Everybody has their dream casting choice for any number of their favorite characters. Maybe it's the always prevalent idea that Idris Elba would make an incredible James Bond. Or perhaps the opinion comes from a more niche but no less passionate place, such as giving the role of Star Wars' Mara Jade to someone like the always incredible Adrianne Palicki (hey, just let a fan dream). But while it's one thing to just think about these theoretical castings, it's another entirely to follow through with impressive visualization, as this X-Men fan art of Charlize Theron as Mystique shows.
That's what fan and concept artist Stuart Cooper did when he brought his extremely fitting casting idea to life in a seriously impressive piece of X-Men artwork. He brought up the inspired concept (that has, frankly, probably been floated before by other similarly intelligent people) of casting the eternally incredible Theron as X-Men's cunning blue usually-villain Mystique. But not content to simply paste her face on a shot from the movies, he decided to redesign the character from the ground up in order to bring back the magic of the comics.
Cooper specifically set out to steer away from the current comic book movie trend of adapting superhero outfits into a sort of combat armor chic style, instead opting to recreate Mystique's classic look with some slightly more modern tweaks. "You would think a white dress would be easier to design," Cooper said in the caption, "but sometimes the simpler the design the harder it is to come up with something cool, especially when trying to retain the look of the original." Many fans of the classic X-Men comics and cartoons will likely find his design satisfyingly familiar.
What's almost shocking is how well Theron seems to fit into the role, at least visually. The Old Guard and Mad Max: Fury Road star is clearly more than adept as an actress to take on such a role, but the idea is helped along by that slightly sly look she always seems to sport. Combine that with blue skin and glowing eyes, and baby, she's got one heck of a devious stew going. The outfit itself is a piece of art as well, with small details added to give it some genuine elegance while maintaining the iconic look of the original X-Men stories.
Theron would absolutely be a welcome addition to virtually any film or series. Even aside from her high-impact prowess for action roles like in The Old Guard, her talent for genuinely heartfelt and heavy-hitting performances is legendary. Mystique has already enjoyed performances from fantastic talents like Rebecca Romijn and Jennifer Lawrence, and since the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems like it won't be running out of steam anytime soon, maybe it would be a good idea for some of those executives to keep Furiosa herself in mind.
Of course, anything can happen when it comes to casting. Plus, there's the fact that fan casting ideas tend to become far less likely the more popular they get. It's one reason why it's a bad idea to mention Nathan Fillion to Uncharted fans. So hey, maybe just quietly appreciate Cooper's piece and move on. Maybe giving Theron some silent support will make her chances better.
The X-Men films are now available on Disney Plus in Canada.
Source: Stuart Cooper/Instagram