Warner Brothers seems to be on a roll with its DC Comics movies. This winter’s ‘Aquaman’ was a fun romp that was just what holiday filmgoers needed– to the tune of a billion dollars raked in worldwide. ‘Shazam!’ opens this weekend and advanced buzz is glowing (92% on Rotten Tomatoes). In that picture, a teenage boy finds himself in the form of a superhuman adult body. Should WB continue to pursue a lighter tone in its pictures, actor Ben Schwartz has a suggestion, although it might be for a project that skews decidedly older than the PG-13 fare of ‘Aquaman’ and ‘Shazam!’.
If Schwartz has his way, he will bring DC’s Plastic Man to life. In the comics, Plastic Man was a thief named “Eel” O’Brien who gained the power to stretch his body to any length and turn into anything he could imagine. He is also immortal. Upon gaining powers, he had a change of heart and became a hero.
As Schwartz said:
“But in my head, how much fun if he was a thief, got superpowers, and was like, ‘Screw it, I want to keep being crooked.’ But he’s also, if you look at the cartoons or the other iterations of him, he’s funny! He’s so funny. And I think what Ryan Reynolds and Tim Miller did with Deadpool, you could have a funny superhero in DC. Shazam! just did it and I think it’s gonna be great. That’s it, I just love that character a lot. I think I’d get to be goofy if I ever got the chance to do it.”
Schwartz may be in luck, as WB hired Amanda Idoko in December to write a screenplay for a ‘Plastic Man’ movie.
His enthusiasm for the character is reminiscent of one that Ryan Reynolds had for Deadpool and that translated into a true crowd-pleaser in the 2016 film. While every other day, there is a report of an actor saying they’d definitely do a Marvel or DC movie– who wouldn’t?!– it’s rarer for an actor to express a desire to play an offbeat character that they are truly a fan of.
Outside of comics, Plastic Man starred on his own animated series, ‘The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show’. When that went into syndication, new live-action segments were added, with Taylor Marks portraying him. Prior to that, he appeared in one episode of the ‘Super Friends’. He has subsequently appeared in numerous animated shorts, including on the shows ‘Mad’ and ‘Robot Chicken’. Voiced by Tom Kenny (‘SpongeBob Squarepants’), he was a major recurring guest-star on ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’.
In the early ’90s, Amblin Entertainment planned to make a live-action ‘Plastic Man’ movie, with Bryan Spicer attached to direct. Later, the Wachowskis (‘The Matrix’ trilogy) began working on a take. Obviously, neither was ever produced.
Schwartz is probably best known for playing Jean-Ralphio Saperstein on ‘Parks and Recreation’. More recently, he has appeared on ‘Modern Family’. He voices Leo on ‘Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, Dewey on ‘Duck Tales’, and will voice the title character in the film adaptation ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’. He was also recently heard as Banarnar in ‘The LEGO Movie 2’.
Would you like to see Ben Schwartz in the lead of a live-action ‘Plastic Man’ movie?
Source: Screen Rant
