Will Arnett & Michael Shannon Climb Aboard “Jonah Hex”

Well this cast is starting to look damn impressive. The Hollywood Reporter confirms that the Oscar nominee  Michael Shannon (photo left) and comedic genius and the former star of the beloved Arrested Development Will Arnett, (right) have been cast in roles in the upcoming superhero-action-comic-western, Jonah Hex. THR says Arnett will play a Union soldier who enlists Hex and is blindsided by the dirty fighting style of his enemies. The role is not inherently comic. And that Shannon plays Doc Cross Williams, the bizarre ringleader of a brutal gladiator circus event. The character might appear in sequels.

Shannon is an amazing actor. If you need proof, please see Revolutionary Road and Bug; the guy can play creepy, bizarre personalities like no other. I also am very intruigued by the report that Arnett’s character will not be comedic. The guy has only done outrageous, hilarious characters and it will be really interesting to see how he approaches the sadistic, hell-whole of the Jonah Hex comic world.

I’m really starting to get excited for this film. As you recall, I posted just last week that Megan Fox had been cast as pistol-toting vixen in the flick; on top of the already awesome good vs. evil showdown between Josh Brolin, who’ll play Hex and John Malkovich, who’ll play the villain Turnbull.

For a quick re-cap, Jonah Hex is a dark and graphic western-comicbook series from DC Comics that has been running for nearly 30 years. In this movie the scarred bounty hunter must track down the voodoo practitioner Turnbull (John Malkovich) who wants to raise an army of undead to liberate the South.

Needless to say after The Dark Knight & Watchmen, I’m seriously impressed, wowed and grateful for Warner Bros. continued commitment to adapting gritty, dark comic-books; making them work on film, but staying true to the source material. Paramount and Fox have been playing it safe lately and I give mad props to WB and their large balls.

What Do You Think? Discuss.