Comics Casting: 10 Roles for Bradley Cooper

Earlier this week, Mark Millar revealed that he was courting The Hangover’s Bradley Cooper, one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors, for the role of Johnny Bolt in a potential film adaptation of Millar and Leinil F. Yu’s Supercrooks, the story of a group of supervillains who come out of retirement for one last big job.”I am literally calling up his guys tomorrow and want to secure him as Johnny Bolt.” wrote Millar on his blog. “It’s about TIME he did a super-movie and having him as a likeable super-villain in a super-heist flick sounds about perfect.”We couldn’t agree more–but in case Johnny Bolt doesn’t end up working out, here are ten comic book roles we think Cooper could nail.The JokerThe Joker demands a new interpretation every time we see him; the fact that both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger put their own marks so indelibly on those performances, and both of them gained tremendous acclaim for them, says something about the character’s range of possibilities, but to bring in another actor to play it like Ledger or Nicholson would be a death sentence. Cooper could bring a whole different sensibility to the Clown Prince of Crime–that of a dangerous sociopath whose smile is always just ready to crack.Maxwell LordSmarmy, dangerous and with an edge of humor? That’s pretty much Bradley Cooper all over! Maxwell Lord would be a great role for Cooper because he could start good and transition to the dark side over the course of a filim or two, remaining a fascinating character all along. Somebody get him in the Justice League movie!US AgentCooper was at one point a fan-favorite to play Captain America–but US Agent is Captain America, with a few more years on him and a bit more of an edge. Sounds about right for Cooper, who can still look like the All-American Kid while having some fun with the not-quite-apple pie role.