hope they fix these server issues soon!
    Last edited by Robanker; 08-05-2018 at 08:52 PM.

  11. #11
    Ultimate Member j9ac9k's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ascended View Post
    .....I'm not sure if being American is all that important for John's character, actually.

    The main bullet points of his origin seem to be "marine, architect, angry black man (in the early days)."

    The first two points could be achieved regardless of nationality, since other nations have armies and architects. The third point is cultural, and I don't know enough about British race relations and history to say whether that could be fit into another country or not. In any case, John moved beyond that attitude a long time ago so it's not a huge factor either way. I just believe in keeping to the source.
    In response to the "angry black man" label, I've seen that attributed to John in various posts to describe his initial characterization, but it needs to be said (for I am fearing that it is no longer apparent) that the label "angry black man" is more a descriptor of the establishment's way to marginalize a rising response to the inadequacies/injustices in society rather than acknowledge that it was people who might actually have legitimate grievances. (i.e. they're all just "angry") So really, it was never about John's attitude - it was always about an insensitive culture's attitude towards another segment of the culture's response to social inequities. (if anything, attitudes haven't really changed all that much since then, has it?) I haven't read it in a long time, but I'm pretty sure it was O'Neil's intent to dispell the myth of the "angry black man" with Johns first appearance.
    Last edited by j9ac9k; 08-06-2018 at 08:51 AM.

  12. #12
    Mighty Member SixSpeedSamurai's Avatar
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    Much like the role of James Bond, he's too old! He'd be 50 by the time it came out. You don't want to build a franchise with someone playing that part being over 50.

  13. #13
    The Winged Wonder Hawkman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SixSpeedSamurai View Post
    Much like the role of James Bond, he's too old! He'd be 50 by the time it came out. You don't want to build a franchise with someone playing that part being over 50.
    Pretty much the same way I feel. I love Elba, and he would've been great 10 years ago (with an American accent, by the way), but he's a bit too old now, unfortunately. I'd want John to be at least as young as Hal; maybe even a little younger. That more or less precludes Elba from the role, in my opinion.
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  14. #14
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    Maybe we should change the term from Angry Black Man to Woke Person of Colour. Because being angry is just a normal response to being woke. Anyone should be. It's not that Black Men go around being abnormally angry--it's that they realize the unfairness in society and respond naturally with anger. Being African-American is integral to the original John Stewart story, because he's a young man who has grown up in a racist America (this was around the time when the racist George Wallace was taking a run at the Democratic nomination for President and there was an assassination attempt on his life). It's that experience of systemic racism in America that informs Stewarts's character and explains his perspective when he becomes a Green Lantern.

    Idris Elba has demonstrated that he can do American accents.

  15. #15
    Ultimate Member j9ac9k's Avatar
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    Not to get too sidetracked, but since "anyone" should be angry, I'm more of the opinion that there shouldn't be a need for the racial designation. Although I tend to run from trendy terms like "woke" in general.

    Relevantly enough, a DCEU (or is it WoDC?) John cast as a young man could very easily be written to convey the same message now.
    Last edited by j9ac9k; 08-06-2018 at 11:49 AM.

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