As we continue to conjure up dream casting calls for all sorts of pending Marvel projects, it is always intriguing to think of what could have been. Back before Marvel regained control of 20th Century Fox’s library of comic characters like Blade, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider, there were countless rumors of a Luke Cage movie that never came to fruition. Names like Laurence Fishburne were linked with the film that just never happened. Now, with Marvel teaming with Netflix on a series featuring the hero also known as Power Man, we continue to hear rumors of actors like Idris Elba, Terry Crews, and many others who would be a good fit or we would like to see in the role.
At one point, it turns out, another famous actor was linked with Luke Cage. According to Jamie Foxx, “back in the day” he was approached to play Cage in a film for director John Singleton. Foxx did not elaborate as to how in depth the discussions became (or even if they were discussions), but the tidbit comes from a special feature on the recently released THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 Blu-ray.
Singleton was a hotshot director back in the 1990s and even garnered an Oscar nomination for BOYZ IN THE HOOD. His career seems to have peaked around 2000 when he helmed the Samuel L. Jackson movie SHAFT. Since then, he has only directed four films included the awful 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS and the Taylor Lautner bomb ABDUCTION. If Foxx is saying this was back in the day, I think they may have been around the time SHAFT hit, before Foxx won the Oscar for RAY.
Who knows what will become of Luke Cage on the Netflix series, but I am just glad we didn’t get another 20th Century Fox Marvel movie with the character or we may not be thinking so highly of Power Man today. Foxx wouldn’t have been bad, but there are a lot better actors for the role out there.