Hey, everyone!  It’s our first ever “Comic Impact Casting Couch!”  Here we’ll take a comic book property and cast it with the actors we feel would do the best job of bringing these characters to the screen.  We’ll also give you a little insight into how we think this particular project should be carried out.  This week we’re doing Brian K. Vaughn’s masterpiece, Ex Machina!

Ex Machina is about Mitchell Hundred, a civil engineer working in New York City in 1999.  He’s called to investigate a mysterious, green device stuck to the base of a bridge.  The device exploded in his face leaving him with the ability to communicate with and control machines.  With the help of his friend Rick Bradbury and his childhood mentor Kremlin, Mitchell became the superhero, The Great Machine.  In the summer of 2001 he decided to quit being a superhero, went public and ran for mayor.  On September 11, 2001 he strapped on his gear one last time and managed to keep the second plane from hitting the World Trade Center.  Soon after, he won the mayoral race by a landslide.

The story in Ex Machina takes place after Hundred has already won the mayoral race, with flashbacks to his days as a superhero.  It’s a very intelligent, political series that deals with all kinds of real life issue from gay marriage, to domestic terrorism, to legalizing marijuana.  It’s also one of the ballsiest mainstream comic book series’ ever.

Due to it’s long term, episodic nature the best way to handle a project such as this would be a Showtime, HBO or even AMC or FX TV series.  It really requires less restrictive content control thanks to it’s adult themes, harsh language, sexual content and violence.  Not to mention, every establishing shot in the show features a New York skyline with one of the Twin Towers still standing.  This show would offend a lot of people on network TV.

So, without further ado, here’s our cast for the Ex Machina TV series:

Mitchell Hundred/The Great Machine: Jason Bateman
This one’s a no-brainer for me.  The entire time I was reading Ex Machina I kept picturing a more badass, possibly gay Michael Bluthe from Arrested Development.  Hundred is really witty and approaches running New York City much the same way Bluthe runs his family: in a semi-constant state of frustration.  Also, Bateman is flat out fantastic.  I’d watch him read the phone book.  It would also be really cool to see Bateman in an almost completely dramatic role as opposed to his usual comedic ones.  He could really shine as Mayor Hundred.

Ivan “Kremlin” Tereshkov: Christophier Lloyd
Kremlin is Hundred’s childhood mentor.  A Russian immigrant and mechanic at Coney Island, Kremlin first got Hundred into comics at a young age.  After Hundred develops his powers, Kremlin pushes him to become The Great Machine and is unhappy when Hundred gives it up.  Kremlin ultimately attempts to sabotage Hundreds career as mayor in an attempt to get him back to being The Great Machine.  Christopher Lloyd is perfect for this role.  Kremlin is basically an angrier version of Doc Brown from Back To The Future with a Russian accent and a goatee.

Rick Bradbury: Adam Baldwin
Bradbury is Rick’s longtime friend and bodyguard/head of security.  He was in the NY Harbor Patrol when he took Hundred out to investigate the machine that gave him his powers.  Bradbury is a tough, hardass kind of guy who is eternally loyal to Hundred.  Adam Baldwin has made a career off of playing tough guys and military men, plus he has a great sense of humor which suits Bradbury who often ends up as Hundred’s beaten, somewhat unappreciated work horse.

Deputy Mayor Dave Wylie: Mos-Def
Dave Wylie is New York City’s Deputy Mayor under Mayor Hundred.  He is an idealistic politician who was talked into running with Hundred, never expecting him to actually win.  Wylie is often frustrated by Hundred’s inexperience with the political machine and his extreme idealism in the face of practicality.  Mos-Def would be an excellent straight man to Hundred’s occasional wackiness as he demonstrated in Be Kind, Rewind.  He can be very subtle in his acting and I think he would really bring a lot of depth to the often over-stressed Wylie.

Journal Moore: Kristen Bell
Journal Moore was a former city hall intern that Mayor Hundred promoted to “Special Adviser on Youth Affairs.”  She’s opinionated, idealistic and feels that she is capable of affecting change by working with Hundred.  She also manages to be a thorn in his side from time to time.  I may take some heat for this one, but I think Kristen Bell could pull this roll off.  She’s known for playing perky, bubbly characters but if she reigned that in just a little (Journal can be a bit bubbly herself) her ability to play a cynical, sarcastic character would really flesh out the role of Journal.

January Moore: Chloe Sevigny
January is Journal’s sister.  *SPOILER ALERT* After Journal’s death *END SPOILER* January comes to work as an intern for Mayor Hundred.  In reality she’s working with Kremlin to try and sabotage Hundred’s career because she blames Hundred for…that spoiler a second ago.  Chloe Sevigny is good at playing an edgy character like January who is much like her sister but a lot more jaded.

Jack Pherson: Sam Rockwell
Jack Pherson was The Great Machine’s “greatest nemesis” as coined by Kremlin.  He’s only featured in the flashback portions of the story from when Hundred was still a superhero.  Pherson lost his sanity when he developed the ability to control and hear the voices of non-human animals attempting to duplicate The Great Machine’s abilities using audio tech.  He soon after becomes a violent animal rights activist.  Sam Rockwell is another actor that can do no wrong.  He’s amazing in everything he does.  Rockwell plays an amazing lunatic but at the same time manages to convey that the character truly believes in whatever lunacy he’s preaching.

Commissioner Amy Angotti: Gillian Anderson
Commissioner Angotti is a tough, no bullshit NYPD commissioner.  She works alongside Mayor Hundred for the good of the city but makes it perfectly clear that if he ever starts costumed superhero work again she has no problem throwing him in prison.  Gillian Anderson would do a really great job as Angotti because…do I really need to explain this one?  She was freaking Scully on X-Files!  Tough, ballsy, law enforcement lady?  Come on!  It doesn’t get better than her!

Suzanne Padilla: Carrie Anne Moss
Suzanne Padilla is a reporter featured pretty sparingly in the early parts of the series and almost not at all until the very last two trade paperbacks where she becomes a major plot device and the final antagonist in the climax of the series, where she loses her mind.  Carrie Anne Moss is an incredibly versatile actress who has shown in movies such as Fido and Disturbia that she can play the reserved, often mousy but confident Padilla before she loses her mind in the 9th trade, but can also bring the crazy like she did in Memento.

Brian K. Vaughn and Tony Harris: Themselves
That’s right, Brian K. Vaughn wrote himself and Ex Machina artist Tony Harris into issue #40.  In this issue, Mayor Hundred was asked to find an author to pen his biography and, being a lifelong comic book fan, he decides to make his biography a graphic novel.  Vaughn and Harris go in to interview for the job of making a comic book about The Great Machine…in a comic book about The Great Machine.  God, he’s good.  Vaughn even wrote a joke in where Mayor Hundred mistakes Vaughn for Brian Michael Bendis.  Ultimately, Hundred goes with Garth Ennis and Jim Lee.  It would be so hilarious to see these scenes actually carried out on screen with the real life Vaughn and Harris.

So there you go ladies and gents!  Hope you enjoyed our first ever Casting Couch.  If you haven’t yet, go read Ex Machina in trade.  You can pick up book one from Amazon for next to nothing!  Let us know what you think about our casting picks, too!

Ian Candish
Ian@ComicImpact.com