Tyrese Gibson Challenges Marvel Studios to "Show Some More Respect" to Luke Cage; Says He is "Ready" to Play the Role
Posted 07.02.11 by BrentJS
Due to the continuing popularity of comic book movies at the box office and in the home video marketplace — not to mention the effect starring in one can have on an actor's career, ahem, Robert Downey, Jr. — some actors have taken to openly campaigning to play the title roles in superhero movies that are barely even in development. Last week, Patrick Dempsey reiterated his interest in playing Dr. Strange in a live-action movie, a project that is only in the scripting stage at Marvel Studios at this point. An even less developed project at Marvel Studios is a Luke Cage adaptation, which doesn't even have a screenwriter(s) attached as of yet. Of course, that's not stopping actors from campaigning to play the steely-skinned Avenger.
Just over a month ago, Isaiah "Old Spice Guy" Mustafa actually released a pitch video that was more or less a trailer for a Luke Cage movie with Mustafa as the Harlem hero, a role British actor Idris Elba also said he was interested in while doing press for Thor back in May. At the recent premiere of Transformers: Dark of the Moon, actor Tyrese Gibson, who first threw his hat into the ring for the role of Luke Cage more than two years ago, challenged Marvel Studios to "show some more respect" to Luke Cage and "get some traction" on the movie adaptation because he is "ready" to go.
Listen, to Marvel: this is Tyrese Gibson. Get it together. Let's go ahead and shoot this comic book. Luke Cage is one of the original Marvel characters. Show some more respect. Go ahead and get some traction going on Luke Cage. I'm ready. I've got my headband ready, baby. What's the problem, officer? Let's get it!
For more information about the origin of Luke Cage and his current place in the Marvel Universe, check out the character's official profile on the Marvel website.